Juneau -- The House Finance Committee Tuesday passed out a House Finance Committee Substitute for House Bill 100, the Supplemental Budget Bill.

"We're very proud of all the work that has gone into this Supplemental Budget and very pleased with the final product," said Representative Eldon Mulder (R-Anchorage), Co-Chair of the Finance Committee. "We started out with some $28 million in additional spending requests from the governor. Through hard work and the cooperation of all parties, we were able to fund all emergencies and still lower our current year spending plan by $1.5 million."

As part of the Supplemental spending package, the Finance Committee approved a $200 million increase on withdrawals from the Constitutional Budget Reserve. The Governor had requested the so-called "Spending Cap" be removed entirely and that the State government by fully funded through the end of Fiscal Year 1999 on June 30. Estimates put the cost of such a decision at between $400 million and $500 million.

"This $200 million increase in the spending cap from the Constitutional Budget Reserve is not going to be enough to fund the government through the end of FY 99," Mulder said. "We raised the cap only partially as leverage to encourage the Administration to work with us to find additional cuts in the current year's budget."

The Supplemental Budget pays for emergency situations, disasters, and other items which occur but cannot be predicted.

CSHB 100 now moves to the House Floor.