HARRISBURG — A faint glimmer of hope emerged Tuesday that Pennsylvania's three-week-old budget stalemate soon might be resolved after a House vote moved the dispute closer to being handled by a committee of legislative leaders.

The Democrat-controlled House voted 150-49 to reject a Republican-penned state budget that passed the Senate late Monday. The bill was sent back to the Senate, and all sides predicted a six-member, bipartisan conference committee of senators and representatives would be appointed to attempt to find common ground.

House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, said he hoped lawmakers could reach a deal within days, not weeks.

"The public expects us to finish this budget. State employees expect us to finish this budget. We want it done," Eachus said.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said his goal was "a final budget that conforms to the principles we have consistently advocated: a sustainable budget with no broad-based tax increases, which spends less in fiscal year 2009-10 than in fiscal year 2008-09."

House Democrats passed a $29.1 billion proposal that combines cuts with new and expanded taxes. But it would spend $2 billion more than the austerity budget the Senate approved Monday night with the support of a single Democrat.

Gov. Ed Rendell, speaking at a news conference with fellow Democratic leaders, called the House vote "a tremendous victory for the children of Pennsylvania."

Democrats said the main issues for the conference committee will be education funding, children's health programs and the amount and sources of any additional revenue.

Rendell stopped short of insisting on the 16 percent personal-income tax increase he proposed.

"Nothing's off the table, but there are plenty of other things on the table," he said.

Appointment of a conference committee would clear some procedural hurdles that might otherwise slow final passage of a deal, but by itself would do nothing to bring the sides closer on the core political differences that stand in the way of a deal. Three Democrats and three Republicans will serve on the committee.

Republicans have proposed deep cuts and emphatically rejected increasing the income tax or retail sales tax rates.

Democrats want more spending on education and health care and insist considerable new revenues are required to avoid catastrophic cuts — and to prevent trickle-down tax increases that local governments or school districts could impose.

Pennsylvania is one of three states that have been unable to enact budgets for the new fiscal year, and state government lacks legal authority to pay most of its bills.

Tens of thousands of state workers received partial pay last week, and a separate group due to be paid Friday will collect even less.

The next formal step in the process will occur Monday, when the Senate is expected to provide the necessary procedural vote that will automatically result in a conference committee.