TOPEKA — State agencies have asked for more than $274 million in new funding for next year just months after Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback called the current budget bloated.
The agencies are collectively seeking a 4.1 percent increase in spending in next year’s general fund budget. The Wichita Eagle reports preliminary budget requests for the next fiscal year became public when agencies presented them to a legislative committee last week.
One agency seeks money to restore earlier cuts to universities. Another wants money to eliminate waiting lists for people with disabilities. A third wants more money for social workers.
The requests do not include additional spending for schools.
Legislative leaders have created a committee after the Kansas Supreme Court decision last month which struck down the state’s education funding formula as unconstitutional.