Topeka ? Republicans opposed to new taxes have placed public school funding and pay raises for university faculty on a collision path.

“We have people in black nightgowns across the street that have said we need to put K through 12 first,” Rep. Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Monday.

Neufeld was referring to the Kansas Supreme Court, which has given the Legislature until April 12 to increase funding for public schools and make the $2.7 billion finance system more equitable.

His comments followed a pointed committee discussion in which the Republican majority put off a decision on whether to recommend a university faculty salary increase. Republicans on the committee said they needed to be mindful of where to get additional funds for public schools.

Democrats protested.

“We are pitting one entity against the other,” said Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, who’s also an administrator at Kansas University.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius had recommended an $8.9 million increase to the state’s higher education institutions as part of reforms adopted in 1999. Of that amount, $3.3 million was scheduled to go to KU and other regents schools for faculty pay raises. There are 2,170 faculty members at KU.

But an appropriations subcommittee had recommended the funding be deleted, with several members saying public schools will need the money instead.

Rep. Shari Weber, R-Herington, said the Kansas Constitution required the Legislature fund public schools but not higher education.

“It’s not necessarily pitting one against the other, but sometimes we have to choose,” Weber said.

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But the subcommittee recommendation to delete the $8.9 million failed before the full committee. A move to restore the funds in the budget recommendation also failed.

Instead, the committee approved delaying a decision on the $8.9 million until the so-called veto session, which starts April 27.

Even so, Paul Carttar, executive vice chancellor for external affairs for KU, said he was encouraged by committee members who said the faculty pay raise was a high priority.

“I think the House Appropriations Committee and the Kansas Legislature have an enormous challenge ahead of them in providing adequate funding for the things they want to support,” he said.

House Republican leaders have said they will reduce Sebelius’ recommended budget for the entire state by more than $100 million to ensure there are more funds for public schools. Neufeld said that list of cuts would be announced soon.

In another development, the appropriations committee rejected an attempt by Rep. Carl Krehbiel, R-Moundridge, to delete $54,000 from KU’s budget.

Neufeld and other legislators said Krehbiel’s move intended to show his displeasure with Sebelius’ hiring of Burdett Loomis, the former KU political science department chairman who is now director of administrative communications for the governor. Krehbiel has declined to discuss it.

When Loomis was hired, it was announced KU would continue paying $54,000 of his annual salary and the governor’s office would pay the remaining $34,000. Later, Sebelius’ office said after looking at similar hirings from previous administrations that her office would pay Loomis’ entire salary.