After the budget hearings on Monday, seven Democrats and Republicans on the budget panel sent a letter to Gov. Christine Todd Whitman endorsing the commissioner's plans.
Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking member of the budget panel, says that keeping the current spending caps is a bedrock principle.
A judge in December sided with the union because the privatization plan had been approved by a budget panel instead of the full Legislature.
Further serious discussion of the deficit has been put off until after the midterm election, when the president's budget panel is due to report.
Mr. Codey also urged fellow senators to pull $100 million in new spending bills now being considered by the Senate budget panel.
6.42pm BST We're going to head back over to the budget panel, where Zients and the others are taking questions.
The comments from Senator Wayne Bryant, chairman of the Senate budget panel, came after the state treasurer testified that poorer-than-expected tax collections have eliminated easy solutions to state budget woes.
Some experts predict that a middle ground may emerge: The budget panel may find nearly all the required savings, and to avoid the pain of sequestration, the Defense Department will be ordered to find additional savings — but less than $600 billion.
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has said tax increases should not be an option, while some Democrats see a budget panel as a threat to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
