Topeka ? Lawmakers on Wednesday sent Gov. Bill Graves a proposal giving the Kansas Board of Regents more authority and requiring faculty and unclassified employees to file financial disclosure statements if they serve as consultants.

The proposal puts the regents in charge of planning for higher education and gives them more authority in dealing with community colleges, vocational-technical schools and Washburn University in Topeka.

The legislation was sought by the regents after a consultant’s report said Kansas needed a more unified system of governing higher education.

Rep. Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, offered a successful amendment to the bill to require that faculty and unclassified employees disclose their business ties.

McKinney and other lawmakers have complained that some professors had failed to disclose links to businesses when providing testimony on issues that could affect those businesses. Some legislators opposed the disclosure requirement. Sen. Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, said he feared the requirement would inhibit free speech.