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Brownback Releases Details Of Budget Plan

Governor Sam Brownback is proposing a reversal of some state university salary cuts and a raise for classified state employees. He's also hoping to rewrite the Department of Corrections budget.

Senator Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, chairs the Senate's budget committee. He says most of the governor's proposed $460 million dollar spending increase is allocated for corrections, but some lawmakers will still have concerns.

“Minus that, it’s relatively modest, but it is still several tens of millions of dollars. There are a lot of people concerned about that level of spending, so we’ll just have to review it,” Masterson says.

The bill would reverse most of the cuts to funding for university salaries, but would not restore the across-the-board cuts to higher ed. It also includes $8 million in targeted funding for specific university projects.

The bill proposes a 1.5 percent raise for classified state employees that would take effect in fiscal year 2015.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.