The House overwhelmingly approved a $6 billion budget Thursday to pay for state government and public education next year, and lawmakers bitterly complained about Gov. Bill Richardson's description of the session as a "do-nothing Legislature."

The budget, for many in the Legislature, is the main must-do piece of business for the 30-day session because it pays for public schools, colleges and other essential services such as courts, prisons, state law enforcement and medical care for the needy.

Democrats and Republicans took aim at Richardson's comments, which the governor made a day earlier in complaining that lawmakers had gutted his proposal for expanding health care coverage.

"The bill before you is a bill done in 15 days by the do-nothing Legislature," said Rep. Luciano "Lucky" Varela, a Santa Fe Democrat and deputy chairman of the committee that assembled the budget.

The measure cleared the House with strong bipartisan support on a 57-10 vote and was sent to the Senate.

The budget provides for a spending increase of $347 million, or 6.1 percent, in the fiscal year that starts in July 2008.

Public schools account for slightly more than a third of the proposed increase, $125 million. Medicaid, which pays for health care for the poor and uninsured children, will get about a fourth of the increase: roughly $91 million. Colleges and universities represent about 11 percent of the increase: $38 million. Spending on public safety, which includes prisons, state police and homeland security, will go up about $25 million, which is about 7 percent of the overall increase in the state's main budget account next year.

The proposed budget is leaner than the financial blueprint lawmakers assembled a year ago, which provides for an 11 percent increase in spending in the current budget year.

Several lawmakers questioned whether state government could sustain such spending increases in the future, particularly with troubles in the national economy and revenues projected to grow more slowly than in the past.

"I'm greatly concerned that next year we're going to find ourselves in a situation where we're actually going to have to be cutting back some things," said House Republican Leader Tom Taylor of Farmington.

Public schools account for the largest share of the state budget: $2.6 billion. The House-passed measure provides for a 5.2 percent increase in spending for schools. Included is money to add one extra instructional day to the school year.

The House provided more money for schools that Richardson had recommended in his budget proposal, which called for a 4.5 percent increase, or $110 million.

Overall, the House-passed budget is about $14 million lower than Richardson's spending recommendations. However, that difference will narrow after the Senate adds money for some programs.

The governor, at a news conference Wednesday, complained the House budget didn't provide as much money for several health care programs, including Medicaid, as he recommended. He said the base budget for Medicaid in the House plan was about $10 million less than the administration request. The House also didn't provide $8.8 million the governor sought to provide medical services to more children.

Also Thursday, the Senate unanimously approved and sent to the House a bill to spend $7 million on dozens of projects earmarked by senators. The House is expected to add $7 million to the measure for items designated by its members and $7 million for projects backed by the governor.

The budget is House Bill 2. The junior budget is Senate Bill 165.




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