Topeka ? A Kansas House panel has set aside two days for hearings on whether to abolish several exemptions to the state sales tax.

The House Taxation Committee planned to begin the work Thursday by examining the sales tax exemptions for recreational activities, fundraising events, nonprofit and charitable groups and religious organizations.

Kansas lawmakers have been giving the sales tax a closer look as the state faces a projected $416 million budget deficit in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The House panel has already rejected one revenue-raising idea — a proposal from Gov. Mark Parkinson to raise the 5.3 percent sales tax to 6.3 percent for three years.