HARRISBURG — Intensive negotiations between legislative leaders and top aides to Gov. Ed Rendell ended late Thursday without an agreement that could head off the furlough of some state workers.

Another meeting was scheduled for this morning. A deal would avert the scheduled furlough of more than 24,000 state workers currently scheduled for Monday.

If there were signs of progress in negotiations on a $27 billion-plus state budget, it was that top legislators were in serious talks, and that Rendell's top aides had joined them, the parties said.

Sen. Dominic Pileggi, the Republican floor leader from Delaware County, would not comment on specifics, other than to say that talks focused on the budget, instead of priorities that the Democratic governor has sought.

"I think we clarified some of the areas of disagreement," Pileggi told reporters after the meeting in the office of Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson. "Hopefully we can work to resolve them."

The talks, which broke up around midnight Thursday, involved the Legislature's most powerful figures and Rendell's chief budget aides.

Earlier in the evening, Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters that Republican legislators realize the seriousness of finishing a budget agreement before thousands of state workers are furloughed Monday without spending authority to pay them.

Republicans pointed to the presence of Rendell's top aides at the meetings as a positive sign, after complaining for several days that the governor's team has been aloof.

Thursday was the fifth day of the new fiscal year without a budget agreement that allows the state to spend money on non-critical services.

Evans said Budget Secretary Michael Masch laid out "a framework" involving options for a budget deal that would limit growth in state spending to 3.7 percent, below the current year's 4.8 percent.

A tougher nut could be the Senate Republicans' desire to get a budget deal before tackling some of Rendell's other priorities, including massive new funding for roads and mass transit, gambling-financed borrowing for a Pittsburgh hockey arena and the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia and legislation to foster alternative energy projects.

"Energy, obviously, is something that has to be addressed," Evans said. "We have that on the table."

The Senate approved a $27 billion budget on June 20, and Republicans who control the chamber say they want spending to stay below a 3 percent increase over last year's spending of $26.3 billion.

However, Rendell, who proposed a $27.3 billion budget in February, has said the Senate's budget is unacceptable because it cuts more than $300 million in his education, job training and economic development programs.