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Kansas Senate Committee Moves To Restore Some Funding To Higher Education

Stephen Koranda
/
KPR/File photo

A Kansas Senate committee has voted to restore some funding to higher education. Cuts were made to state colleges and universities earlier this fiscal year.

Gov. Sam Brownback had proposed adding millions of dollars in the coming two years to a state scholarship fund. As part of the Senate budget plan, the new money would instead be diverted and used to restore some funding to the University of Kansas and Kansas State University.

Republican Sen. Vicki Schmidt proposed the move because a budget provision last year cut more funding from KU and K-State than other public universities.

“What happened last year, just quite frankly, wasn’t fair," Schmidt says. "We talk a lot about picking winners and losers in this building and we talk a lot about fairness."

The budget plan would restore more, but not all, of the higher education cuts in fiscal year 2019.

The bill also includes the possibility of a 2 percent raise for most state employees, but that will have to be considered at the end of the session when lawmakers have a clearer picture of the state’s finances.

The budget proposal is unbalanced and assumes lawmakers will consider tax increases.

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.