House GOP working on school finance plan

? House Republicans say they will present proposals next week to address school districts’ short-term financial needs.

Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, said Thursday that the plan would contain no general tax increase. But he declined to describe any details, such as whether the plan would propose targeted tax increases — for example, on alcohol.

“The process begins Monday,” Mays told the House, asking Democrats to join in the search for solutions.

Mays’ statements followed a 79-42 vote against a proposal, drafted by a Shawnee Mission school administrator, to change the way Kansas distributes about $2.6 billion in aid each year to its 302 school districts.

Mays said the GOP plan would be significantly smaller than Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ proposal to raise school funding by $304 million over three years through higher state taxes on sales, individual income and property taxes.

Sebelius said she didn’t know what Republicans would offer.

“This is the first I’ve heard,” the Democratic governor said in a brief interview.

On Wednesday, the House defeated a bill that would have implemented the first year of Sebelius’ plan but did not specify the source of the $137 million in fresh state aid. The bill also contained greater flexibility for local districts to raise property taxes, but was weighted down by a $387.7 million income tax break for married couples.

Democrats will continue pushing for the first year of the Sebelius plan and for more flexibility for local districts, House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney said.

“I think we’ve showed that we came up with the right compromise and we have enough votes to support the governor’s plan,” said McKinney, D-Greensburg.

The proposal before the House on Thursday drew little support, with Democrats and Republicans alike wondering how it would address the needs of poor and minority students.

Rep. Ward Loyd, R-Garden City, said increased Hispanic populations and poor students were putting new pressures on school districts already trying to meet state and federal achievement goals.

The defeated bill would have required targeting millions of new dollars each year to such students, which legislators have been loath to do over the past decade.

“I don’t see it happening,” Loyd said.

Rep. Kathe Decker, R-Clay Center, chairwoman of the House Education Committee, said legislators would continue the difficult task of rewriting the finance formula. A report from a task force she leads is due by the end of the year.

In December, Shawnee County District Court Judge Terry Bullock issued a preliminary order finding constitutional flaws in the school finance formula. The state has appealed the order, and legislators hope to have a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court by the 2005 session.

Mays said Thursday’s debate demonstrated how arduous it will be to address concerns about funding programs for poor and minority students — an issue cited by Bullock — as well as the interests of small and large school districts.

“I don’t believe we can put together a new finance formula without a bipartisan effort and without provisions that benefit all parts of the state,” Mays said.

In other action:

— A study said a destination casino in southeast Kansas has the potential to bring in more revenue than one in the Kansas City area.

— Senate leaders pledged that a committee will consider a House-passed bill to strengthen the Kansas Open Records Act.

— The House approved a bill requiring public libraries to install technology to shield minors from Internet pornography.


School formula is Substitute for HB 2807.

On the Net:

Kansas Legislature: http://www.kslegislature.org