Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, left, and Gov. Sam Brownback, right.

Topeka ? Dueling press statements issued late Wednesday reflect growing tension between Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican leaders in the Senate, but senators were trying to downplay the conflict by Thursday morning.

Wednesday morning, the Brownback administration unveiled its plan to close a $938 million budget shortfall over the next 18 months by relying heavily on one-time sources of money such as selling off the state’s future tobacco settlement payments, as well as sweeping money out of the state highway fund and an unprecedented borrowing of $300 million from state idle funds.

The plan was roundly criticized on both sides of the aisle, but a pointed exchange began shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday with a joint statement from Senate GOP leaders criticizing the budget plan that the Brownback administration introduced earlier in the day.

“This morning, Governor Brownback’s office presented his budget proposal for this fiscal year to the Kansas Legislature. Notably absent was a real structural fix to the $350 million deficit the state currently faces,” the statement read.

It was signed by Senate President Susan Wagle, of Wichita, Majority Leader Jim Denning, of Overland Park, Vice President Jeff Longbine, of Emporia, and Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Carolyn McGinn, of Wichita.

The statement continued: “The Governor continues to use one-time money, adds new taxes on the middle class, and neglects to fix the LLC loophole,” the statement read. “The math simply just doesn’t add up. The solution will require a combination of cuts and changes to tax policy.”

About two hours later, shortly after 7 p.m., Brownback’s communications director, Melika Willoughby, sent out a response directed exclusively at Wagle.

“Senate President Wagle may prefer unfair retroactive tax hikes for the middle class and job creators or punishing across the board cuts, but Governor Brownback’s budget recruits teachers, encourages classroom innovation, and restores Medicaid funding,” Willoughby’s statement read.

Thursday morning, Denning said he was surprised by the statement and downplayed the notion that there were rising tensions with the governor himself.

“We had a meeting with the governor about an hour before that press release came out from their office,” he said. “It was very professional, very cordial. We let the governor know that it’s the Senate’s job to produce a budget bill that we think we can get 21 votes on. And we knew his first pass, which he knew as well, wasn’t going to be all intact.”

Willoughby, however, provided a timeline of the events, reflecting that the meeting between the senators and governor occurred at 4:15 p.m., about an hour before the Senate leaders’ statement was issued.

Sen. Julia Lynn, R-Olathe, said some of the tension began before the session began, when budget officials slashed their forecast of future revenues, resulting in a projected $350 million shortfall in the current fiscal year, followed by another $538 million shortfall next year.

“I think that we were expecting the governor to make some of those cuts, and so there is some disappointment on that subject,” Lynn said.

She said the tension grew Tuesday night, during Brownback’s State of the State address, when he made a comment that sounded like he was dropping the budget problem in the Legislature’s lap, with no real plan of his own to fix it.

“As a first step, I encourage the Legislature to put a bill adjusting the 2017 budget on my desk by the end of the month,” Brownback said. “Working with the relevant chairs and the leadership, we have many suggestions as to what that measure should look like. But as the Legislature is the spending branch, that work appropriately begins here.”

“I think there was a feeling Tuesday night that he was punting to us, based on the speech,” Lynn said. “And I think some of the reaction among some of the Republicans has been directed toward those two things.”

Denning said he believes Senate Republicans and Brownback will be able to work together on a budget bill that the governor can sign.

“I think everybody’s a bit frustrated just because we’re so far behind and we missed projections for so many months,” he said.