"They are going to make a colossal hit on the budget if they don't pass," said Sen. Greg Tarver, D-Shreveport, of the different bills tied to the budget.

Jindal's spending plans for the 2012-13 budget year assume that lawmakers will pass a set of sweeping changes to the pensions offered to state workers, that the state will sell a mental hospital in New Orleans, that legislators will shuffle dollars away from certain dedicated funds and that state agencies will find private companies to run services more cheaply.

"It would be a good idea for us to know what items are in the budget that are contingent on other items passing," Donahue said. "If those don't pass the Legislature, we would have to find the money."

That's become a repeated concern by lawmakers in both the House and Senate as they delve into the details of the proposal. In particular, lawmakers said they are unsure the package of retirement changes sought by the governor will get legislative backing, be scaled back or be scrapped entirely. Jindal proposes to reduce benefits for some state workers, increase payments for thousands of state employees and push back their retirement age.

Jindal's top budget adviser, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, defended the recommendations and said the governor has used the budget each year to shape his efforts to shrink state government.

"The governor's proposed spending plan, of course, reflects the governor's policy initiatives that reform and restructure government to save taxpayer money. We will be working with members of the Legislature during the course of the legislative session to pass these important reforms that put state spending on a more sustainable path," Rainwater said in a statement.

The largest portion of the money tied to other bills is poured into the Department of Health and Hospitals.

Meanwhile, members of the House Appropriations Committee said they were concerned about some of the governor's cost-cutting recommendations for the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Jindal proposes selling a state prison in Avoyelles Parish and closing state prisons in Pineville and Keithville to reduce employees and save money. The inmates at J. Levy Dabadie Correctional Center and Forcht-Wade Correctional Center would be shifted to other facilities.

Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, said he was concerned that a substance abuse program would be shuttered with the closing of Forcht-Wade. Burns said addictive disorder treatment helps lower the rate of prisoners returning to jail.

"You've got a great program there," Burns said.

Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said the substance abuse treatment will be transferred to another prison, not eliminated.

"I have all the intentions to keep that program in place. We're not going to lose that program. I promise you that," he said.

Other lawmakers suggested policy changes to allow nonviolent, elderly prisoners to be moved from jail into nursing homes, where they could be covered by Medicaid, which is subsidized largely with federal funding.