AUSTIN, TX— State Representatives pre-filed more than 400 amendments to the House budget proposal that tackle some of the most proactive political issues.

The House’s budget proposal is set to go to vote Thursday but members think heated debates on some hot button issues will continue on into the early morning Friday.

“We all have bets on how long it’s going to go,” said State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, “My bet on when we finish is 3:15 a.m.”

Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Zerwas is the leader of the House budget planning.

The amendments allow all of the members of the Texas House to put their fingerprints on the budget.

Zerwas said, “This is their chance to really say I think we should spend more money here and less money there.”

Several Republicans filed amendments that look to trim parts of the budget to pay for a controversial anti-abortion counseling program.

The proposal by Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, would cut $35 million from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to increase funding for the pro-life counseling program.

The amendment filed by Plano Republican Rep. Matt Shaheen would take $16 million from the Texas Department of Agriculture to fund the same program.

House Democrats proposed redirecting millions of dollars in border security funding to pay for other programs.

Rep. César Blanco, D-El Paso, filed an amendment that would cut $145.6 million from border security to fund a program that offers free tuition to veterans and their children at public universities.

“Why should Texans have to foot the bill for border security when President Trump has already indicated that he’s going to send more boots on the ground,” Rep. Blanco said. He also pointed to President Donald Trump’s promise to build a border wall, another topic of many amendments.  

“None of our precious state dollars should go to building that wall, if it’s built,” said State Rep. Celia Israel.

The Austin Democrat filed an amendment that would prohibit the use of state money to build or maintain a border wall in Big Bend National Park.

“It’s my favorite spot on the planet and I can’t imagine building a wall through Big Bend State Park,” Israel said.

Spring Republican Rep. Valoree Swanson filed a proposal that would ban state money from being used to build, renovate or reclassify a restroom to “allow or enable a man to enter a women’s restroom facility.”

When asked about that specific proposal, Zerwas said, “We’ll treat it just like any other amendment, it will be brought up, it will be debated and it will be voted on.”

Money can be moved around but the $218.2 billion budget proposal is as low Zerwas wants to go.

“We have really cut as much as we could cut,” Zerwas said.

The House’s two-year budget proposal is $500 million more than the plan the Texas Senate passed last week.

“You can cut and cut but at some point you start amputating,” Zerwas said.   

The major difference between the two budgets is that the House’s proposal would dip into the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund, commonly called the ‘rainy day fund.’

A move the leader of the State Senate, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, strongly opposes. Patrick has said the rainy day fund is there in case of an emergency, not to cover “ongoing expenses.”

The House’s proposal would take $2.5 billion out of the state’s rainy day fund, dropping the projected balance down to $10.4 billion in 2019.

Without the rainy day fund, Zerwas said, “We would have to cut major programs out of education, out of Health and Human Services, out of all the major programs that the state’s involved in and that’s just unnecessary.”