Hartford (AP) — U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy say an amendment they offered to the Senate's first budget proposal in four years would make it easier to restore funding for air traffic control towers at six small airports in Connecticut targeted by automatic spending cuts.

The amendment passed unanimously by the senate as majority Democrats went on record favoring almost $1 trillion in tax increases over the coming decade while sheltering domestic programs targeted by Republicans in the House of Representatives.

The Democratic plan also proposes to reverse automatic spending cuts that are beginning to strike both the Pentagon and domestic programs. It passed by a near party line 50-49 vote in Saturday's pre-dawn hours.

The amendment would benefit airports around the country. Connecticut airports affected include Sikorsky Memorial, Danbury Municipal, Groton-New London, Hartford-Brainard, Tweed-New Haven and Waterbury-Oxford.