The move came as tension escalated between Gov. Rendell and Senate Republicans in a bitter budget impasse that has the state's five casinos caught in the middle.

"This is Alice in Wonderland, and the Mad Hatter is in charge," Rendell said shortly after the subpoenas were issued.

The state has operated without a budget since Sunday, and has notified about 25,000 employees not to show up to work next week unless a compromise is reached.

For Pennsylvania's slots parlors, millions of dollars in profits could depend on 14 state Revenue Department employees who are set to be furloughed Monday at 7 a.m.

The employees monitor the centralized computer system that tallies Pennsylvania's share of all slot wagers. Without those technicians and clerks, slot machines must, under state law, go silent.

"Clearly, the industry's become a political football," said Sen. Jane Earll (R., Erie), chairwoman of the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee, which held a hearing yesterday to examine the impact that a partial government shutdown would have on slots parlors and the $1.7 million they generate daily in state revenue.

Problem is, the first two witnesses scheduled to testify didn't show.

Earll had asked Revenue Secretary Thomas Wolf and Office of Administration Secretary Joseph Martz to field questions at the hearing. But the administration said the two would not appear and called the hearing "ill-timed." The governor outlined his furlough plan to legislative leaders in May, and any hearings should have been held before now, the administration said in a letter to Earll.

Refusing to testify, Earll responded, was "the height of arrogance."

Later in the day, the GOP-controlled committee voted along party lines to issue subpoenas to compel Martz and Wolf to testify when the hearing resumes at noon today.

Sen. Robert Tomlinson (R., Bucks), whose district includes PhiladelphiaPark Casino in Bensalem, said Rendell's strategy baffled him. Shutting down the slots parlors would only strengthen the resolve of those Senate Republicans who oppose gambling and would love nothing more than to see casinos closed, he said.

"I'm having a difficulty understanding this play by the governor," added Tomlinson, who was among the few Senate Republicans to side with Rendell in 2004 and vote to legalize slot machines.

Sen. Jay Costa (D., Allegheny) tried to block the subpoenas, arguing that they were meant only "to beat up on the administration."

Legislative committees rarely exercise their power to issue subpoenas to compel testimony. The last time was during the 1994 impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen. Rendell, mayor of Philadelphia at the time, was among those testifying under a subpoena.

Rendell said yesterday afternoon that his top lawyers were reviewing the subpoenas.

Late last night, Senate Republicans said the administration could not make Wolf and Martz available today. They then asked whether the secretaries or their deputies would be available tomorrow. They were waiting for a response.

Earll said she hoped to ask the two about the Revenue Department workers in charge of the central computer and why they were deemed nonessential when so much was riding on them.

Rendell has answered that question several times at news conferences, and he repeated his answer yesterday.

Federal court cases, he said, have established that only state employees deemed critical to the health, welfare and safety of the public can work during a budget impasse.