HARRISBURG — Republican legislative leaders are urging Gov. Ed Rendell to allow input right away from legislators on how to spend the state's share of federal economic stimulus money or risk missing a midsummer spending plan deadline.

"It will facilitate our joint goal of starting successful budget deliberations earlier than in the past," Sens. Joseph Scarnati, Dominic Pileggi and Jake Corman — the top three Republican Senate leaders — wrote in a letter delivered to the Democratic governor Monday.

House GOP leaders said Rendell should send a new budget proposal to the Legislature, calling the $29 billion state budget he unveiled in February "deficient" because it was written before Congress passed the stimulus bill.

"It is the responsibility of the General Assembly to appropriate these federal stimulus funds, thus we are anxious to hear your proposals and your goals as they relate to the utilization of this federal aid," Reps. Sam Smith and Mario Civera wrote in a letter to Rendell released Monday.

Rendell has not disputed that he eventually must seek legislative approval to use much of the money. But he has sounded no note of urgency and said much of the money simply passes through the state on its way to school districts, housing authorities and other local governments.

The uniqueness and breadth of the federal stimulus package have frustrated administration and legislative officials trying to understand how to handle it. Among the difficulties have been figuring out how much money is coming to Pennsylvania, what strings are attached and how the money is supposed to be distributed.

The administration currently projects that Pennsylvania will get $18 billion — up from its earlier estimate of $16 billion — including $8 billion in tax breaks and other direct benefits for state residents.

Rendell on Tuesday was largely dismissive of the Republicans' entreaties, insisting he has taken pains to brief legislators in detail on the use of the stimulus money and explain that Congress left little room to dictate how the money is spent.

"They may not like the fact that they don't get a lot of discretion over how the money is spent, but that's the way it is," Rendell said.

Rendell also said he will not submit an entirely new budget. The final version of the federal stimulus bill will force a relatively tiny $20 million reduction from Rendell's initial budget, which relied on dollar figures for state budget aid in an earlier version of the stimulus legislation.

Pennsylvania's new fiscal year begins July 1, the deadline for Rendell and the Legislature to settle on a spending plan for the following 12 months.

Even before July arrives, the Rendell administration plans to spend at least a portion of the money for highways, bridges and water and sewer systems without legislative approval.

On Tuesday, Rendell signed letters certifying to the federal government that more than $1 billion in Pennsylvania's stimulus money will be used for transportation projects.