Topeka ? The Kansas House approved a $6 billion budget Wednesday that would still leave the state with a $406 million shortfall, while the Senate prepares to vote on a rival proposal that would close the gap through massive spending cuts.

The House budget passed without debate on a 64-48 vote. The three Lawrence Democrats – Barbara Ballard, Boog Highberger and John Wilson, voted no. Republican Rep. Tom Sloan wasn’t present for the vote.

Across the rotunda, the Senate plans to debate a proposal Thursday that would eliminate the budget gap through a 5.9 percent across-the-board cut to all state agencies, public safety services and schools, Republican Majority Leader Terry Bruce, of Nickerson, said.

Les Osterman, a Wichita Republican, said he voted for the House budget only to avoid the potential of state employees in his district being furloughed. Administration officials have said workers would be furloughed Sunday without a budget signed by the governor.

“This for me was a vote to my state employees,” Osterman said.

But many of the Republicans who voted for the budget will likely vote against the tax increases to raise the additional $406 million needed to balance, said Republican Rep. Dan Hawkins, from Wichita.

To fill the gap, Gov. Sam Brownback last week proposed increasing the sales tax to 6.65 percent from 6.15 percent and raising the state’s cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack to $1.29. He also wants to increase business taxes by $24 million during the fiscal year beginning July 1.

After the Senate passed a limited tax measure Wednesday, House and Senate budget leaders can now negotiate on a comprehensive tax package to be approved by both chambers. The House’s top tax negotiator, Republican Rep. Marvin Kleeb, of Overland Park, said he is seeking a plan close to what the governor has proposed, but would likely opt for a lower sales tax hike.

Tax cuts three years ago

The state’s budget problems arose after legislators heeded Brownback’s call in 2012 and 2013 to slash personal income taxes as an economic stimulus. The state cut income tax rates and exempted the profits of 281,000 business owners and 53,000 farmers.

Deadlock over a solution to the budget woes has driven the Legislature into overtime.

Given the acrimonious debates that have stalled both tax and spending bills, several legislators expressed surprise that the House budget was approved without any discussion.

House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs, a Kansas City Democrat, said after the vote that House Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast violated procedure by closing debate before Democrats had a chance to speak.

Mast, an Emporia Republican, denied that she chaired the session unfairly, saying that she did not see or hear any Democrats in the chamber request to speak or ask questions.

No Democrats voted in favor of the budget and for them, “it was just an opportunity missed and I don’t know exactly how else to explain it,” Mast said.

Lawrence delegation

Highberger, of Lawrence, said the budget bill does not adequately fund core services.

“As I’ve said many times, low tax rates don’t cause prosperity. What causes prosperity is a good educational system, good infrastructure and a good social service safety net. As long as you don’t fund those things, you won’t have prosperity, no matter how low your tax rates are,” he said.

Ballard said there a couple of key issues for her with the budget bill that passed Wednesday. One, the budget calls for capping assistance through the TANF, or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, program at 36 months, when the federal government allows 60 months. Two, funding for mental health clinics is not addressed.

“We set up these mental health clinics. And yet you have people that still need services. And there’s not enough money for it. And these are people who are uninsured and who don’t qualify for Medicaid. So they’re out there in the state, and it’s not addressed,” Ballard said.

Wilson said he objected to several parts of the bill.

“For one, it’s not a balanced budget. It relies too heavily on one-time transfers from the Department of Transportation,” he said.

Wilson also noted what he called “serious IT security concerns in the state. We need money to fix those. There are elements of this budget that cut IT funding, so we can’t address those.”