Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback addresses legislators Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in his State of the State address.

Topeka ? Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback stalled an effort Thursday by some fellow Republicans to override his veto of a popular budget measure by warning lawmakers that doing so could jeopardize the state’s credit ratings.

The debate over Brownback’s veto highlighted a split among Republicans in the GOP-dominated Senate. The bill the governor rejected last week would have protected an aging government building near the Statehouse and dealt with the cancellation of a $20 million project to tear it down and build a new power plant in the area.

Power plant project

Brownback’s administration had planned to demolish the 1950s-era Docking State Office Building near the Statehouse. Because it houses a power plant for the Statehouse and other buildings, the administration’s plan would have built a new one.

The Department of Administration signed an unusual financing agreement in December, weeks after members of a legislative committee expressed misgivings. The state would have financed the project through a 15-year lease-purchase agreement with Bank of America, paying 2.32 percent interest.

Bipartisan opposition forced Brownback to cancel the project last month.

Legislators then passed a bill with only one dissenting vote in either chamber to protect the Docking building from demolition. The bill also tied the cancellation of the project to a refusal by lawmakers to provide money for it — something its drafters said would help the state negotiate lesser penalties from Bank of America and the construction company.

“We were looking out for the taxpayers,” said Kay Wolf, a Prairie Village Republican.

Wolf initiated an effort in the Senate to override Brownback’s veto and appeared at one point to have the necessary two-thirds majority, or 27 of 40 votes. But she dropped it and asked that the vote be postponed until Monday after Brownback’s warnings became public during the debate.

Governor’s warning

Brownback’s administration said if the state ties the power plant project’s cancellation to a refusal to provide funds for it, credit rating agencies could question Kansas’ willingness to pay its obligations.

The warning was based on a Feb. 26 memo from Paul Maco, a Washington attorney representing the state on such issues.

Brownback vetoed the bill March 4, and his message to lawmakers did not mention the credit rating issue, something his critics quickly noted.

Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said the issue wasn’t mentioned because, “We were trying to work out all of this amicably with the Senate.”

GOP acrimony on display

The debate over Brownback’s veto showcased deep divisions among Republicans in the Senate.

President Susan Wagle, of Wichita, pushed to override the veto. She questioned the power plant project and said lawmakers were providing necessary oversight by getting it canceled.

Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, a Grinnell Republican, said, “We’re at a crossroads. We’d better decide who’s in charge in these chambers and govern.”

But Majority Leader Terry Bruce, of Nickerson, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ty Masterson, of Andover, sought to prevent the veto override.

“What’s done is done,” Masterson said. “There’s no positive gain.”

Brownback’s official account and his budget director also tweeted during the debate in favor of the governor’s position.