State and local officials facing budget shortfalls urged the Ways and Means Committee Wednesday to include billions of dollars in state aid in a post-election economic stimulus package.

Those officials also asked the federal government to open up the recently enacted financial industry bailout plan to state and local authorities struggling to find buyers for tax-exempt bonds.

The Ways and Means Committee hearing came as Democratic leaders, amid signs of a deepening recession, make plans to advance a second 2008 economic stimulus package in a November lame-duck session. Unlike the first stimulus bill package enacted earlier this year, the new proposal would likely focus less on tax breaks desired by Republicans and more on health, education and infrastructure spending.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., has discussed the idea with President Bush, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel , D-N.Y., noted that in order to get the president on board, Democrats are “trying to make it as bipartisan as we can.”

The White House however noted that Democrats had not yet proposed anything Bush could support.

“What we have not seen from the Democratic leadership are ideas that would actually stimulate the economy. There would be a lot more deficit spending, but that doesn’t necessarily help anybody in the near term,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.