A proposal to cover more youngsters under the Children's Health Insurance Program could come at a cost to other services for needy Texans.

House budget writers, in order to find nearly $78 million more in state funds for the proposed CHIP expansion, whittled proposed increases in other social services, including mental health care and breast and cervical cancer screening.

Their recommendations wouldn't mean a cut in current spending but would scale back expansions of the services -- bad enough to those who say the state already falls far short of helping its needy.

"You don't take from one vulnerable population in order to meet the needs of another vulnerable population," said Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, who is pushing the CHIP expansion but this week voted against taking the money from other social services to pay for it.

The CHIP expansion in House Bill 109 would eliminate a 90-day waiting period for uninsured youngsters; make it easier to qualify for the program, which is for children in families that aren't poor enough for Medicaid but can't afford private insurance; and allow children to remain eligible for a year rather than requalify every six months.

The bill has been approved by the House Human Services Committee, with the full House as the next stop.

The measure is expected to have a tougher Senate ride.

Members of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, have been polishing spending recommendations for all state programs. The panel plans to vote on a budget in time for the full House to consider it before Easter. Senators will pass their own spending plan, and negotiators will work out the differences.

"No question, there are thousands of kids who don't have health insurance who are getting sick," Turner, an Appropriations Committee member, said Wednesday. "But I will also tell you there are thousands of people across this state who are in need of mental health services. They are on the streets. They are in people's homes. To take from mental health (services) in order to provide children with health care is unfathomable."

Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, the Appropriations Committee member seeking to balance competing needs in the social services budget, said the decisions are difficult.

The committee can allocate about $1 billion in new state money for such programs, Gattis said, on top of the $1.7 billion proposed state increase for health and human services already in a starting-point base budget.

Gattis, a former prosecutor, said he supports initiatives including mental health programs, noting they can help people who might end up in jail if untreated. But Texas only has so much money, he said.

"We're going to treat this just like a family ... budget. You have a finite number of dollars. If you fund one thing, that means you don't fund something else," Gattis said. "We're not just going to go out and say, 'We need more money' and grab more money from the taxpayers of Texas."

Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, joined the handful of budget writers who lost a vote against cutting back the proposed increases.

"With breast cancer as pervasive as it is, we need to be putting more money in, rather than cutting," McClendon said, noting the budget still has a long way to travel before it's final.

"I truly believe ... we're going to be able to restore many of those cuts," she said.

Turner said, "I have been around here long enough to know we will fund what we want. What we view as a priority, we will fund. Property tax relief, for example, was a priority. ... We have funded every dollar of that. When it comes to border security, we have funded every single dollar of that proposal. When taking care of our children becomes a priority, we will fund that, as well."