Topeka ? Legislation that could rectify an error that shorted Douglas County $2.5 million has been approved by the Senate and now is in the hands of the House.

“Hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to pass it,” said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence. He said the Senate’s 40-0 approval of the measure last week “certainly enhances its prospects.”

The bill would reduce quarterly special city and county highway fund payments over five years from 100 counties that had been overpaid and redistribute $11 million to the five underpaid counties.

Under the plan, Douglas County would get $2.5 million; Shawnee, $5.3 million; Butler, $1.9 million; Leavenworth, $1.1 million; and Barton, $159,000.

The legislation was put together by Sen. Ty Masterson, a Republican from Andover, which is in Butler County.

The fuel tax funding issue became the focus of controversy during the 2nd District congressional race in 2008.

The errors were caused by several factors. A software programming error at the State Treasurer’s office went undetected for years and the Kansas Department of Revenue provided incorrect data about vehicle registrations to the treasurer’s office.

State audits from 2000 through 2007 hadn’t uncovered the problem, but in 2008 then-Treasurer Lynn Jenkins notified Republican legislative leaders of problems that existed in allocation of tax revenue on fuel. Jenkins, a Republican, didn’t share that information with Democratic leaders in the Legislature. The issue wasn’t made public until Jenkins was campaigning for the 2nd District seat against Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda. Jenkins ended up defeating Boyda.