HARRISBURG - Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and his allies have begun reaching out to rank-and-file Republican lawmakers in an effort to build majority support for a budget plan that can break a 3-month-old budget stalemate.

The concept being circulated lacks many details but revolves around imposing a new severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production and raising the state's personal income tax rate, Republicans said.Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bucks, said it will be difficult, but not impossible, for Wolf to woo enough Republicans to his side to pass both houses of the Legislature, where huge GOP majorities are in control."I'm willing to talk to the administration," said DiGirolamo, who has a history of bucking House GOP leadership. "The question is, what are the rates on the Marcellus Shale tax and personal income tax and where does the revenue go?"Wolf told KQV-AM radio in Pittsburgh on Wednesday that he believes he can win over "good Republican legislators" who are tired of the stalemate.Leaders of House and Senate Republicans maintain there is not enough support in the Legislature to pass an income or sales tax increase, and certainly not the multibillion-dollar tax increase Wolf is seeking.Wolf insists such an increase is necessary to wipe out funding cuts for schools and human services enacted under his Republican predecessor, Tom Corbett, and to eliminate a long-term budget deficit that he projects will reach $3 billion next year.Still, Republican majority leaders told Wolf in a closed-door meeting last week they would allow a floor vote on a budget package that includes an income or sales tax increase if Democrats can secure enough support to pass it.That invitation has spurred the Wolf administration and its allies into conversations with rank-and-file Republican lawmakers. A Wolf administration spokesman would not say which Republicans are being targeted or what they are proposing to them.One Republican who has been approached, Rep. Nicholas Miccarelli of Delaware County, said he supports the imposition of a severance tax but not necessarily an increase in the personal income tax."Any kind of personal income tax increase, I'd have to look at very, very hard," Miccarelli said."It's hard for me to figure out a scenario where this benefits the people in my district."