TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A compromise $14.1 billion state budget before the Kansas Legislature could set up another confrontation with Gov. Sam Brownback over arts funding.
The House was to vote first Friday on the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The Senate planned to take it up later in the day.
The measure, drafted by House and Senate negotiators, includes $700,000 for a new Creative Industries Commission, which would merge the existing Kansas Arts Commission and the Film Services Commission. Brownback proposed the merger but recommended only $200,000 in funding.
The governor has argued that arts programs need to rely more heavily on private dollars. Last year, he vetoed the Arts Commission’s entire budget, making Kansas the only state in the nation to eliminate funding for arts programs.
