The Legislature has been busy with a number of issues. First and foremost, the issue of redistricting was front and center once again. Two weeks ago the House and Senate passed a map for congressional districts that were passed along party lines. The Governor Thursday evening vetoed the maps criticizing their legitimacy. The next week will likely see veto override attempts in both chambers. The Senate is likely to have the votes necessary to override while the House is going to be more narrow. If the House is unable to override, the Legislature will have to go back to the drawing board which will politically delay a number of other contentious issues as vote trading begins to be a factor.

The Senate Education Committee passed out the revised Promise Act which provides nearly free community college and private university for Kansas students who stay in Kansas in key fields needed by industry. It likely won’t be worked on the Senate floor for a couple of weeks as redistricting and other issues like taxes will dominate the session.

From a budget standpoint, the State received some positive news. Revenues beat projections by over $14M. This was especially impressive because the State recently revised their projections up already. The fact we’re beating those expectations after that revision shows how strong revenues are in the State. It’s a debate what has contributed to that growth between the federal stimulus or business growth in the state.

A bill in Senate Tax was introduced to modify the Educational Building Fund which would greatly reduce the revenue going to deferred maintenance. This is especially alarming given KBOR’s plan to address deferred maintenance and the burden this would place on universities if the EBF funds were to be reduced or eliminated. The bill has not received a hearing yet, but it is likely to occur in the next week or two. This bill has been introduced in the past and did not advance.

Next, President Muma will be testifying in House Higher Education Budget Committee on our budget request. As WSU works to fulfill its vision and mission that coincides with KBOR’s strategic plan, the President will emphasize the following priorities:

  • $25M Need-based Aid – grow workforce and access to higher education
  • Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) – grow jobs to keep graduates in Kansas
  • Health Sciences Education Center – help increase health outcomes, fuel talent pipeline and meet mental health needs of our region while leveraging our digitization capabilities
  • Recentering – Prioritize programs that meet industry needs in growing fields of study by making “whole” WSU Tech and other two-year colleges who have been underfunded

The Senate Ways and Means Committee will receive a similar presentation the following Monday. The week after is currently scheduled for the full appropriations and ways and means committees to receive these budget recommendations.