Medicaid and public schools would receive the bulk of a $163 million funding increase in a $4.7 billion budget that Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe presented on Tuesday, but lawmakers questioned his decision to not propose granting state employees a pay raise in the coming year.

Beebe called for $117 million in new money for the state's Human Services Department to pay for growth in Medicaid and wants $56 million in additional funding for Arkansas' public schools for the coming year.

Some of the increased funding is offset by reductions that the governor is proposing for other agencies, including $15 million from a fund for merit-based pay raises. Many of the reductions come from one-time items from this year's budget that weren't continuing the following year.

"This is a very conservative budget and a very conservative forecast," Department of Finance and Administration Director Richard Weiss told members of the Joint Budget Committee.

Finance officials on Tuesday detailed Beebe's proposed budget for the year that begins July 1. The proposal would increase the state's budget by $163 million. Lawmakers convene for the fiscal session on Feb. 13.