"There will be expensing of stock options," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., at a Capitol Hill forum on technology and innovation. "I don't think there is any way to stop FASB. They are hell-bent on going forward."

Ensign, who opposes expensing of employee stock options, is a lead supporter of a bill introduced by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., that would require a company to book options only for its top five executives. The measure also would exempt startups from expensing options for their first three years. It has 16 co-sponsors in the Senate.

FASB's rule would require companies to count all stock options as an expense. The accounting body believes this would more accurately reflect a company's financial condition.

Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., is sponsoring a companion bill in the House that has more than 100 co-sponsors. Baker said last week he expects the full committee to vote on the bill by late June.

Ensign, however, was pessimistic that Congress could pass the legislation in time. "I don't like our chances, unless the House pulls off some kind of miracle and sends it over to the Senate and gets some momentum going," he said. "I was more optimistic three months ago."

The biggest obstacle in the Senate remains Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who is adamant in his support of an independent FASB and who has urged Congress to stay out of the accounting rulemaking process.

Further complicating efforts to enact the bill is the year's short legislative calendar. With Congress devoting much of the summer and fall to campaigning, a bill would need to move before the July 4 recess. That seems unlikely, legislative aides said.

Ensign blasted FASB's lobbying tactics and the pressure the board put on the Big Four accounting firms to back the stock option proposal. "It's outrageous the agency that's regulating you is pressuring you into putting out a statement in support of expensing stock options."

The lawmaker also criticized the board for its lack of guidance on how to value options. Ensign said he worried that chief executives and chief financial officers might be unable to meet their Sarbanes-Oxley Act obligation to certify the accuracy of their company's financial statements.

"Now you're going to have trial attorneys out there being able to come after you saying you should have chosen the other [valuation] method," he said.

Dick Grannis, vice president and treasurer of technology giant Qualcomm Inc., said the certification issue would become a real problem for business leaders if their companies grant options. "This rule does nothing good for corporate governance," he said.

But one accounting expert disputed this argument. "Companies are providing these values right now," the source said. "They've been valuing options and putting them into the reports for the last eight years."

Still, Ensign was fatalistic, saying that in "the next 60 days we have to concentrate our energies on at least getting FASB to give us better guidelines so that we don't enrich the trial lawyers."

FASB officials had no immediate comment.

Comments on the FASB proposal are due June 30. The accounting board is not expected to finalize the rule until the fourth quarter.

-- Donna Block