Brownback will call special session but date unknown
Eleven days after the Kansas Supreme Court said the new school finance equity law was unconstitutional, Gov. Sam Brownback said he would call a special legislative session to address the ruling and also repeated his criticism of the court.
Brownback said on Tuesday the special session would be later this month, adding that he would set a specific date later. Some legislators have said the special session would likely be after June 20.
Brownback also said he "will do everything I can to keep this session focused on education." During a special session, legislators can work on other measures as well and is it expected that some proposals will be floated.
On May 27, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature's attempt to fix Local Option Budget inequities was unconstitutional and actually increased inequality among districts. The Court, again in the long-running dispute, gave the Legislature until the last day of the fiscal year, June 30, to fix the inequities.
On June 1, the Legislature convened its official end of the 2016 legislative session, but Republicans, who hold significant majorities in the House and Senate, couldn't agree on how to address the ruling. Some Republicans said the Legislature should defy the court while Democrats and some other Republicans called on Brownback to bring the Legislature back into an overtime session. Democrats had even started a petition drive to force a session. Meanwhile, schools were in limbo, fearing a shutdown that would disrupt summer activities at schools and the start of the next school year.
In his announcement, Brownback slammed the court, saying, "After discussion with Legislative Leadership, I have decided to call a special session to keep Kansas schools open, despite the Court’s threat to close them. It is distressing that the Kansas Supreme Court has put the schools and Legislature of Kansas in this position over less than 1 percent of school funding."
The court has said it cannot allow the continuance of an unconstitutional school finance law that is dis-equalizing to students and taxpayers.
Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley said he was glad Brownback decided to call a special session but was concerned Brownback and his allies would try to set up another confrontation with the court.
"The parents and children of Kansas deserve much more than to play politics with fairly funding our schools," Hensley said.
But like Brownback, House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, also criticized the court. "The Kansas Supreme Court has made their desire to close Kansas schools this year crystal clear. Their willingness to use Kansas children for their own political gain is despicable," Merrick said.
The last time the Legislature met in special session over school finance was in 2005 when because of a Kansas Supreme Court decision legislators convened for 12 days before hammering out a funding increase for schools.
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