TOPEKA ? The Kansas Senate today will consider sweeping budget cuts to fund a court-ordered increase for public schools.

“This is not a good plan, but it is necessary to look at the full plate before us,” Senate Ways and Means Chairman Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, said.

The measure would cut state spending by 8.3 percent, or $161 million — enough to fund the Senate-approved school funding plan.

The cuts would not touch public schools, entitlement programs, current social service caseloads, or state debt.

But it would produce long waiting lists for programs for poor and elderly Kansans, in addition to hitting higher education by $67.8 million. That includes a budget cut of about $20 million to Kansas University and KU Med Center.

Lawmakers are in the sixth day of a special legislative session after the Kansas Supreme Court ordered an increase in school funding.

The one revenue-producing measure to pay for a school increase — expanded casino gambling — failed last week in the Senate.