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Lawmakers' plan hikes public school funds

SALEM - The Legislature's budget chiefs put out a $14.9 billion spending blueprint Thursday that calls for more public school spending and less money for colleges and universities than Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants.

The leaders of the Joint Ways & Means Committee, Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, and Rep. Mary Nolan, D-Portland, presented their spending priorities for 2007-09 to a gathering of lawmakers and others in the House chamber.

Both acknowledged that their spending priorities largely comport with the budget recommendations that fellow Democrat Kulongoski rolled out in December. The two blueprints call for the same level of discretionary spending from the income tax-fed general fund and the lottery. And most of the priorities for education, human services and public safety are similar.