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RALEIGH — Democratic leaders in the Senate rammed their version of the state's $21.4 billion budget through the first of two needed votes, allowing members to offer few changes and little debate Wednesday.

Republicans had virtually no chance to amend the bill or speak to its merits on the floor, with the exception of a measure that would study the effectiveness of state-funded pre-kindergarten programs.

Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight , a Manteo Democrat, said he ordered debate shut down to protect members of his party in upcoming elections.

"You will have an amendment that will come in for the sole purpose of not necessarily changing what's in the budget. ...The purpose would be to put people on record without any kind of protective debate on the subject," Basnight said.

Three Senate Democrats, including Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro, are running for statewide office, while a handful of others face tough re-election battles this year.

The Senate will vote on the budget again today before negotiations with the House and the governor's office begin on a final version of the bill.

Democrats hold a 31-19 advantage in the Senate and their party is united on most issues, giving leaders a firm grip on the chamber's procedural reins.

"They've got the majority. They're going to get the budget bill they want," said Sen. Phil Berger , an Eden Republican and the Senate minority leader. "But the idea that they can't countenance debate seems to me to be offensive to everything that we expect from an elected body."

When the House debated its version of the budget, members were allowed to offer amendments during two sets of committee meetings as well as a protracted floor debate.

But rank-and-file senators were given a copy of the two-volume, 337-page budget Monday afternoon and had to offer any changes for committee consideration by 10 a.m. Tuesday .

Then Wednesday, leaders allowed only eight amendments to be offered on the Senate floor, with three of those dismissed by way of parliamentary rulings and motions.

By contrast, the House fully debated and voted on more than 20 changes on the floor.

Basnight justified the shutdown in part by saying Republicans had not shared the content of their amendments with Democrats before the floor session. But Republicans said they did share some of their proposals and suspected one in particular may have prompted the clamp-down.

The Senate budget would give Gov. Mike Easley authority to raise teacher salaries by up to 7 percent if tax revenues come in higher than forecast over the next four months. Berger wanted to amend that so that other state employees would receive the same raises teachers got. Such an amendment would pit the interests of teachers and state employees, two key Democratic constituencies, against one another.

Republicans also said the idea that politics should be scoured from the budget debate was disingenuous, pointing to an amendment offered by Hagan that would allow the state to expand available slots in a children's health insurance program earlier than planned.

"I know that's not an issue in the campaign for the U.S. Senate. That was a pure coincidence," said Sen. Tom Apodaca , a Hendersonville Republican.

Hagan is running to unseat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and gave differences over federal funding of the state children's health insurance program as a key reason she entered the race against the Republican.

Sen. Stan Bingham , a Denton Republican who represents parts of High Point, voted for the budget but said he was "disappointed" by the way Republicans were shut out of the discussion.

"We (Republicans) represent three or four million people, and we were not allowed to debate and represent them," he said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com