Topeka ? Legislation intended to speed Kansas Supreme Court review of a judge’s ruling on school finance is headed to the governor, and Attorney General Phill Kline is seeking the plaintiffs’ support for the move.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has said she would sign the bill, which cleared the House on an 86-37 vote Tuesday and won unanimous Senate passage last week.

The measure allows the state to appeal a preliminary order by Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock holding Kansas’ school finance formula unconstitutional.

Appeals can normally be filed only when an order becomes final or a district agrees to release a case early, which Bullock has declined to do. Bullock’s preliminary order, issued in December, gave the state until July 1 to repair the law.

Ruling in a 1999 lawsuit filed by parents and administrators in Salina and Dodge City, Bullock said state aid for school districts is distributed unfairly and is inadequate to meet the needs of all children. He suggested that the roughly $2.6 billion in annual state aid should be raised by as much as $1 billion.

Many legislators want the Supreme Court to hear and rule on the case before they decide how and whether to revise the formula, which was adopted in 1992 after Bullock declared the previous finance law unconstitutional.

Kline wrote to the plaintiffs’ lawyers and legislative leaders on Monday saying he was prepared to appeal Bullock’s preliminary ruling as soon as the legislation was signed into law.

“The Legislature and the governor are currently struggling to bring forward state policy in the shaping of the state general fund budget,” Kline wrote. “Their job is already difficult, and the uncertainty brought about by this litigation complicates that process.”

The plaintiffs could object to moving forward with an appeal until Bullock’s order becomes final, but “such a challenge would only serve to cause further delay and uncertainty,” Kline wrote.

“Accordingly, moving an appeal forward at this time will preserve the rights of all parties, while providing certainty and guidance to policy makers at a sooner date,” he wrote.

Calls to the plaintiffs’ lawyers seeking reaction to Kline’s letter were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

The bill creates a narrow category for direct appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court in cases where the state’s educational statutes have been declared unconstitutional.

Bullock has given plaintiffs until March 1 to file briefs outlining options for resolving the constitutional issues. The state has until April 1 to reply.

Rep. Mike O’Neal, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that speeding the appeal process would let legislators revise the school finance formula in their 2005 session. If the state had to wait for Bullock’s final order, the formula probably wouldn’t be addressed until after the 2005 session, said O’Neal, R-Hutchinson.

Sebelius, while supporting a rapid appeal of Bullock’s order, also wants legislators to tackle school finance issues this year. Legislation containing her proposal to raise taxes by $304 million over three years to benefit school districts is awaiting Senate debate.

In other action:

— Reacting to a Supreme Court decision, the Senate tentatively approved a bill reaffirming that elected officials may spend money raised for one campaign to run for another office.

— Three men who also left school in 1933 to become legislative pages returned to the Kansas House to be introduced by Speaker Doug Mays.

— Without debate, senators tentatively approved a bill making life in prison without the chance of parole an alternative to the death penalty in capital cases.

— As they have in the past, Republicans prevented Senate passage of a Democratic proposal to ban insurance-industry contributions to insurance commissioner candidates.

— House Transportation Committee Chairman Gary Hayzlett, R-Lakin, said he still is seeking a compromise on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ plan to issue $465 million in highway bonds.