Kansas House to debate plan for balancing state’s budget

The Kansas House is preparing to debate a bill that balances the next state budget while also giving corrections officers in state prisons a pay raise.

The measure on the House’s agenda Wednesday eliminates a projected deficit of nearly $200 million in the $16.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The bill contains many of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposals to eliminate the budget gap by shuffling state funds and capturing unanticipated savings.

But it also breaks with Brownback’s proposals to spend $2.4 million to give uniformed officers at state prisons a 2.5 percent pay raise. It contains an additional $3 million for the state’s two mental hospitals to help them with staffing and other issues.

The Senate expects to debate its own budget-balancing plan Thursday.