HARRISBURG -- A House Republican panel held initial discussions yesterday on reducing the state sales tax from 6 percent to 4 percent and broadening it to cover food, clothing and other goods and services that are now exempt.

Things that could be taxed are services provided by doctors, lawyers, accountants, tax preparers and shoe repairers, as well as lawn care, home repairs, physical rehabilitation and even the cost of opening a bank account.

The House Republican Policy Committee said that the additional revenue -- and it could be as much as $8 billion -- would be used to lower or eliminate school property taxes.

Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said yesterday the Republican idea "makes no sense at all. They are raising taxes. They love to say they are just broadening the base, but they are raising taxes big time. This is an idea that doesn't have any legs."

Cutting or eliminating the burden of property taxes statewide "is the No. 1 issue confronting the General Assembly," said Rep. Mario Civera Jr., R-Delaware, who heads the GOP policy panel. He hoped that property tax relief could be achieved by the end of the year, although the method for doing so still faces months of debate in Harrisburg.

"This plan is big," said Rep. Samuel Rohrer, R-Berks. "The changes that it would make are big. This plan would alter the way things are currently being done all across this commonwealth. This is a change that requires a paradigm shift in the way many people think. But our problem [with property taxes] is big and it requires a big solution."

The GOP sales tax proposal is an alternative to Rendell's plan to lower property taxes by expanding gambling. He wants to open 12 slot machine casinos around the state and tax the revenue at a rate 34 percent to raise up to $1 billion to reduce property taxes.

Many GOP lawmakers are from conservative areas of the state and don't favor expanded legalized gambling. Rendell had hoped for a vote on his plan by the end of this month, but the House and Senate aren't scheduled to meet until March.

Legislation to change the sales tax hasn't been introduced but likely will be when the Legislature returns, committee members said.

Opponents say the sales tax is regressive, more harshly affecting lower-income people.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, said the Legislature must be careful about changing the sales tax structure because many residents are suspicious of anything the assembly does regarding taxes.

He said that any additional revenue from the sales tax must be used "dollar for dollar" to reduce property taxes, so residents don't end up paying more overall.

Under the current sales tax -- 6 percent in 65 counties and 7 percent in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties -- the state raises about $7 billion a year.

Mark Ryan, director of the House Finance Committee, gave a rough estimate of about $8 billion in new revenue that would be needed to eliminate local property taxes in the state's 501 school districts. He said it was far too early to estimate how much might be brought in by lowering the rate but expanding what is taxable.

Broadening the sales tax is fraught with political danger. Ryan said Florida and Massachusetts expanded their sales tax bases but later were forced to repeal the changes in the face of widespread public opposition.

Any plan to tax doctors' services is a bad idea, Dr. Jitendra Desai, a Pittsburgh urologist and president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, told the committee.

With liability insurance premiums growing and insurer reimbursements not keeping pace with costs, he said, "the medical society strongly believes that any further taxation of medicine will only serve to do more harm."

Legislators said there likely would be a huge battle over which services are taxed, with each profession lobbying against being included, as Desai did yesterday.

Ryan said taxing business services, such as payroll preparation or accounting, could lead smaller businesses to get cheaper prices from out-of-state firms or do the work in-house.

More opposition could result from the fact that sales taxes aren't deductible on individuals' federal income tax forms, while property taxes and state and local income taxes are, he said.

Legislators agreed that much more discussion is needed before any specific piece of legislation is considered.