Topeka ? Fund schools, cut taxes and increase prison time for sex offenders.

What could possibly stand in the way of this political dream?

The Kansas Legislature.

Lawmakers return Wednesday for a wrap-up session after having failed over the past 2 1/2 months to reach consensus on several major issues.

For some folks, their patience is wearing thin.

Karen Drees, a Lawrence mother of four, said the Legislature needed to approve “Jessica’s Law,” which would put three-time sex offenders in prison for life.

“The law’s concept is great,” Drees said. “If the Legislature would quit politicking and get on with the job, we would all be in better shape.”

The hang-up is over a provision added to the bill that would authorize the use of private prisons in Kansas.

Supporters of the provision say a private prison will be needed to help incarcerate the expected increase in inmates. But opponents say private prisons have a dismal track record and complicate administration of the regular state prison system.

Proposed tax cuts for businesses are bottled up in the Senate until an agreement can be reached on funding schools. One measure would abolish the property tax on new machinery and equipment, while another would phase out the business franchise tax. Supporters say the cuts would expand the economy and produce more jobs.

“It’s past time for Kansas’ lawmakers to wake up to the fact that a dead goose can’t lay any golden eggs,” said Hal Hudson, Kansas director of the National Federation of Independent Business, in urging passage of the tax cuts.

On school finance, lawmakers ended the first part of the session in a stalemate over how to address a Kansas Supreme Court order to increase funds to schools.

The House had adopted a three-year, $630 million plan, which also was supported by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and plaintiff school districts that successfully sued the state over inadequate funding.

But the Senate failed to adopt a school finance measure amid concerns that high-dollar proposals would break the treasury in future years.

During the legislative break, lawmakers learned that state revenues are exceeding previous estimates, which prompted some legislators to predict that would make it easier to pass a school finance plan.

But last week, revelations of a private discussion on the pending school funding case among Kansas Supreme Court Justice Lawton Nuss, Senate President Stephen Morris, R-Hugoton, and Sen. Pete Brungardt, R-Salina, added a political firestorm to the school finance debate.

Alan Rupe, attorney for the plaintiff school districts, said the controversy should have no effect on the school finance debate.

“The fact is that folks that never wanted the Legislature to provide kids in Kansas a constitutional education in the first place are going to find ways to complain about what is going on,” he said.

Key items remaining

The Kansas Legislature will have the following issues on its plate when it returns for a wrap-up session Wednesday:

¢ School finance

¢ Tax cuts for business

¢ Increased prison time for sex offenders

¢ Private prisons

¢ Eliminating entry fees for state parks

¢ Funeral picketing

¢ Eminent domain

¢ Gambling

¢ Immigrant tuition