Topeka ? Kansas lawmakers failed again Saturday to increase public school funding and ended the 2004 legislative session.

The adjournment prompted a round of finger-pointing that is sure to spill into this year’s election campaigns and court battles over school funding.

“Our children and our economy will pay a high price for the Legislature’s failure to adequately fund our schools,” said Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who was unable to get approval of a tax increase for education.

A state court has declared the school-finance system unconstitutional because of underfunding, especially for minority students.

The case is on appeal before the Kansas Supreme Court, but Sebelius said inaction by the Legislature invited further court scrutiny, and a possible special session once the court rules, which could occur later this year.

Zero for four

The lack of a funding increase also means Kansas public schools will start a fourth year in August with no increase in base state aid per pupil.

“This is bad news for us,” Lawrence school district Supt. Randy Weseman said. “It’s hard to swallow.”

Lawrence, like many school districts across the state, has been forced to cut budgets because of flat revenues and escalating costs.

“I feel really disappointed that we can’t get some support from the only group that is available to support us,” Weseman said.

Last plan

On Saturday, the legislative collapse over school finance was indicative of the yearlong struggle.

The Senate, which had rejected tax increases supported in the House, approved an $82 million school increase that would have been funded by transferring money from the state highway plan. The measure won 26-10 with only Republicans voting for it.

State Sen. Mark Buhler, R-Lawrence, who has supported tax increases for schools, voted for the proposal.

“My feeling was, if we could figure out a way to get an additional $1 million to the Lawrence school district, they could live to play another day,” Buhler said.

Under the proposal, Lawrence would have received an additional $1.5 million in state funding; Baldwin City, $186,000 and Eudora, $174,000.

In the House, however, the plan was torn apart by a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats who said the highway fund transfer would jeopardize road projects, a claim backed up by a statement from Transportation Secretary Deb Miller.

They also said the proposal would create a budget hole next year and could damage the state’s bond rating.

“Credit-card economics doesn’t work,” state Rep. Ray Cox, R-Bonner Springs, said.

The Lawrence delegation in the House voted against the measure. “I am really sorry that the Senate did not try to give us something to really start negotiating with,” state Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, said.

But Weseman said the funding source of the bill didn’t bother him. “When you’re drowning and someone throws you a life preserver, you probably would grab it,” he said.

Blame game

Senate President Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson, blamed the House for failing to provide new dollars for education. “We tried to tee it up for them, and in my opinion, they blew it,” he said.

But House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, said everyone was responsible. “I don’t think anyone has the right to point fingers at anyone else,” Mays said.

“It was a failure on all of our parts to come to an agreement. All the different parties in this debate dug their heels in, and there was not a sense of compromise, I think, that was needed to come up with a solution,” he said.

Productive session

Both leaders, however, agreed that except for school finance, the session was productive.

The Legislature approved and Sebelius signed into law measures that will:

• Add a 50-cent monthly fee on wireless phones to fund improvements to rural 911 emergency systems.
• Provide a sentence of life in prison without parole as an alternative to a death sentence. The death penalty is still available.
• Establish a bioscience authority to increase development of bioscience research, attract top scholars and invest more than $500 million into life science initiatives.
• Guarantee that Kansas voting places will be accessible to people with disabilities.
• Restructure funding of the transportation plan.

Lawmakers also approved a bill that would have allowed Kansans to carry concealed handguns, but the measure was vetoed by Sebelius, who said it would place law enforcement officers at greater risk.

And in one of the more contentious issues, the Legislature rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have put on the ballot a ban of gay marriages.

The Legislature meets again May 27 for what is usually a ceremonial, official end to the session.