The state operating budget for Fiscal year 2009 passed by the state House March 4 increases state general fund spending by 10.6 percent over the operating budget for the current fiscal year, House Finance co-chair Rep. Mike Chenault said.

The state operating budget for fiscal 2008 was about 15 percent over the 2007 budget. The budget passed by the House trims $230.5 million from the budget submitted by Gov. Sarah Palin.

The 2009 operating budget bill appropriates $4.1 billion in state general funds and $5.8 billion in federal and other state funds, for a total of $9.98 billion.

The House passed the budget, in House Bill 310, by a margin of 29-10. House members also approved a companion bill that appropriates operating and capital budgets for state mental health programs by 33-5.

“Our budget represents a responsible balance between holding down spending on one hand while responding to the growing needs of people on the other,” Chenault said. “The cost of everything related to the budget is going up, and while we are in a time of historically high revenue, it would simply not be prudent to pass an operating budget we cannot sustain in the future,” he said.

Significant items in the budget include $309 million for state employee negotiated pay raises; $50 million in revenue sharing for municipalities; $175 million for oil and gas investment tax credits.