Topeka ? Advocates for the mentally disabled asked Kansas’ highest court Friday to reverse cuts in social services imposed by the state to keep its current budget balanced, while the judicial branch wrestled with its own financial problems.

Attorneys filed a lawsuit with the Kansas Supreme Court on behalf of three disabled Kansans, three groups serving the mentally disabled and InterHab Inc., which represents service providers. They’re attacking almost $10 million in cuts imposed by Gov. Mark Parkinson and legislators.

The petition asks the court to order the state to reverse the cuts before the state’s current fiscal year ends on June 30. The litigation could complicate efforts to keep the current budget balanced and erase a projected shortfall for the next fiscal year.

Only hours later, the Supreme Court announced that its courts will close statewide three extra days in April and one extra day in May because of a funding shortfall for the judicial branch. Employees will be required to take unpaid leave.

But advocates for the disabled contend the cuts in social services violate state and federal laws and a section of the Kansas Constitution that says institutions for the disabled “shall be fostered” by the state. Also, they said during a Statehouse news conference, the cuts are hurting disabled Kansans and their families.

Nancy Spano, of Topeka, said her 24-year-old daughter, Heather, previously was monitored around-the-clock but is now left alone overnight in her apartment, causing emotional problems. The disabled young woman also has lost dental coverage, Spano said.

Spano said her daughter, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, has been living in her own place so that she becomes independent and is around people her own age.

“I am both appalled and ashamed of the state of Kansas,” Spano said.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Friday endorsed a proposed budget for the next fiscal year that would require $364 million in tax increases. The full Senate is expected to debate the $13.8 billion spending plan next week.

Legislators face increasing pressure from educators and advocates for the needy and disabled to increase taxes. Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson also wants them to do so, and key leaders in the GOP-controlled Senate are working on proposals to raise $300 million.

But legislators can’t act quickly enough on tax issues to raise new revenues to plug budget holes in the current budget.

Senate President Steve Morris, a Hugoton Republican, said if the lawsuit is successful and the cuts in the current budget are reversed, “It will have to come out of somebody else’s hide.”

The state also is facing the threat of a lawsuit from 74 of its 293 school districts over education funding cuts last year.

Parkinson has said repeatedly that lawsuits or threats of litigation aren’t helpful as the state attempts to deal with its budget problems.

“We’ve asked all recipients on state funds to hold off on suing the state while we go through these very challenging times,” he told reporters Friday.

But the state constitution allows groups and individuals to file lawsuits directly with the Supreme Court if they’re trying to compel an official or agency to fulfill a legal responsibility.

Meanwhile, the judicial branch’s shortfall is forcing furloughs because salaries account almost all of its budget. The state’s courts will be closed April 9, 16 and 23 and May 7 — all Fridays — though employees will be allowed handle emergencies, such as issuing warrants or protection-from-abuse orders.

But in a letter to judicial branch employees, Justice Lawton Nuss noted that the Supreme Court had worried that it might have to impose up to 30 days of furloughs.

The furloughs apply to staff other than judges, whose pay through June was cut 5 percent by a law taking effect this week.