Topeka ? A Kansas Senate panel is backing a budget committee’s rejection of Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal to close the Kansas Neurological Institute in Topeka.

The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee voted Wednesday to support a decision by fellow senators opposing Brownback’s budget recommendation to close KNI. The facility is home to 168 developmentally disabled residents, many with severe mental and physical issues.

Senators have taken the opposite approach of the House, which endorsed the Republican governor’s proposal to begin closing KNI. Residents would be transferred to community settings or to the Parsons State Hospital in southeast Kansas.

Parents and advocates testified before the health committee Wednesday to support keeping KNI open. The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services submitted written testimony to the panel.