The state House sent an initial budget offer to the Senate on Thursday, an apparent effort to jump-start moribund efforts to reach an agreement on a spending plan for the year that begins July 1.
It wasn’t clear if the proposal was enough to get lawmakers talking about their budget differences, which have now ensured that lawmakers will fail to reach a deal on their one constitutionally required duty by the May 1 end of the annual legislative session. But the offer marked an unexpected step forward in what had been shaping up to be a protracted battle over health-care funding in the differing plans.