Kansas lawmakers negotiate final version of fix for budget

Kansas legislative negotiators agreed Monday evening on the details of a plan for balancing the next state budget while sidestepping questions about funding for public schools that could undo their fix.

The plan drafted by three senators and three House members would eliminate a deficit of nearly $200 million in the state’s $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It would do so largely by adopting proposals from Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to juggle funds, capture unanticipated savings and sell off the assets of an economic development agency.

The negotiators also agreed on a 2.5 percent pay raise for uniformed corrections officers at state prisons. They also included a provision to block the use of bonds backed by state sales tax revenues for an effort to lure the venerable American Royal horse and livestock exhibition in Kansas City from Missouri to Kansas.

But their plan contains no response to a Kansas Supreme Court decision last week that struck down a 2015 state law that determines how the state distributes more than $4 billion a year in aid to its 286 local school districts. The court said the law violated the state constitution by shorting poor school districts.

“There’s no reason to hold the rest of the state budget hostage over one issue,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican, and his chamber’s lead negotiator. “We’re just taking it one bite at a time.”

The agreement will go next to each GOP-dominated chamber for an up-or-down vote, possibly this week. If both approve the deal, the plan will go to Brownback.

Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat and one of her chamber’s negotiators, said the talks didn’t tackle school funding because “we don’t have any money.” The state has struggled to balance its budget since Republican lawmakers slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging in an effort to stimulate the economy.

“We have no idea what to do right now,” Kelly said. “I suppose you could call it a fool’s errand.”

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Kansas lawmakers negotiate final version of fix for budget."