Senate minority leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, upper left, addresses the Kansas Senate on Wednesday, in opposition to a proposed 00 million budget cut plan crafted by Senate Republican leaders. Seated on the floor near Hensley are six of the other nine Senate Democrats. Front row, at right, is Kelly Kultala, D-Kansas City. Middle row, from left: David Haley, Kansas City; Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Wichita; and Marci Francisco, Lawrence. Back row, from left: Hensley; Laura Kelly, Topeka; and Tom Holland, Baldwin City.

State Senator Janis Lee, Kinsington, addresses the Kansas Senate on Wednesday in opposition to a proposed 00 million budget cut plan crafted by Senate Republican leaders. Seated on the floor near Lee are Senate Democrats Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Wichita, foreground left, and Marci Francisco, Lawrence, foreground right.

Topeka ? The Kansas Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a compromise budget measure that makes smaller cuts in education and social services than what Republican leaders had wanted.

The 25-15 vote would reduce public school funding by approximately three-quarters of one percent, human services by 1.5 percent and higher education and the rest of state government by about 4.5 percent.

A final vote on the measure is expected today. If approved, it would then go to the House for consideration.

Wednesday’s Senate action was the first major vote and debate over the budget crisis during the legislative session that started 2 1/2 weeks ago.

It comes as lawmakers face a $186 million deficit in the current fiscal year, a potential $1 billion deficit in the next one that starts July 1, and continuing bad economic news.

Kelly’s compromise

The compromise was crafted by state Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, as she and other Democrats criticized the Republican leadership proposal, which would have established a 3.4 percent across-the-board cut to most state government, and a 6.4 percent cut to higher education.

Democrats and several advocacy groups said the GOP leadership plan would have devastated schools and services for vulnerable Kansans, and resulted in shutting down prisons.

The minority Democrats, backed with a veto threat of the GOP leadership plan from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, then got help from conservative Republicans to push for the smaller across-the-board cut.

State Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, said she voted for the compromise proposal because it “makes progress” and represented a bipartisan solution.

Numerous supporters of the bipartisan plan said it would cause the least disruption within the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, while giving agencies time to prepare for bigger cuts in the next fiscal year.

Those supporting the deeper across-the-board cuts, however, said the bipartisan plan didn’t go far enough.

“It’s only momentarily postponing the inevitable,” said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence.

“The passage of this proposal will turn up the heat for a tax increase,” warned state Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood.

But Kelly said the deeper across-the-board cuts would have forced local school districts to seek tax increases.

Francisco, Holland supportive

Douglas County’s senators, both Democrats, supported the compromise.

State Sen. Marci Francisco described the measure as “a way that gets us to the opportunity to discuss in a meaningful way the structural changes we have to make” in the next fiscal year’s budget.

State Sen. Tom Holland said, “This avoided some of the more severe pain. The heavy lifting will be the 2010 fiscal year budget.”

Sebelius issued a statement praising the bipartisan plan. “I am pleased that the Senate has taken the initial steps to reject untargeted cuts, which would devastate essential services, and instead considered a more strategic approach to reducing expenditures for 2009,” she said.

Douglas County bonus

The budget plan also included a bonus for Douglas County by appropriating funds to make up for three years of miscalculated state fuel taxes to a number of counties. Under Kelly’s proposal, Douglas County would get $1,152,562 that it had been shorted.

“It is the fair and it is the right thing to do,” she said.

The budget debate also occurred as Congress worked on a federal stimulus package that could bring big bucks to help Kansas’ revenue shortfall.

Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, said the state could see upward of $300 million from the federal government in help for education funding.

“Obviously, that would be a significant chunk of dollars,” Tallman said.

Some legislators said supporters of the bipartisan plan were banking on federal assistance later in the year.

But Kelly said that wasn’t the case. She said the state needs to right its budgetary problems without consideration of whether it will get more federal dollars.