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Debate over spending for the next two years honed in Wednesday on the states massive pension obligations, with one Wichita Democrat making a passionate case for Kansas to pay its bills.

Rep. Henry Helgerson expressed consternation as members of the House budget panel mulled holding back a few hundred million dollars in retirement contributions at this stage in the budget crafting process.

How many years have legislators been saying, Well deal with this later on? he asked. This isnt an enhancement, this is debt. You put this off, the state is financially vulnerable to bankruptcy.

Some members of the committee appeared torn, expressing agreement with Helgerson that the states pension woes are significant and urgent, yet citing uncertainty over available revenue. The panel voted 12 to 9 to review the matter later in the session, after revenue projections for the next few years are updated in late April and other factors, such as the cost of funding schools, are more clear.

Among those missing pieces of the puzzle, noted Erin Davis, R-Olathe, is whether the Legislature will reform the states tax statutes.

We have no tax plan on the horizon, Davis said. The tax plan that the House passed and the Senate passed was vetoed by the governor.

She was referring to a proposal that would have raised nearly $600 million next year alone. Lawmakers failed to override Brownbacks veto, falling short just three votes in the Senate.

Kansas has about $8.5 billion in unfunded retirement liability the gap between the pension systems resources and the retirement benefits promised to public employees.

In 2016, the state delayed a quarterly payment into the retirement system and will do so this year as well. Part of the debates in recent weeks over the 2017, 2018 and 2019 budgets concern when and how to repay those funds. For 2018 and 2019, a key sticking point is whether to keep state contributions flat or let them increase as indicated by law.

For two decades, the state has been paying less in contribution rates than needed according to actuarial assessment.

Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed keeping state contributions flat in 2018 and 2019.

At a separate meeting in the afternoon, he answered a reporters questions about the KPERS situation by citing progress on that point.

Where we were when I started we were 52 or 54 percent funded, and were 67 percent funded today, Brownback said. We are in so much better shape on KPERS today than when I came in as governor.

He was referring to efforts to reduce the portion of the states liability that is funded versus unfunded.

The House and Senate budget committees are working on dual versions of budget solutions for the next few years.

Troy Waymaster, a Bunker Hill Republican and chairman of the House budget committee, said Wednesday his goal was to pass a bill out this week, but it could take longer.

The Senate budget panel expects to pass its version out of committee on Thursday.

The Senate bill includes 2 percent raises for most state employees, many of whom havent seen pay increases for about a decade.

The Houses bill doesnt include raises at this point. Given the Senate panels proposal, Waymaster said it could be a topic that surfaces later.

Meanwhile, the Senate budget committee voted Wednesday to include some measures to help alleviate a 4 percent cut to higher education from last year. Part of the amendment brought by Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, includes reducing the cut by a quarter in fiscal 2019.

It is not a full restore it is putting the decrease back to 3 percent, Schmidt said. From my perspective, thats a step in the right direction.

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Kansas House Democrat makes impassioned plea not to withhold ... - Topeka Capital Journal