The Kansas House voted unanimously Saturday to pass a bill that would prevent furloughs from going into effect at midnight, but Senate President Susan Wagle said she may not bring it up for a vote.

“Our goal is to pass a balanced budget and a balanced tax plan,” Wagle, a Wichita Republican, told reporters afterward. “And we’re going to keep trying to get there. We’re going to keep trying to build 21 (votes in the Senate) and 63 (votes in the House). That’s the best way to resolve the issue. If that doesn’t work, we will pass a budget.”

“We’ve consulted with some attorneys,” she continued. “We don’t think that making the nonessential employees essential, we don’t think that resolves it. We think that we need a budget.”

More than 24,000 “nonessential” state employees, including 5,270 at Kansas University’s Lawrence and Edwards campuses, received furlough notices Friday, telling them not to report to work from Sunday on if lawmakers have not approved a balanced budget by that time.

The bill passed by the House would declare all state employees “essential” for purposes of furloughs through the formal end of the 2015 session, a date known as “sine die,” which typically comes several days after the House and Senate conclude their work.

Sunday marks the start of a two-week pay period for which paychecks would be issued July 2, after the start of the next fiscal year.

So far, the House has passed a budget bill that is awaiting Senate action. But it requires about $400 million in additional revenue to balance. And neither chamber has yet been able to pass a tax plan to raise that much revenue.

A tax conference committee met Saturday morning and agreed that both chambers would work simultaneously in the afternoon on different tax plans.

Meanwhile, if no tax agreement is reached, the Senate has an alternative budget bill that would make a 5.7 percent across-the-board cut in state spending, including K-12 education.

Asked if that was the bill she intended to put forward if no tax agreement is reached, Wagle said: “I’ll see what my senators are willing to pass at that point in time.”

Wagle reiterated later that her goal is to avoid furloughs. But based on legal advice she and others have received, she does not think the bill declaring all state employees as “essential” accomplishes that goal.