Topeka ? By a two-vote margin, the House on Thursday approved a $4.4 billion budget that keeps funding for schools and universities flat and is $299 million out of balance.

The spending plan for fiscal 2003, which starts July 1, was drafted by House and Senate negotiators reconciling differences in budgets passed earlier by the two chambers. The legislation heads now to the Senate, where passage would send it on to Gov. Bill Graves.

William Wilk, 3, admires the view of the House chambers as his father, Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Leavenworth, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, speaks on the importance of passing a budget bill before the House. The budget plan was approved by the House Thursday.

But lawmakers would still have to pass a budget cleanup bill and consider a $299 million tax increase to balance the budget, which already relies on using $110 million from the state’s cash reserves.

In all, the compromise budget would appropriate $137 million less from the state’s General Fund than the $4.54 billion spent in the current fiscal year. The decline reflects the gap now estimated at $777 million between revenues and spending mandated by state and federal laws or pledged during earlier legislative sessions.

Several House members rose to criticize the budget bill before it was approved on a 63-61 vote.

Although it protects some social service programs from cuts, the bill was denounced by some moderate Republicans and Democrats as too harsh.

And while it maintains state aid to public schools at $3,870 per pupil and holds higher education spending flat, critics said school districts and universities need more money to meet higher payrolls and health insurance costs.

	Thursday’s highlightsThe House refused to give first-round approval to a plan to raise taxes during three years to fund transportation projects.The Senate gave tentative approval to a bill expanding a drug program for older Kansans.House and Senate negotiators began talks on a map redrawing the state’s four U.S. House districts.Legislators, state officials and residents observed a national day of prayer at the Capitol.

Some conservative Republicans, meanwhile, insisted the compromise budget still contained some fat.

They pointed to a provision allowing the state to issue $11 million in bonds for renovations on a newly purchased office building near the Statehouse that will serve as the Department of Transportation’s headquarters.

Sensing that the measure might fail, House Republican leaders slowed the voting Thursday with speeches. Two of the House negotiators Appropriations Chairman Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, and Rep. Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls spoke in defense of the compromise.

“I realize there’s little to like in this budget bill,” Wilk said. “All across the state, the word is that the Legislature is going to implode; they’re not going to finish their work; they’re going to have a special session. That doesn’t have to happen.”

The tactic worked. With the roll held open for supporters’ speeches, enough members switched their votes to put the proposal over the top.

Graves hasn’t said whether the compromise budget is acceptable, even though he opposes dipping into cash reserves.

Budget Director Duane Goossen said Thursday after the House vote that the only significant differences between the compromise budget and Graves’ recommendations were in the use of cash reserves and school aid, where Graves wanted a $20 per pupil increase, to $3,890.

But the use of cash reserves bothered some House members who voted against it.

“All of this stuff is Band-Aid, patch, without really getting to the root of the issue,” said Rep Nile Dillmore, D-Wichita.

The renovation of the new KDOT building would be financed with bonds but was still cited by some House members as evidence that spending could be cut further.

“We have got to stop spending the wage earners’ money that way,” said Rep. Bonnie Huy, R-Wichita. “It has too much pork in it.”

Transportation Secretary Dean Carlson said he was unable to expand his agency’s existing space in a state office building and the renovations in the new building will address fire safety and handicapped accessibility issues.

The compromise budget is SB 517.