More than a dozen moderate Republican and Democratic senators met this week to plan a bipartisan agenda for the upcoming 109th Congress.

Maine’s U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said the Centrist Coalition would work to “bridge the divide” between the two parties in an effort to provide “consensus-building solutions.”

The group took credit for forging bipartisan support for health-care policy last session and blamed partisanship for failed energy and highway initiatives.

Members discussed issues likely to spur gridlock this session, including asbestos liability and Social Security reform, said Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for Snowe. The group will survey coalition members before cobbling together a list of issues to tackle and deciding who’ll play what role, Ferrier said.

Coalition members expect to work cooperatively with party leadership on these issues and not be a “shadow” legislative body, she said.

Who are they?

Snowe serves as the Republican co-chairwoman. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., is co-chairman. Also attending were: Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del.; Lincoln Chaffee, R-R.I.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Jim Jeffords, I-Vt.; Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; Ben Nelson, D-Neb.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; and George Voinovich, R-Ohio. Coalition members unable to make Tuesday’s meeting were: Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Arlen Specter, R-Penn.

Outgoing Sen. John Breaux, D-La., also attended the meeting. He and the late Sen. John Chaffee, R-R.I., founded the group of moderates in 1995 after the federal government shut down.