Topeka ? Republican budget leaders Wednesday threatened to reject a major part of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ health care reform package because they said she has failed to answer key questions about the proposal.

“The details on what makes this work are missing,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls.

Last month, Sebelius, a Democrat, unveiled a $50 million plan to expand health care coverage to thousands of uninsured Kansans.

Part of the plan was contained in an executive order Sebelius issued last month that would move health care programs for low-income Kansans out of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

The order would bring those programs under a new Division of Health Policy and Finance that would be under the Kansas Department of Administration.

Sebelius said the change was needed to better handle escalating health care costs.

But on Wednesday, Neufeld and other Republicans said they have been trying to find out details about the proposal but have been unable to get the attention of Sebelius or her top health care adviser, Bob Day.

Sebelius and Day were in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday where Sebelius was scheduled to talk about her health care proposals as the keynote speaker at the 2005 National Health Policy Conference.

Republicans also complained that they face a constitutional deadline of Feb. 11 to either reject the executive order or let it become law.

Some of the questions they posed concerned how the health care savings would be realized, the powers and authority of the chief of the new agency, and whether new employees hired by the agency would be classified or unclassified workers.

Gary Daniels, who has been acting secretary of SRS for the past three months, appeared before the committee, but said he did not know the answers to many of the questions posed by the committee.

Democrats sought to defend Sebelius, saying that seldom are gubernatorial executive orders given much scrutiny, and that many parts of the plan have been discussed for months.

“I believe this is the right step,” said Rep. Bill Feuerborn, D-Garnett.

Nicole Corcoran, a spokeswoman for Sebelius, said Day would be testifying later this week and next week to legislative committees.

She said Sebelius wasn’t trying to avoid answering questions.