Trying to beat the House out of the gate, the Illinois Senate Wednesday approved a state operations budget that Senate Democrats said would cut overall spending while preserving education funding.

Senate Republicans, who voted against all three components of the budget plan, called it a sham designed mainly to show the House that the Senate could pass a budget first.

Even one of the budget's architects, Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, agreed the Senate Democrats' plan isn't the final word.

"I don't think we want to be in a position of waiting for the House to pass a budget," Steans said. "We are going to move budget to the House and continue negotiations."

The House is working on its own spending plan based on a resolution it adopted setting spending limits in areas like human services, education and public safety. If the House sticks to that resolution, it will produce a budget more than $500 million smaller than the one adopted by the Senate Wednesday. The House has yet to make public any components of its budget plan.