Statehouse Live: Brownback’s budget calls for no increase next year in school funding; abolishing mortgage interest tax deduction

? Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget proposal was released today, and a first glance shows no increase in base state aid per pupil for public school students in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. A three-judge panel has ordered a significant increase, ruling the state has shirked its constitutional duty to adequately fund schools.

Gov. Sam Brownback's Budget Director Steve Anderson speaks with Dave Trabert, president of the Kansas Policy Institute, and state Rep. Amanda Grosserode, R-Lenexa, before Anderson's presentation on the governor's budget proposal.

The current level is $3,838 in base state aid per student. The governor’s plan would maintain that level in the next school year, and then increase it to $3,852 in the 2014-15 school year. The court panel said the level should be $4,492, which would require a $440 million increase.

Brownback also calls for abolishing the mortgage interest tax deduction in his budget proposal.

The budget recommendation also includes $35 million in bonding authority and $10 million in state tax dollars for a medical education building at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.

More details to come.