Kansas Senate Votes to Restore $26 Million in Special Ed Funds (KS)
February 15, 2011
The Kansas Senate voted Monday to restore $26 million in proposed budget cuts for special education funding, which proponents said was needed to prevent the future loss of millions more in federal aid.
Voice vote approval for the measure followed nearly 45 minutes of debate during which members argued over whether to restore the proposed cuts to preserve future federal help for special ed funding or to follow the recommendations of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and a big majority of the Kansas House to build a modest budget surplus by June 30 to better help what fix is projected to be a $492 million shortfall in 2012.
Gov. Brownback’s proposed budget, and a lightly amended near clone voted last week by the House, are projected to produce a $35 million surplus when the currrent fiscal year ends June 30. The changes proposed Monday by the Senate cut that cushion to an estimated $3.6 million.
Proponents of restoring the funding , including state Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, argued that federal penalties for stopping the state’s estimated $21 million to $26 million slotted for special ed programs would cost Kansas equal amounts of money annually for years to come. The additional money, amounting to about 25 percent of what Kansas spends on those programs annually, is needed to keep state contributions from falling below federal guidelines.
"This is very serious business we have before us," Hensley said.
Opponents, including state Sen. Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican who unsuccessfully fought to remove the additional funding, argued that Kansas can’t afford to spend that money now and that legislators could reexamine those needs later when both Kansas resources and a more precise estimate of how much money will be needed become clearer.
Until then,"It is irresponsible for us to add additional spending on a moving target now," Masterson said,
By saving the money now, Kansas may have even more surplus funds to qualify for federal matching when the money is due in June, Masterson said.
"This makes us look terribly incompetent," said state Sen. Susan Wagle of Wichita, who also opposed the addiional funding.
"We don’t know what will be needed," Wagle said. "I believe we should pass the Governor’s budget now, then sit down next week to figure out what to do (to meet the federal requirements when those become better known.)"
But that decision would need to be made in either of two specific budget reconciliation meetings between Senate and House members, where such a decision is far from assured, said state Sen. Carolyn McGinn, a Sedgwick Republican who chairs the budget-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee.
"I’m not willing to bet $20 million federal dollars that those things will occur," McGinn said.
The proposed changes require one more vote, expected Tuesday, to formally pass the Senate and then must be reconciled with what the House passed earlier. That debate is tentatively expected next week