Increased funds for all-day kindergarten, health care and higher education were among some of the spending proposals made Thursday by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Sebelius also called for a 4 percent pay increase for state employees as part of her $12.4 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

But the 839-page budget was silent on plans for universal health care coverage – a goal Sebelius set in her State of the State address Wednesday.

And the spending blueprint contained no hint of how she planned to address an estimated $727 million in repairs at state colleges and universities.

Sebelius promised to have a proposal on that later in the month.

The governor’s recommended budget is usually used as the basis for the legislative discussion and is surely to be altered by lawmakers. A final budget requires legislative approval. Fueled by higher-than-expected state tax collections, Sebelius was able to increase funding in several areas, said her budget director, Duane Goossen.

He said the recommended increases were “fairly modest, but targeted toward some key things.”

Among the recommendations:

¢ $4 million in state funds to guarantee health coverage for uninsured children up to age 5. This is a repeat request from last year, which had been rejected by the Legislature.

Sebelius made no mention in her budget plan of universal health care, even though she told lawmakers that a plan to cover every Kansan should be developed this year.

“There has to be a lot of discussion ahead on that,” Goossen said.

¢ $15 million more to start a five-year phase-in of all-day kindergarten statewide. Her plan also locks in the full $466 million, three-year school funding increase that was approved last year.

¢ $30 million increase in operating grants for the state’s public universities.

¢ $3 million increase for state student financial assistance.

¢ $3.2 million to allow free state park admissions.

¢ A step movement and 1.5 percent cost-of-living increase for state employees, which amounts to a 4 percent pay increase, Goossen said.

¢ $20 million increase to reduce waiting lists for home-based services for developmentally and physically disabled Kansans. The plan would also provide new funds to serve autistic Kansans in their homes.

¢ $1 million to plan for construction of an electric transmission line to carry wind-generated electricity to customers.

The plan also calls for a reduction in the corporate franchise tax that would total nearly $13 million.

Lawrence school Superintendent Randy Weseman said he wasn’t sure whether the increase for phased-in all-day kindergarten would enable the district to offer it.

“The devil is in the details,” Weseman said.

The state now pays for half-day kindergarten, and most school districts make up the rest to provide for full-day. Lawrence does not. Under Sebelius’ proposal, the state would up that payment by 10 percent each year until after five years, when the state would be paying for all of full-day kindergarten.

In higher education, Sebelius recommended an increase of $41 million, with $30 million of that going to the operating grants to the state’s six public universities, including Kansas University.

That constitutes about a 5 percent increase in funding to the universities, Goossen said. The Kansas Board of Regents would determine how to distribute the funds.

KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway said he was pleased.

“This is a governor that cares about higher education,” Hemenway said. “The governor really understands that if you’re going to have a successful economy in the 21st century, you have to have a successful 21st century system of higher education,” he said.

Reggie Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the regents, said Sebelius’ budget plan “recognizes higher education as a critically important priority. …

“Operating grant increases and substantial student financial assistance enhancements move us in the right direction.”