HARRISBURG — As they worked to woo Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday, legislative leaders also faced the task of persuading rank-and-file legislators to support a budget deal they crafted to end Pennsylvania's 2 1/2-month-old budget impasse.

Most lawmakers had not been briefed on the deal since it was announced Friday in Harrisburg, and the top priority for the legislative leaders who had agreed to the deal was trying to win Rendell's backing.

Despite mounting pressure to pass a budget, Rep. Nick Kotik, D-Allegheny, said the deal still will have to be fair to win over the conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats he helped organize in the House.

That decision will be made after they see details, Kotik said.

"We definitely want to engage in the debate and look at all sides of this thing and look at whether it's a good deal or a bad deal," he said.

Pennsylvania has been without a comprehensive budget since the fiscal year began July 1 and is the last state still fighting over its annual spending plan. Without a budget, the private organizations and businesses that make up Pennsylvania's social safety net are laying off workers and shuttering services to stay afloat.

On Tuesday, Republican and Democratic negotiators reported significant progress toward winning Rendell's support. That followed four days of Rendell warning that he would veto what he called a "get-out-of-town" budget that relied upon suspect revenue projections and underfunded his education and health care priorities.

A spokesman for Rendell acknowledged Tuesday that negotiators had made progress but declined to discuss details.

No votes were scheduled on the nearly $28 billion budget deal that was struck by leaders of the House Democrats and both parties in the Senate. Talks were to continue today, said Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware.

Dealmakers are counting on higher taxes on businesses and cigarettes and more money from gambling and gas exploration in state forests to help wipe out a multibillion-dollar shortfall driven by the recession. To resolve Rendell's concerns, negotiators were considering adding another new source of revenue to balance spending, Pileggi said.

House Minority Leader Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, has said he agrees with Rendell about the dealmakers' questionable revenue projections, but says his caucus also opposes the deal because it raises taxes and allows more spending than is prudent.

As they tighten the screws on the package, dealmakers will have to fend off the many requests for changes that rank-and-file legislators are likely to lodge. Some changes, however, may be necessary to shore up support.

So far, dealmakers have released only broad outlines of the deal publicly as they continue to hammer out in private how much money each program will receive.

Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, said he is leaning against voting for the budget after reading over the materials supplied by legislative leaders and listening to news conferences.

Leach said the budget deal would shortchange many social services that serve the needy, and he agrees with the governor that the puzzle of new taxes and fees assembled to help fill the deficit is shaky.