Topeka ? House and Senate conference committee members Wednesday reached agreement on legislation to build three major research laboratories, including a biomedical facility at Kansas University.

But the lawmakers remained far apart on numerous other budget issues, including funding of higher education.

The committee of three House members and three senators is meeting this week in preparation for the overtime legislative session that starts May 1.

Lawmakers face a $700 million budget shortfall in an approximately $4.3 billion budget. They failed to bridge the gap during a 90-day legislative session that ended April 13.

Also left unfinished was work on a bill to authorize state bonds to build research facilities at KU, Kansas State University and Wichita State University.

Under the compromise plan agreed to by the conference committee, the state would issue $120 million in bonds for the projects. The state would pay back $50 million of the debt with the research universities responsible for the remainder.

The bill also includes a $13 million bond issue for improvements to an aviation research lab in Wichita, the cost of which will be borne entirely by taxpayers.

One of the sticking points was whether workers on the projects should be paid the federal prevailing wage for their labor. The House wanted the prevailing-wage provision; the Senate didn’t.

Under the compromise, the prevailing wage will be paid to laborers on the KU and Wichita State projects but not the Kansas State proposal to build a food-safety lab in Manhattan. Kansas State officials said the wage provision would have increased the cost of the project.

With a conference committee deal made on the bill, the measure will go back to the House and Senate for final approval. If the committee work is accepted, the bill will go to Gov. Bill Graves, who has indicated he will sign it into law.

Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, and House sponsor of the research bill, said, “We’ll have it ready to run,” when the Legislature returns.

“I’m cautiously optimistic” of its chances for final approval, Wilk said. “I think that will be one of the bright spots of this session.”

But on other budget issues, the two sides struggled to reach agreement.

On higher education, the House budget proposal would cut spending for the fiscal year that starts July 1 by about $50 million, budget officials said.

In addition, public universities and colleges face another $30 million cut from a long list of House-proposed cuts across all segments of state government.

Those include one-year bans on the purchases of vehicles and furniture, and savings from additional staff “shrinkage,” which some officials say will result in employee layoffs.

The House budget negotiators had agreed, as part of package deal related to other spending considerations, to erase the $50 million cut but was still adhering to the additional cuts applying to all agencies. The Senate, which voted to keep higher education funding close to the same level as current spending, had not acted on the House offer.