photo by: Associated Press

Tim Graham, left, a member of Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly's staff, confers with Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, right, R-Emporia, outside the Senate chamber ahead of a debate on legalizing betting on sports events, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Pictured between them in the mirror is Michael Murray, Longbine's chief of staff. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

TOPEKA — Kansas legislative leaders’ offices would see an 11% increase in their funding under a proposal that cleared committee Monday, and almost all of the new dollars would go to top Republicans.

The House Appropriations Committee added the money before approving the Republican-controlled Legislature’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in July. The biggest increases, nearly 58%, would go to the offices with the smallest budgets, the Senate vice president and the House speaker pro tem. The proposal goes next to the House.

The three GOP leadership offices in each chamber would see their funding increase 15%, while the Democratic offices would see theirs rise only 2.3%. Top Democrats criticized the proposal, saying it’s inappropriate for lawmakers to give their leaders’ offices extra money when public schools, social services and other parts of state government need extra dollars.

“It couldn’t come at a worse time, in case we have to spend money on the public health crisis because of the coronavirus,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. Kansas confirmed its first coronavirus case Saturday.

The total spending increase of about $141,000 and the eight leadership offices’ combined funding of $1.38 million are tiny fractions of the state’s nearly $19.8 billion budget. Still, spending more money on the Legislature could prove politically problematic in an election year.

Backers of the increase contend the underfunding of some offices makes it hard to recruit and retain staff, particularly with the Senate vice president and House speaker pro tem.

The vice president and speaker pro tem’s offices each receive less than $56,000 annually, and each has two staffers. Under the proposal, their budgets would be more than $87,000.

“Their funding’s low — very low,” said House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican.

Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine noted that he uses campaign funds to boost his staffers’ pay. Campaign finance records show that his campaign fund has paid $7,750 in bonuses in the previous three years.

“I supplement that (budget) with my campaign funds, which I don’t think my donors really want,” said Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, an Emporia Republican. “That’s not their intention, but that’s what I have to do.”

Rep. Kyle Hoffman, a Coldwater Republican, proposed the additional funding during the House committee’s meeting. He said it’s problematic to have leaders relying on funds from contributors to help pay staff.

“I don’t think there’s been any issues so far, but I think there could be someone who gives to them, or several people, who could say, ‘Hey, we’ve given and this person, you’re supplementing with the money we’re giving, and we’d like them to do so-and-so,'” he said.

Of the extra $141,000, more than $133,000, or almost 95%, would go to the top Republicans’ offices. The GOP controls more than two-thirds of the Legislature’s seats, 29 of 40 in the Senate and 84 of 125 in the House.

In November, legislative leaders discussed proposing a 10% increase in pay for their staffs, but House Republicans rejected the idea. According to The Topeka Capital-Journal, House Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch, an Ottawa Republican, said: “Sacrifice and budget tightening should start with us in leadership.”

House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, said the House committee’s proposal “looks like a lot of wasteful spending.”

“I don’t think that’s the taxpayers’ priority,” he said.