photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, February 2014.

Kansas Senate budget negotiators offered a proposal Saturday that would reduce cuts to some of the state’s smaller universities at the expense of Kansas University and Kansas State University.

Gov. Sam Brownback earlier proposed extending into the next fiscal year a 3 percent cut that has already been made in the current year. The budget language offered by the Senate would apply to both years’ cuts, and any additional cuts that Brownback may need to make later in the year.

For the fiscal year that begins July 1, that 3 percent cut would total about $17.7 million. Originally, the cuts were to apply evenly across the board, so that each of the six institutions would see a 3 percent reduction in their state support.

That would mean a cut of about $4.1 million for KU’s Lawrence campus, and about $3.1 million for K-State’s main campus in Manhattan.

But under the new plan — which Senate leaders confirmed was proposed by a legislator that represents Pittsburg State University — the cuts would be allocated in proportion to each university’s total, all-funds budget.

That means bigger schools like KU and K-State would take proportionately larger cuts, and smaller schools like Emporia State University and Fort Hays State University would take smaller cuts.

The KU Medical Center and the K-State Veterinary Medical Center would also take proportionately smaller cuts.

Legislative staff initially distributed a handout showing how the revised allocation of cuts would affect each institution, but they quickly pulled that back, saying it included incorrect calculations.

Senate leaders confirmed after the meeting that the revised budget-cutting plan for the universities was requested by Sen. Jake LaTurner, R-Pittsburg, whose district includes Pittsburg State University.

LaTurner faces a potentially strong challenge in this year’s general election from Democrat Lynn Grant, who is the widow of former Rep. Bob Grant, D-Frontenac, who served 20 years in the Legislature before retiring in 2013.

Reallocating the higher education cuts would not move lawmakers any closer to closing the projected $291 million funding shortfall that the state faces over the next 15 months.

House negotiators did not immediately respond to the Senate’s proposal. Budget negotiations are scheduled to resume later in the day, but leaders in both chambers say they hope to finish the budget and adjourn the session by Saturday evening.

Several lawmakers have said they do not expect the final budget to balance with projected revenues. Instead, it will include a number of provisos authorizing Brownback to make additional cuts after the Legislature adjourns.