The Latest: Kansas House budget plan still hits university


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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the Kansas House's debate on budget legislation (all times local):

4:35 p.m.

A budget-balancing plan given first-round approval by the Kansas House still punishes the state's largest university for using out-of-state bonds to finance construction projects on campus.

The House advanced the budget bill Wednesday on a voice vote to set up final action Thursday. Members narrowed a provision restricting spending at the University of Kansas so that it did not apply to its Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

But there was no attempt during a five-hour debate to remove the remaining restrictions. Democratic Rep. John Wilson of Lawrence said there's probably a better strategy for dealing with the issue.

Republican legislators are upset that a nonprofit corporation formed by the university had a Wisconsin agency issue $327 million in bonds for campus construction projects without legislative approval.

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4:10

The Kansas House has given first-round approval to a bill that eliminates a projected deficit of nearly $200 million in state's next budget.

The chamber's voice vote Wednesday advanced the measure to a final vote Thursday.

The bill makes dozens of changes in the $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It contains proposals from Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to close the gap by juggling funds and capturing unanticipated savings.

The House added extra funds for the state's two mental hospitals and pay raises for uniformed corrections officers at state prisons.

Republican supporters said the bill addresses essential budget needs.

But Democrats and some GOP lawmakers complained the bill represented poor fiscal management following massive personal income tax cuts enacted at Brownback's urging in 2012 and 2013.

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2:10 p.m.

The Kansas House has approved a proposal to make it harder for the state to sell or turn over the operation of its two mental hospitals to private companies.

The House voted 68-51 on Wednesday for an amendment to budget legislation from Democratic Rep. Jim Ward of Wichita. It says the state couldn't spend any money on privatizing the hospitals in Larned and Osawatomie unless the Legislature approved the idea first.

A critical survey in November prompted the federal government to decertify the Osawatomie hospital about 45 miles southwest of the Kansas City area. The state is losing between $500,000 and $1 million a month in federal funds.

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services has said privatizing the hospital is an option, but area legislators oppose the idea.

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1 p.m.

Kansas House members want to make sure that a measure punishing the University of Kansas for using out of state bonds to finance campus construction projects doesn't hurt its Medical Center in Kansas City.

The House approved an amendment to a budget bill Wednesday on a voice vote to narrow the scope of a provision restricting spending at the University of Kansas.

Top Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature are upset with the university over how it is financing a development project that includes a new science lab, housing for 1,200 students, a new student union building and new power plant.

The university formed a nonprofit corporation that then went to Wisconsin's Public Finance Authority to issue $327 million in bonds, avoiding Kansas legislative approval.

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12:35 p.m.

Republicans have blocked a debate in the Kansas House on expanding the state's Medicaid program as encouraged by the federal health care overhaul.

The vote Wednesday in the GOP-dominated chamber was 85-37 against debating a proposal from Democratic Rep. Jim Ward of Wichita to expand Medicaid for three years. The Kansas Medicaid program provides coverage for 362,000 poor and disabled Kansans, and Ward's proposal would have provided coverage for another 160,000 people.

The 2010 federal health care law championed by Democratic President Barack Obama encouraged states to expand their Medicaid programs by promising that the federal government would pick up almost all of the costs.

But Republican legislative leaders in Kansas opposed the health care overhaul and believe a Medicaid expansion would be more costly to the state than expected.

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11:55 a.m.

Kansas House members have voted to limit the governor's authority to temporarily short the state's contributions to public pensions to cover gaps in the state budget.

The House took up a bill Wednesday that would eliminate a projected deficit of nearly $200 million in the state's $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The bill allows the governor to act before July 1 to reduce the state's contributions to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System to keep the budget balanced without cutting other spending.

But the House voted 89-34 to add a requirement that any such reduction be paid back by Sept. 30, with 8 percent interest. Also, the governor could not reduce or delay contributions to KPERS during the next fiscal year.

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6:25 a.m.

The Kansas House is preparing to debate a bill that balances the next state budget while also giving corrections officers in state prisons a pay raise.

The measure on the House's agenda Wednesday eliminates a projected deficit of nearly $200 million in the $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The bill contains many of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's proposals to eliminate the budget gap by shuffling state funds and capturing unanticipated savings.

But it also breaks with Brownback's proposals to spend $2.4 million to give uniformed officers at state prisons a 2.5 percent pay raise. It contains an additional $3 million for the state's two mental hospitals to help them with staffing and other issues.

The Senate expects to debate its own budget-balancing plan Thursday.

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