HELENA -- A negotiated two-year pay increase of 3 percent a year for state and university system employees hit a partisan snag in the Montana House Thursday evening, failing on a party-line vote after the two sides couldn't agree on contentious amendments to the bill.

House Majority Leader Michael Lange, R-Billings, said afterwards he hopes House Bill 13, which contains the pay plan, can be revised in committee and brought back later for a positive vote.

But for now, HB13 has been sent back to the House Appropriations Committee after the House locked up on a pair of close votes that led to rejection of the measure.

The bill failed on a 49-51 vote, with all 49 Democrats opposing it. Republican Rep. Ed Butcher of Winifred and Constitution Party Rep. Rick Jore of Ronan also voted no.

Rep. Jon Sesso, D-Butte, the sponsor of the bill, asked fellow Democrats to vote against the bill after a 50-50 vote killed an attempt to remove amendments that he said violated the negotiated pay agreement between the Schweitzer administration and public-employee unions.

Jore voted with 49 of the House's 50 Republicans to keep the objectionable amendments. Republican Rep. John Ward of Helana voted with all 49 Democrats to remove the amendments, leading to the 50-50 tie.

The partisan votes came despite a plea from Rep. Jim Keane, D-Butte, who said if the two parties can't get together on an issue this simple, it's going to be a long session.

"We will never get out of this session if we don't think about what we're doing here,'' he said.

HB13 increases pay for state workers 3 percent this year and 3 percent next year. The $100 measure also increases longevity pay for workers with the state for 10 years and increases health-insurance contributions.

The dispute Thursday centered on two amendments added by Republicans in the House Appropriations Committee earlier this week.

One amendment said when state managers use market-based pay to recruit and retain new employees, they can offer no more than 85 percent of the market rate for those salaries.

The other said an increase in health-care benefits is not needed to shore up the state's health-insurance fund, and therefore the money can be used to finance merit-based raises.

Rep. Bill McChesney, D-Miles City, said neither provision is in the agreement negotiated last year between the Schweitzer administration and employee unions, and that including them is breaking a contract.

"The point is that language was added to an agreement after the fact,'' he said. "Whether it changes the agreement at all is not the point. It's a matter of principal.''

Union officials said they felt the amendments do change the negotiated agreement.

McChesney also said he would agree to attempting to address the concerns in the amendments in a separate bill.

Rep. John Sinrud, R-Bozeman, who sponsored the amendments, said they addressed two issues pointed out by a legislative audit.

The audit said the health-insurance fund already has enough money and doesn't need the extra contribution, and that state managers are using the market-based pay to offer different salaries to people doing the same job.

Sinrud said the amendment limiting pay to 85 percent of the market for new employees would lead to "equal pay for equal work.''

Lange said he hopes the amendments can be removed in committee and that lawmakers can agree to address the two issues in a separate bill. Once that happens, HB13 can be brought back to the floor for another vote, he said.