HELENA (LEE) — The House Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday to table a bill to pay for $72 million worth of supplemental appropriations to pay bills already racked up by state agencies.

On an 11-8 vote, Republicans on the panel tabled House Bill 3 so Rep. Bill Glaser, R-Huntley, could obtain greater budget details.

HB3 covers money already spent in the two-year budget period that ends June 30 for emergency and other unanticipated expenses.

David Ewer, budget director for Gov. Brian Schweitzer, criticized the move.

“This legislation is to pay bills for public safety,” Ewer said. “These are bills that we have to pay.”

The major supplemental appropriations, Ewer said, are:

- $27 million for Department of Corrections secure care, which covers growth in inmates at state prisons and additional payment of overtime for staff employees required.

- $25 million for firefighting costs last summer.

- $11 million for the Department of Public Health and Human Services, including $6 million for the Montana State Hospital unit where guilty but mentally ill prisoners are held.

- $3.3 million for the state’s new public defender program.