HARRISBURG -- As far as Paul Lodico of Greenfield and Jennifer England of Squirrel Hill are concerned, Gov. Ed Rendell's plan for "targeted tax rebates" for lower-income working people is an idea whose time has come.

Mr. Lodico, an official of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, and Ms. England, a low-income single parent of two, came here yesterday to urge the House Appropriations Committee to endorse the governor's plan for one-time rebates of up to $400.

The panel voted 21 to 14 -- strictly along party lines, Democrats yes and Republicans no -- to send the Rendell proposal, House Bill 2330, to the House floor. If it passes the full House, it then goes to the Senate.

The rebates will either be $400 for two-parent families, or $200 for single-parent families.

To receive a $400 rebate, a family with two parents and one child can have income up to $24,750 a year; a family with two parents and two children can earn up to $34,250 a year; a family with two parents and three children can earn up to $43,750. The family income can increase by $9,500 for each additional child.

To get a $200 rebate, a single parent with one child can have annual income of up to $18,250; a single parent with two children can have income up to $27,750.

The administration estimates up to 475,000 people could be eligible.

Ms. England said she is the sole provider for her 16-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter. While some of her son's friends got a car when they turned 16, "We struggle to buy bus passes," she said.

"Two hundred dollars would make a world of difference for my kids. They could sign up for ski club or gymnastics classes. My kids have made enough sacrifices."

"Many people call us and ask what we think about the future," Mr. Lodico said. "We'd be happy to report the Legislature took action on this economic stimulus package. It would give a boost to low income, working families."

The partisan vote in the House Committee differed sharply from the U.S. Congress, which voted in a bipartisan fashion last week for a federal tax rebate of $600 per wage-earner, with checks to go out in May.

Mr. Rendell hopes the state rebates will be issued in about eight weeks, but the full House and Senate still must approve, and with the Senate run by Republicans, that could be a question.

State Budget Secretary Michael Masch and Revenue Secretary Thomas Wolf, key Rendell allies, said the $130 million rebate program would be "targeted, timely and temporary."

The rebates would come from a one-time dip into the state's Rainy Day Fund, which currently stands at $750 million and is designed to cushion the state in times of economic downturns, such as the recession of 2001-02.

Mr. Rendell has said that with rebates of $200 or $400, recipients are likely to put the money back into circulation -- spend it for food, heating costs, clothing and other "immediate" items, rather than putting it into savings accounts.

Mr. Wolf said such spending would create a "multiplier effect" of at least six times, as local merchants and stores benefit from the additional $130 million being pumped into the economy. Mr. Rendell said such a stimulus should help protect the state against the current economic slowdown.

But Republicans prefer a reduction in the state's earned income rate, currently at 3.07 percent, to 2.99 percent or even 2.8 percent. State Rep. Mario Civera, R-Delaware, said the GOP will try to amend the stimulus bill once it hits the House floor by adding an income tax cut that would benefit many more taxpayers than the rebates would.

Other Republicans didn't like the idea of taking money from the Rainy Day Fund, which is aimed at cushioning state coffers when tax revenues fall off. But Democrats said the state should end the current fiscal year June 30 with a surplus of about $500 million. They said that 25 percent of any surplus goes into the Rainy Day Fund and would, in effect, replace the money used for the rebate program.

Also yesterday, the committee approved a second element of Mr. Rendell's stimulus package -- a bill to increase the debt ceiling on the Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program by $750 million. That vote also was along party lines.

But Mr. Rendell and Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, said the capital funds are needed so that new construction can begin on up to 40 "shovel ready" sites around the state.

If approved by the full House and Senate, the ceiling on RCAP borrowing would rise from $2.6 billion to $3.35 billion.