HARRISBURG -- A $27.9 billion budget proposal announced nearly two weeks ago isn't dead yet, but it could be in need of serious surgery -- and fast.

"I'm not saying the deal is falling apart, but it is meeting roadblocks," Gov. Ed Rendell said today. "There may be some changes as it goes through the House. There may be some changes, no question about it."

He said he thinks that "85 to 90 percent" of the budget proposal will remain intact, but there could be some changes to the revenue-raising aspects of the deal.

He spoke to reporters after some Democrats in the House spent the last few days criticizing some of the revenues in the proposed budget, such as applying the sales tax to tickets of art and cultural groups, or establishing a 20 percent tax on small games of chance used by fraternal and veterans clubs.

House Democratic leaders are still trying to round up support for the existing budget proposal in their 104-member caucus. But some Democrats, such as Rep. David Levdansky of Forward, favor enacting a severance tax on the natural gas pumped from Marcellus shale areas in the state, an idea that is opposed both by Senate Republicans and by the governor.

Mr. Rendell also called for legislative leaders to keep their members in Harrisburg every day until a budget is enacted.

"It is not a surprise that through this (budget) drafting process, differences have arisen that might cause our ($27.9 billion) agreement to unravel," he said in a letter to legislators. "Despite this, we must all work with focus, perseverance and a sense of urgency to make sure that we have a budget as quickly as possible.''

If the Democrat-controlled House changes the revenue formula for the 2009-10 budget, that could lead to problems and delays with the Republican-controlled Senate, which was part of devising the $27.9 billion proposal two weeks ago.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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