House, Senate judiciary committees end pre-session meeting; Democrats unveil school finance plan
After two days of meeting, Republican majorities on the House and Senate judiciary committees declined to endorse recommending compliance with the Kansas Supreme Court ruling on school finance and instead, at least on the Senate side, teed up debate for a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit the court from closing schools.
The committees met jointly Thursday and Friday to consider possible school funding changes and possible constitutional amendments in preparation for the start of a special legislative session on June 23 to address a ruling from the court that the Legislature fix equity funding to schools by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved recommending that when the session starts, a proposed constitutional amendment be introduced that will prohibit the court or the Legislature from closing a school as part of a remedy in school finance litigation.
State Sen. Jeff King, R-Independence, and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the amendment is needed to prevent a disruption of schools but Democrats said limiting what the court can use as a remedy would destroy the balance of power between the three branches of government and deny Kansans the right to seek redress of wrongs in the court. The House Judiciary Committee made no recommendation on proposed constitutional amendments.
Any amendment to the Kansas Constitution would require two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate before being placed on the ballot. Officials said if an amendment were approved during the special session, it would be on the Nov. 8 ballot for consideration. There is already a state law that prohibits the state Supreme Court from closing schools.
On the issue of school finance, both the House and Senate judiciary committees approved sending to each chamber's respective budget committees, the minutes, from the two days of meetings, but without any recommendations. A specific motion before the House Judiciary Committee to recommend the House Appropriations Committee raise $38 million to comply with the court ruling was defeated by Republicans as Democrats and several Republicans voted for it.
Both judiciary committees also said they would study further whether to try to fashion a so-called "hold harmless" provision to keep funding level for districts that might lose some funding in an equity fix.
Meanwhile, House and Senate Democrats unveiled a plan to fund approximately $39 million in response to the court's equity ruling.
The proposal would use $15.2 million from the current extraordinary needs fund, $13 million from a job creation fund in the Kansas Department of Commerce, $7.3 million by freezing the level of funding for virtual school funding, $3 million from federal welfare funds and $750,000 now set aside for tax credits for private school scholarships.
The Democrats also said they would oppose proposed constitutional amendments aimed at limiting the Kansas Supreme Court.
"It's beyond time for us to get to work to address the real problem so that all Kansas children, no matter where they live in Kansas, have access to a quality education next school year," said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka.
Democrats are vastly outnumbered by Republicans, 32-8 in the Senate and 98-27 in the House.
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