Topeka , KS – Today, State Representative Lance Kinzer joined a coalition of Johnson County lawmakers in voting against the lockbox bill, SB 30, due to the current school finance plan’s unfairness to Johnson County schools. Though the vote was 105-17, ten of those 17 “no” votes came from Johnson County legislators. Kinzer was joined by Johnson County State Reps. Arlen Siegfreid, Terrie Huntington, Tim Owens, Stephanie Sharp, Mike Kiegerl, Kevin Yoder, Sue Storm, Ben Hodge, and Anthony Brown in voting against the plan. These lawmakers represent the entire political spectrum, including both moderate and conservative Republicans, as well as a Democrat.

The bill, which establishes a “keeping education promises trust fund”, commonly referred to as a “lockbox”, sets aside money previously approved in the education spending appropriations during the 2006 session. The 2006 spending plan, which was then rejected by every member of the Johnson County delegation, is unfairly disproportionate in the way it depends on Johnson County for its money but sends little back to actually educate the county’s children. In his explanation of vote Kinzer noted:

"While the plan may satisfy a capricious court, it is wholly unsatisfactory to those who believe in local control, rational distribution of funds, and fiscal responsibility. Under this plan Johnson County will provide 1/3rd of the money, educate 1/5th of the kids and receive less than 1/10th of state dollars. This plan is the unacceptable result of legislative obsequiousness to education policy by judicial fiat. We can and should do better.”

On Wednesday, Kinzer offered an amendment to the bill on the House floor to help deal with the formula unfairness by adding money for high enrollment school districts such as Olathe , Shawnee Mission, and Blue Valley , but the amendment was ruled not germane.

The Johnson County delegation is unified behind getting their fair share of funding for area schools, Kinzer said, and will not give up.

“Democrats and Republicans from Johnson County are committed to fixing this unfair formula, and we will continue to fight this unfairness.”

In addition to “locking” funds for education spending, the House version of SB 30 also included more than $76 million in funds for “crumbling classrooms”, a problem which has not been examined in enough detail to warrant setting aside a lockbox at this time.

“There is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to the ‘crumbing classrooms’ problem. We need to examine why we got to this point, and where previous funds went. I don’t think it made sense to link these two issues together,” added Kinzer.

The bill, being different from the version the Senate passed, now heads to a conference committee to work out differences between the two.

Back to "Media Releases"