CRANBERRY TWP — Gov. Ed Rendell this morning proposed a temporary increase in Pennsylvanians' personal income tax rate in an effort to alleviate a $3.2 billion budget deficit.

Rendell told a crowd of more than 100 Westinghouse Electric employees that the "hundreds" of reductions he's already proposed fall short of balancing the state's $25 billion budget and that state lawmakers need to find a way to cut an additional $1 billion before the June 30 deadline.

Rendell's proposal would increase the state's personal income tax rate to 3.57 percent, a one-half-percentage point increase over the current rate of 3.07 percent. The governor estimated the tax hike would raise an additional $1.5 billion in revenue for the state each year.

The governor also assured audience members the tax increase would be temporary and would be rolled back in three years to its original rate. Even with the tax increase, Rendell said, Pennsylvania still would have the third lowest personal income tax rate of the 41 states that impose one.