With little discussion, a bill that some fear would unbalance the state budget process moved out of a Senate committee Monday.

The legislation by state Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, would specify that if an appropriations act fails to pass the Legislature or is vetoed by the governor, the existing appropriation would automatically be reallocated.

"I think it's important to have something in place so that the government keeps functioning" if a budget isn't passed, Dayton said to the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s office is strongly opposed to the bill, however, said his deputy chief of staff, Mike Mower.

"We have some very significant concerns about this bill," he said -- mainly that it could allow the Legislature, or one house of the Legislature, to short-circuit the budgeting process.

In forming a state budget, the governor and the state Senate and House of Representatives must agree to a spending plan. There are worries that should this bill pass, it would remove the incentive to negotiate a compromise.

The bill has already passed the House and now goes to the full Senate, where its fate is unknown, said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem.

"That bill did not pass with enough of a margin in the House to override a veto," he said.

With little over a week left in the legislative session, he said, it may not be worth it to act on a bill that wouldn't survive a veto -- "and the governor's said he's going to veto it."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A7.