Topeka ? State officials expect Kansas to collect more revenue than it loses under the $350 billion federal tax cut legislation approved Friday by Congress.

Budget Director Duane Goossen said preliminary data suggested Kansas would receive as much as $154 million from a $20 billion relief package for states approved with the tax cuts.

Congressional negotiators included the $20 billion to help states struggling to balance their budgets.

“This doesn’t fix our budget problems, but it’s certainly a help in getting us through the next fiscal year,” Goossen said.

Of the $20 billion, half would be targeted to states’ Medicaid health care programs for poor and disabled citizens and half would be flexible funding for states to spend as they saw fit.

Goossen said Kansas was likely to receive about $91 million in flexible funding and $63 in Medicaid funds.

Still unknown is how much the federal tax cut will cost Kansas. The state’s tax code is tied to the federal tax code, so a change in federal tax laws affects state revenue.

But one big worry evaporated when Congress decided to reduce — but not eliminate — the federal income tax on corporate dividends.

Kansas revenue officials had estimated the state would lose $50 million if Congress made corporate dividends tax-free, as President Bush had wanted.

Goossen said two other provisions of the federal tax cut likely would reduce state revenue. One raises the expense allowance for small businesses, while the other increases the bonus depreciation related to corporate income taxes.

Revenue officials were studying how much those changes will cost the state, but Goossen said it was likely to be less than the $154 million in aid he expected Kansas to receive under the legislation