Kansas lawmakers hammered out a new state budget and an updated 10-year highway plan Thursday.
The budget comprises almost $20 billion in spending. It includes $50 million for unforeseen expenses due to coronavirus as well as a separate $15 million for COVID-19 emergency preparedness work.
The budget also canceled a nearly $270 million transfer to KPERS, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. Lawmakers set up the payment just last year to start repaying KPERS after a series of missed payments last decade.
The transportation plan, meanwhile, is set up to wrap up unfinished programs as part of the T-Works program when transport funds were diverted to other ventures to keep the general fund budget afloat. The plan, called FORWARD, also prioritizes highway preservation projects before funding large-scale expansion or modernization work.
Lawmakers are on break until late April.
