Topeka ? A budget subcommittee of the Kansas House on Monday rejected all of the budget enhancements that Kansas University and other Regents institutions requested, with one Republican member calling those requests an “absurdity.”

That means KU will probably have to wait another two years before asking again for funding to establish a Drug and Vaccine Discovery Institute, or for merit-based salary enhancements for faculty at its medical school.

KU had sought $5 million for the drug and vaccine institute, plus funding to provide a 3 percent merit-based pay increase for KU Medical Center faculty and staff.

Rep. Virgil Peck, R-Tyro

Rep. Virgil Peck, R-Tyro, who had just been assigned to the budget committee earlier in the day, asked that the subcommittee’s report include a note about what he called “the absurdity of some of the enhancement requests.”

“They’re asking for, in fiscal (year) 2016, $64.5 million of additional taxpayer money,” Peck said. “Some of our agencies in the state are working with us to do the best they can to save taxpayer money, and others are throwing out all kinds of requests for additional funding. I just think it would be good for us to make some kind of a note in the Board of Regents budget drawing the full Appropriations Committee members attention to that.”

Subcommittee reports often include additional observations or comments about agencies and the projects they handle. Usually, they are positive comments congratulating the agencies for the work they do, or observations about issues the full committee may want to consider further.

But Peck’s request to chastise institutions for asking for additional funding was considered unusual, and it drew strong protests from Democrats and moderate Republicans on the panel.

“I respectfully disagree with that comment,” said Rep. Barbara Bollier, R-Mission Hills. “The purpose of those entities in our state is to ask for the budget they feel they need, not to direct us in our policy choices. It is a policy choice to have reduced our revenues.”

Rep. Jerry Henry, D-Atchison and the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, echoed that sentiment.

“The Board of Regents is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate,” he said. “They have a very important role, and their role was to put together what they felt was a proposal that was needed for our institutions.”

Peck’s recommendation passed on an unrecorded showing of hands. It will be included in the subcommittee report for higher education, which includes funding for the rest of this fiscal year, plus the next two fiscal years, which end June 30 in 2016 and 2017.

The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to work on the higher education budget Wednesday.

The Senate’s education budget subcommittee is still holding hearings this week on its proposed higher education budget.

Also during the hearing, Peck suggested that universities use balances in their general fee funds to pay for their enhancement requests. He noted that KU maintains a balance of over $10 million in that fund.

He also suggested that universities could raise their tuition rates to pay for new projects they want to undertake.

“It just looks to me like more of their funding should come from tuition, rather than the state general fund appropriations,” Peck said. “Now, does that mean they might have to stop building a few buildings and maintain what they’ve got? Well, that’s not a bad idea. Again, that’s a little commentary on my part.”

KU spokesman Tim Caboni said he was not surprised that the subcommittee did not fund KU’s requests.

“We understand that this is a tough budget year,” Caboni said. “Given where the state budget is, we knew it was going to be a really heavy lift to get those enhancements through.”