(Photo by Stephen Koranda)Legislators return to the Kansas Statehouse today (MON) to begin the 2014 session. They passed a two-year budget last session, meaning they won’t need to go through the normal budget process this year. House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, says they'll have to adjust the corrections budget, and they may look at some other issues, but he doesn't expect a major rewrite of what's been done so far.
But the Kansas Supreme Court is considering a lawsuit over education funding, and a ruling in the suit could lead to some significant work on the budget. Merrick says the lawsuit could prompt lawmakers to rewrite the school funding formula or look at different ways of calculating funding. The lawsuit argues Kansas is not living up to its obligation to properly fund schools and education spending should be increased.