Topeka ? When it comes to the $787 billion federal stimulus package that is now a done deal, state legislators appear almost ungrateful.

“One-time money,” “strings attached,” “not here yet,” were some of the responses given Friday from legislative leaders when asked about Kansas’ estimated $1.7 billion share of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

And these comments came despite the fact that the federal largesse could be a game-changer in helping state government solve its current fiscal crisis, which is forcing budget cuts.

“We can’t plan on any of that until it’s here,” Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, said.

Senate Vice President John Vratil, R-Leawood, said the money may cause more problems in the future because when it runs out, the state will be expected to make up for the built-in spending increases.

Indifference toward the mammoth package was bipartisan.

“There are a lot of question marks out there,” House Democratic Leader Paul Davis, of Lawrence, said.

“It doesn’t change the underlying problems we have with the 2010 budget,” said Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley, of Topeka.

State lawmakers face an estimated $200 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year and upward of a $1 billion budget shortfall in the next year.

The Legislature has sent to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius a budget-cutting bill that includes a reduction to public schools of $32 million in base state aid and special education programs in the current school year. Now lawmakers are turning their attention to the next fiscal year — the 2010 budget that Hensley referred to, which starts July 1.

But even as state legislators were trying to ignore the pipeline of money from Washington, D.C., other Kansas officials were delighted about the potential funding.

“It’s a tremendous amount of money,” Kansas Education Commissioner Alexa Posny said Friday.

Preliminary estimates indicate Kansas schools would receive about $500 million for the next school year and one after that, Posny said.

And, she said, there is a major question about whether states will be allowed to access the federal money if they cut their own state funding below a certain level.

Federal officials are calling for states to establish a “maintenance of effort” because they don’t want the federal monies to simply replace state funds that had been cut.

Posny said it’s hoped that question will be settled in the next few months and will provide guidance to legislators as they tackle the budget for the next fiscal year.

The Kansas Health Policy Authority said it would receive approximately $450 million through 2010, in the form of a temporary increase in the federal match for Medicaid, which provides health coverage for low-income residents.

And the Kansas Department of Transportation said it could receive between $317 million and $401 million for transportation projects.