Kansas Senate Passes Revised Budget Plan

(AP) – The Kansas Senate has passed a plan for eliminating most of the projected deficit in the state budget for the next fiscal year.

The 21-17 vote Tuesday sends the measure to the House, which last week rejected its own budget-balancing plan. Its Appropriations Committee is working on a new version.

The Senate proposal cuts spending by an additional $138 million and reduces the deficit to $70 million. Senate leaders said additional proposals could reduce that to zero.

The Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson must close the $328 million deficit in the $13 billion budget already approved for fiscal 2010, which begins July 1.

About two-thirds of the spending cuts would come from public schools and higher education.