BY STEPHEN KORANDA

A school finance plan that will add nearly $300 million over two years gained approval Monday night in the Kansas Legislature and now moves to Gov. Sam Brownback for consideration.

Lawmakers faced a June 30 deadline to increase school funding after a March ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court that said current funding is inadequate. During debate, some lawmakers raised concerns that the $300 million plan will not satisfy the court and could make a special session likely.

With those issues in mind, Republican Sen. Dinah Sykes said she reluctantly voted yes so districts can start preparing for the next school year.

“Not knowing is more harmful and our school boards need to set their budgets,” said Sykes, a Lenexa Republican. “I believe we will see this again and hopefully we will address these concerns and craft a better bill, but I am in support.”

Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning said the funding numbers had been carefully calculated and he believes the plan will gain approval from the court.

Related story: To Craft School Funding Bill, Kansas Senate Relies On Math From 41 Districts

The school funding plan passed the House on a 67-55 vote. The Senate later approved it 23-17.

The bill includes a provision expanding a private school tax credit program to include individuals. Currently only corporations can provide scholarship money to at-risk students and then claim a 70 percent tax credit.

The tax credit program was a flash point for several lawmakers.

“We need to send this back and get that tax credit out,” said Rep. Steven Crum, a Democrat from Haysville.

Earlier Monday the House rejected a different version of the bill that combined school funding with tax increases. That “mega bill” failed 32-91.

Republicans split on that earlier vote, with some conservatives saying they opposed raising taxes. Other House members said the two big issues shouldn’t be tied together.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service.  kcur.org reporter Sam Zeff contributed to this story.

2:30 p.m.

The Kansas House has rejected a bill that would have raised income taxes and increased spending on public schools.

The vote Monday was 91-32 against a bill that would have raised more than $1 billion over two years with higher taxes. The measure also would have phased in a $293 million increase in aid to public schools over two years.

Republican leaders tied tax and school funding measures together in a single bill to make it easier to pass a tax increase. But Democrats and many Republicans objected to the tactic.

Legislative researchers also projected that the bill might not quite close projected budget shortfalls totaling $889 million through June 2019.

The spending increase was a response to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in March that education funding is inadequate.

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1 p.m.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback isn’t saying whether he would sign or veto a bill that would raise income taxes and increase spending on public schools.

Brownback told reporters Monday that he wants to maintain pro-growth tax policies even as Kansas raises new revenues to fix its budget and provide extra money to schools. But he wouldn’t say what he would do if a bill backed by Republican leaders reaches his desk.

The plan would increase raise more than $1 billion in new revenue over two years by increasing income taxes. The measure also phases in a $293 million education funding increase over two years.

Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $889 million through June 2019 and the state Supreme Court ruled in March that education funding is inadequate.

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By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

The Kansas House is expected Monday morning to debate a mega bill that ties sweeping tax reforms and higher funding for public schools into a single yes-or-no vote.

The latest attempt at sealing elusive deals on income tax and school finance emerged Sunday afternoon following three days of stop-and-go negotiations between the Legislature’s two chambers, which each have passed their own versions of a K-12 bill.

Now lawmakers will vote simultaneously on whether to increase state aid for schools by about $280 million — and scuttle Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature tax policies.

Any school finance or tax deal, or combination thereof, will need two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate should Brownback choose to block it. The governor vetoed an attempt in February to roll back his tax cuts, and an override attempt fell short in the Senate.

After agreeing Sunday to fold tax reforms into the school finance bill, Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning said that the proposal, which came from House leadership, aims to make the package less susceptible to Brownback’s opposition.

“We’re hoping that this will give him another reason not to veto,” Denning said.

Not everyone is convinced. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley panned the proposal.

He predicted the Kansas Supreme Court would find it unconstitutional because it doesn’t increase K-12 aid sufficiently.

“The second thing this bill does not do,” he added, “it doesn’t raise enough revenue in order to not only fund our school finance plan, but to fund a sustainable budget into the foreseeable future.”

The income tax portions of the bill would raise tax revenue more than $1 billion over the next two fiscal years. Kansas is facing a projected deficit of $900 million for that same period.

The provisions would end a mechanism designed to push income taxes toward zero and delete an exemption for owners of more than 300,000 businesses that has been the focus of political backlash in recent years.

In tax year 2018, married taxpayers filing jointly would pay 3 percent if earning up to $30,000, 5.25 percent for those up to $100,000 and 5.6 percent for earners above that.

By comparison, under current law the lowest tier would be 2.6 percent in 2018, and married earners filing jointly at more than $30,000 would pay 4.6 percent.

In addition to pursuing tax reform, the Legislature is writing a new school finance formula this year and is under pressure to increase aid. In March the Kansas Supreme Court found state aid to be inadequate and set a June 30 deadline for fixing that.

Denning said tying taxes and school funding into a single bill could help the state’s case in this ongoing litigation because the combined legislation dedicates income tax receipts for funding schools.

“The Supreme Court said they wanted a very consistent revenue stream,” he said. “That’s about as consistent as we could deliver them.”

Separately, the bill would expand a school choice program that funds scholarships for children from low-income families to attend private schools instead of their local public option.

The private school program works by giving corporations tax credits worth 70 percent of their donations to such scholarships. Under this bill, individuals also would be able to donate and receive tax credits.

Kansas legislative sessions normally last 90 days, but in anticipation of this year’s contentious policy and spending decisions, lawmakers scheduled 100 days. Sunday marked the Legislature’s 107th day.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of  kcur.org,  Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.