The Senate considered three amendments to cut state services including K-12 and higher education tonight and defeated all three by large margins.
The first amendment with a 2% across the board cut (requiring the cut to K-12 to be from non-instructional budget lines) was offered by Senator Wagle (R-Wichita). After a lengthy debate, the amendment failed on a roll call vote of 7 – 33. The seven Senators voting in favor of cutting schools were Alley, Fitzgerald, Lynn, Olson, Pyle, Tyson, and Wagle.
The second amendment, offered by Senator Dennis Pyle (R-Hiawatha), was the same but with a cut of 1% across the board. This amendment failed on a roll call vote of 10 – 30. The ten senators voting in favor of cutting schools were Alley, Fitzgerald, Lynn, Masterson, Olson, Petersen, Pilcher-Cook, Pyle, Tyson, and Wagle.
The third and final cut amendment, also offered by Senator Pyle, would have cut schools by 0.5%. This amendment failed on a vote of 6-34. The six Senators voting to cut education were Alley, Olson, Pilcher-Cook, Pyle, Tyson, and Wagle. You will note that Senator Lynn voted NO on this amendment. She explained her change by saying she had voted for larger cuts.
On an emergency final action vote after 9:00 pm, the rescission bill WITHOUT CUTS TO STATE SERVICES OR EDUCATION passed on a vote of 27-13.
