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Republican candidate for governor Charles D. Baker Jr. is targeting municipal retiree and employee health care plans to save “hundreds of millions” of dollars in government spending.

Mr. Baker yesterday said the funds could be saved with state approval of a bill that would allow cities and towns to increase the share of premiums paid by employees and retirees. It would also, without union agreements, swap current insurance plans for others that provide less medical coverage and higher co-payments.

Asked whether unilateral changes in health plans would require retirees and employees to pay more for their health insurance with possible cuts in coverage, Mr. Baker would not acknowledge that retirees and workers would bear the cost of the savings.

“Basically, if it’s good enough for state workers and retirees, it should be good enough for local workers and retirees as well,” Mr. Baker said.

Also yesterday, the House voted to scrap a proposal that critics said could have raised property taxes by as much as $500 million.

The measure, which would have let cities and towns raise taxes above the limit set by Proposition 2-1/2 to pay property tax abatements, came under fire from Gov. Deval L. Patrick, who said he would not sign the bill if the measure was included.

Mr. Baker and independent candidate for governor Timothy Cahill also said they were against the plan.

Seth Gitell, a spokesman for House Speaker Robert DeLeo, said leaders decided to eliminate the provision from a municipal relief bill.

Proposition 2-1/2 was approved by voters in 1980 and radically changed the way cities and towns raise taxes to pay for municipal services. It limits communities from raising property taxes by more than 2.5 percent a year without approval from voters.

Mr. Baker’s health care plan was one of several proposals he outlined to cut costs for taxpayers at a Statehouse press conference yesterday as the House began debate on its budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Mr. Baker reiterated earlier proposals to roll back state income and sales tax rates to 5 percent during his first term. He also said he would cut 5,000 state jobs. He did not identify where he would cut state spending.

Mr. Patrick, who is running for re-election, criticized Mr. Baker for not providing specifics of how he would cut the state budget to bring it in line with his proposed tax cuts. He said the Baker campaign lacked integrity. “We haven’t heard anything serious yet out of the Baker campaign,” Mr. Patrick said.

On the municipal retiree and employee health care plans, Mr. Baker argued that at least $100 million would be saved by allowing unilateral plan changes at the local level.

He said that authority, proposed in an amendment to a municipal relief bill debated in the House yesterday, has been sought by both Democrats and Republicans at the local level for years, and “didn’t seem that controversial to me.”

The amendment, rejected before the House passed the municipal relief bill, would have allowed cities and towns to change worker and retiree insurance plans to match the cheapest plan offered to state employees and retirees through the state Group Insurance Commission.

“They have been blocked on that initiative over and over again,” Mr. Baker said of Democrats in the Legislature who have opposed the changes.

The House rejected similar proposals to authorize cities and towns to switch health plans without union approval two years ago. At that time, state law was changed to allow cities and towns to move workers to GIC plans if employees agreed. That has resulted in significant savings for some communities.

The municipal relief bill approved yesterday included provisions for cities and towns to extend full funding of pensions from 2030 until 2040 and extend repayment of bonds for school buildings from 25 to 30 years.

It also provides for an early retirement incentive that would allow municipal workers with 20 years creditable service to add up to three years of service for early retirement. Mr. Baker said he would support reinstating $50 million in state funding for the Quinn Bill to provide bonuses to police officers for college level degrees. He said he opposes replacement of police with civilian flaggers at construction sites. The Legislature cut the Quinn funding to $10 million last year and is considering a cut to $5 million for next year.

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