Topeka ? State agencies in Kansas have begun quietly making plans for the possibility of having to issue tens of thousands of mandatory furlough notices next week. But few of those agencies will say publicly what those plans are.

At issue is the fact that Kansas lawmakers still have not passed a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Without a budget, the state has no legal authority to spend money after that date.

But the deadline for state employees is much sooner. On Sunday, June 7, the state begins a new two-week pay period, the checks for which would be issued after July 1. As a result, agencies may be forced to furlough workers until a budget is passed.

Many employees at Kansas University could fall into that category. KU officials have not responded to repeated requests from the Journal-World to comment on how furloughs would be carried out.

But Provost Jeffrey Vitter sent an email to employees Friday, acknowledging that many university employees have been asking for more information about what he called “the new F-word — Furloughs.” A copy of the email was posted by a university employee on Twitter.

“First, it’s important to remember the Kansas Legislature still has much work to do, and there are still many variables in play,” Vitter wrote. “We remain optimistic that furloughs will not be needed.”

“I want to reassure each of you that at KU we, too, have many variables that will help ensure that mandatory furloughs remain a last resort,” he continued. “Over the course of the semester I have worked with deans and senior leadership to identify creative means to address state funding issues. That work continues and is focused on protecting the great programs found all across the Lawrence and Edwards campuses.”

Another possible target of mass furloughs is the judicial branch of government.

“The Supreme Court is fully aware that furloughs are possible and has taken preliminary steps to prepare,” a spokeswoman for the court said in an email Friday. “The court will announce its plan should furloughs and statewide court closures appear inevitable.”

The court system in Kansas has gone through furloughs before when the Legislature did not appropriate enough money to last through a fiscal year.

On those occasions, judges still came to work, mainly to conduct arraignments and to issue search or arrest warrants at the request of law enforcement agencies. But the courts’ staff, including those in the court clerks’ offices who process motions and other filings, were told to stay home.

Funding for the judicial branch is contained in a separate bill from the bulk of the state’s budget and is currently pending in a conference committee.

Lawmakers have not wanted to pass the appropriations bills until they first pass a tax package needed to fund them. But Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, said he hopes to bring the judicial branch funding bill up for a vote, possibly as early as Saturday.

One area of state government that can rest easy, at least for the time being, is K-12 education. That’s because lawmakers have already approved education funding for the next two years through a bill, already signed into law, that repealed the former per-pupil funding formula and replaced it for the next two years with a system of block grants.

The most dangerous possibility in terms of public safety would be the potential of furloughs for the Department of Corrections and the Kansas Highway Patrol.

King, however, said he is “confident” that lawmakers will pass a budget and tax package to fund state services before furloughs become necessary.

Saturday will be the 100th day of the 2015 legislative session. If the session lasts until next Saturday, June 6, it will tie the record set in 2002 for the longest legislative session in modern history.