Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

AUSTIN — The state would pour $102.4 million more into additional border law officers, helicopters, equipment and technology over the next two years under a plan backed Monday by House budget writers.

The plan, pushed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry, was endorsed after budget writers met with Perry's staff to get more details on his proposal, which some said was not specific enough.

Despite continuing concerns from some, Monday's action puts the border plan into the overall budget that the Appropriations Committee will vote on later this month and send to the full House for consideration.

Approval came with a push from Democratic border lawmakers and Republicans who say their constituents support tighter border security. Many portrayed it as a crime-fighting necessity rather than a tool against illegal immigration.

"Drugs. Carjackings. Auto theft. Kidnapping. Those are the things that we're looking to fend against here," said Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville. "Not necessarily immigration."

Rep. Jim Jackson, R-Carrollton, voiced the same support from a different vantage point.

"As one who's not a border person and is several hours removed from there, I think everything we read tells us that local law enforcement are outmanned and outgunned on the border," Jackson said. "I think the people that I represent, far removed from the border, would like to stop it as much as possible at the border before it gets to us, No. 1. And No. 2, we feel an obligation to those United States citizens there at the border that are being threatened by this unlawful conduct."

The proposal was approved without objection, although some still looked askance at the cost. Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, described himself as "a little bit dismayed by the lack of professional planning" that he said went into the numbers.

"Had someone said $200 million, would we be looking for $200 million? If someone had said $50 million, would we have been looking for $50 million?" Noriega asked.

Rep. Warren Chisum, a Pampa Republican who is Appropriations chairman, defended the figures, saying, "These are not just shoot-from-the-hip dollars. There's been a lot of thought go into them."

The proposal would fund 300 new commissioned officers for local law enforcement departments; 51 new Department of Public Safety troopers; nine DPS pilots; 15 game wardens; more training, equipment and vehicles; four helicopters; overtime pay; and technology, including the "virtual neighborhood watch" that would track the border with cameras.

Chisum said increased tracking of border activity can help Texas make its case for more federal dollars, agreeing with others that securing the border and controlling immigration are properly federal responsibilities that the federal government is failing to do.

But Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said the pull on funding takes away lawmakers' ability to pay for other items he thinks are necessary, such as increasing the amount lawmakers can put into helping lower-income, elderly utility customers pay their bills.

"I'm not opposed to homeland security. Don't get me wrong," Turner said. But, he said, "I think the request is too large and still too ambiguous."

Perry spokesman Ted Royer called the committee action "an important step in keeping all Texans safe from those who would exploit our border."