BATON ROUGE - House Republicans have started advancing two budget-rebalancing proposals that cut more deeply than Gov. John Bel Edwards wants and hit agencies he wanted to protect.

The Appropriations Committee approved both plans Wednesday.

The first proposal from Chairman Cameron Henry would use nearly $75 million from Louisiana's "rainy day" fund - $45 million less than Edwards proposes - to close a $304 million deficit.

In exchange, it would levy cuts on public colleges and state prisons, areas Edwards sought to shield. And it would make larger reductions to the state health department than Edwards wanted.

A second plan sponsored by Reps. Tony Bacala and Rick Edmonds wouldn't use rainy day money at all. It would deepen cuts to health programs and other agencies.

The full House will debate the proposals Friday.