The Texas Senate approved a $6.6 billion supplemental budget bill March 5 that pays for a gap in Medicaid funding and some deferred school district payments from the previous legislative session.

The bill now goes back to the House—which approved the emergency spending bill without the school payments last month—for approval of the changes before it heads to Gov. Rick Perry's desk.

The bill has passed unanimously in both chambers.

House leaders initially had planned to file a separate bill dealing with the more than $1.7 billion in deferred payments to the districts. Lawmakers held off on those payments in 2011 to balance the budget, with the expectation that the state would pay those this session. But Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he expects no resistance from the House in agreeing with the Senate approach instead.

The $1.7 billion is not a restoration of any part of the $5.4 billion in education cuts from the previous session.

Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, pushed for the bill to include restoration of that funding, similar to a move made by the Democrats in the House, but eventually withdrew her amendment. She promised to stick with the issue but acknowledged that the supplemental budget bill needed to pass.

The Legislature cut funding to schools and educational programs during the previous session, and Democrats have been pressuring state leaders to restore that money in emergency bills. In both chambers, however, Democrats made their move on the supplemental bill as a way to keep the public conversation going, but ultimately supported the bill without a school funding amendment.

The budget bill must pass both chambers so $4.5 billion can be paid into the state's Medicaid system by mid-March. If it does not pass, roughly 3 million Texans lose coverage.