Topeka ? Winter weather forced Senate Republican leaders to cancel a scheduled budget debate Wednesday, even as they admitted that time is growing short for immediate cuts in state spending.

Now set for Tuesday, the debate and vote will signal to GOP leaders whether the Senate is willing to consider immediate spending reductions, Senate President Dave Kerr said. If the cuts are rejected, the Senate will take up other proposals, he said.

“It’s a train that will not come by again,” said Kerr, R-Hutchinson, who helped draft the bill before the Senate.

State government was shut down Wednesday by the winter storm that coated much of Kansas, including Topeka, in snow and ice.

“It’s a snow conspiracy to keep us from considering this important piece of legislation,” Kerr joked.

The state faces a projected $426 million gap between expected revenues and spending commitments for the fiscal year that begins July 1. One way to reduce the gap is to cut spending in fiscal 2002, which ends June 30, and freeze appropriations at the lower levels for fiscal 2003.

While legislators decide whether to take that step called rescission agencies continue to spend money, leaving less to cut for each day that passes. If too much time passes, agencies cannot reasonably absorb any cuts before the budget year ends on June 30.

A bill in the Senate would cut the current $4.5 billion budget by $54 million, or about 1.2 percent. The measure would spare public schools but cut higher education and social services.

Gov. Bill Graves opposes the suggested cuts, arguing they would come too late for agencies to handle well. He has proposed generating $228 million in fresh revenue for education and social services next year by increasing sales, cigarette and motor fuels taxes and vehicle registration fees.

Kerr and other Republicans support a proposal to raise $87 million in fiscal 2003 by increasing taxes on alcohol and tobacco. Kerr also helped draft a plan to allow the state to dip into its rainy day funds.

Some budget cuts are likely under any proposal. Kerr and other GOP senators have suggested the bill before the Senate is a way to spread the pain over a longer time.

“Failure to pass it clearly makes the choices downstream more difficult,” said Sen. David Adkins, R-Leawood, a member of the Ways and Means Committee. “You have to increase taxes more or cut spending more.”

But all 10 Senate Democrats and some of the chamber’s 30 Republicans oppose immediate cuts, worrying about the potential effects on programs.

The Department on Aging, for example, has said that if its current budget is reduced $2.9 million, the money would probably would come out of meals programs and in-home services for the elderly.