HARRISBURG — A broad-ranging bill to regulate natural gas drilling in the state and impose a fee on drillers won a key state Senate committee’s support Monday but not the bipartisan backing the high-ranking Republican sponsor had hoped for.

Only one Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee crossed party lines to join Republicans in endorsing the proposal from Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, of Jefferson. The full Senate is expected to debate the bill as early as Tuesday.

Scarnati said his proposal, which was months in the making, would impose a fee of 3 percent on gas production that is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars a year to help maintain roads and sewer systems in communities affected by drilling and statewide initiatives that finance infrastructure improvement, environmental cleanups and open space.

The bill also would impose new environmental restrictions and designate the attorney general’s office as the initial arbiter of zoning disputes.

Democrats on the committee complained that the tax was puny, the environmental requirements weak and the zoning provision inadequate.

“It just falls short,” said Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, of Philadelphia.

Sen. Lawrence M. Farnese, D-Philadelphia, said Pennsylvania has the fourth-largest pocket of shale-imbedded gas in the world and the companies drilling in the lucrative Marcellus Shale region can afford to pay much more to the state.

“These folks aren’t going anywhere,” he said.

A proposed Democratic amendment to Scarnati’s bill was rejected by the committee.

Scarnati, who sits on the committee, said that he was “dismayed” by the lack of Democratic support and that many provisions the minority party wanted were inserted into the latest version of the bill.