Harrisburg, Pa. ? Gov. Ed Rendell late Sunday ordered a range of state government services shut down and placed about 24,000 state work force on indefinite unpaid furlough after frantic last-minute negotiations failed to break a budget stalemate.

A judge, however, ordered that the state’s five slots parlors remain open, at least temporarily.

Rendell, appearing outside his Capitol office, said the shutdown would go forward but added that he was optimistic that he and legislators could come to an agreement within a day.

“Let me say to our hardworking and dedicated state employees, I’m sorry we’re here. We worked as hard as we could today to get this done,” Rendell said. But, he said, negotiations and serious consideration of his priorities, which he maintains must be passed with a state spending plan, began too late.

“We didn’t start early enough,” Rendell said. “I think everybody was at fault for not starting early enough.”

Critical state services – such as health care for the poor, state police patrols and prisons – will be maintained.

The partial shutdown is the result of a battle of wills between the Democratic governor and the Republicans who control the Senate. Without an approved budget, the state has lost the authority to spend money on nonessential services and employees.

Legislators said an agreement on the $27 billion-plus budget was near, but that disagreements remain over the governor’s other priorities. Key sticking points include raising the state’s debt ceiling and an energy plan that Rendell has insisted the Legislature approve before he signs the budget, they said.