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00000179-cdc6-d978-adfd-cfc6d7d40002Coverage of the issues, races and people shaping Kansas elections in 2016, including statewide coverage in partnership with KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, and High Plains Public Radio.

Wagle: Next Legislative Session Will Be Very Long

Stephen Koranda
/
KPR, File Photo
KS Senate President Susan Wagle

We’re almost three months away from the next Kansas Legislative session, and the top Republican in the Senate is already predicting overtime.

There will be a monster agenda facing lawmakers when they return to Topeka in January.

The state is already $60 million in the hole, and that is likely to worsen. So legislators will have to raise taxes, cut budgets or both.

Senate President Susan Wagle is expected to be reelected to the chamber. On KCUR’s podcast Statehouse Blend, she says there’s too much work for the allotted time.

“It will be a very long session," Wagle says. "I’m sure we’ll go over the 90 days because we have to do school finance.”

The Kansas Supreme Court is expected to rule on the adequacy portion of the school funding lawsuit after the election but before January.

The ruling could mean the state has to find another $800 million.