Kan. Lawmakers At Odds Over Special Ed Funding (KS)

February 17, 2011

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director said Wednesday that the state may have to spend far more on special education programs to avoid a federal penalty, complicating budget negotiations that began with lawmakers split on whether to pay the public school costs.

Three senators and three House members had their first talks over the final version of a bill designed to trim overall spending from the current budget. Brownback is pushing for reductions so that the state can use the savings to help close a projected $492 million shortfall for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

But the Senate doesn’t want to trim as much as Brownback initially proposed or the House advocated in its version of the bill. The Senate’s version commits to an additional $26 million for special education programs.

Senators who support the extra spending argue it is necessary to prevent the U.S. Department of Education from cutting Kansas’ allotment of federal funds. House members haven’t conceded the point, with majority Republicans arguing that can’t stray too far from Brownback’s proposals.

But the debate became more complicated when State Budget Director Steve Anderson said the cost of avoiding a federal penalty could be as high as $61 million. Anderson disclosed the figure in a presentation to the state Board of Regents, which oversees the higher education system, discussing potential budget "land mines."

Anderson stressed after his presentation that state officials don’t know yet how much the state would have to spend and might not know until September. He also stayed out of legislators’ debate over how much money should be included in the budget b ill.

"This is one of those things where we’re left in limbo," he said afterward. "We don’t know with enough certainty to say, ‘This is what the number is.’"

Legislators were surprised by the new figure. Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn, a Sedgwick Republican who is her chamber’s lead negotiator on the budget bill, winced when told of Anderson’s comments.

"We hadn’t heard that number," she acknowledged.

In the previous and current fiscal years, the state has used federal economic stimulus funds to support special education programs. That’s allowed total state funding to remain at about $420 million, close to where it was for the 2008-09 school year. Brownback is proposing that the state replace the stimulus dollars for the next fiscal year and provide a total of $427 million for special education.

But state officials said the federal government now questions whether Kansas met minimum requirements for special on special education programs as it was using the stimulus dollars to support them.

Meanwhile, there’s the issue of how much to trim the current budget overall. Brownback wanted to make enough adjustments to leave the state with a cushion of $35 million going into the next fiscal year. The House’s version of the bill provides a slightly larger cushion.

The House agreed with the Brownback’s proposal to cut schools’ base state aid per student by $75, or about 2 percent, from $4,012 to $3,937.

"The House is supporting the governor’s position pretty much all the way, and we’ve got a lot of votes behind that," said Appropriations Commi ttee Chairman Marc Rhoades, a Newton Republican.

The Senate’s version of the bill would leave a cushion of less than $4 million going into the new fiscal year. There’s the big difference over special education, but senators’ version also cuts base state aid less, by $66 per student, to $3,946, according to legislative researchers.

McGinn said she’s not surprised by House members’ desire to stick by their version of the bill but added, "I hope that they’re open to a process that respects the fact that we represent districts back home."