When the D.C. Council unexpectedly voted down a $64 million spending plan because of a disagreement about a plan to pay District employees for furlough days, lawmakers were also delaying action on $42 million of other proposals from Mayor Vincent Gray — and prompting warnings that some programs need immediate cash infusions to avoid breaking the law.

“It’s money that’s needed,” Gray said Wednesday, a day after the vote. “I believe in what we’ve put forward in the supplemental.”