The House advanced a bill Wednesday evening funding K-thru-12 public schools in Kansas.

The 81 to 40 vote followed four and a half hours of debate and several attempts to amend the bill. Approval on final vote Thursday would send the bill the Senate.

Wednesday was Day 100 of the 2017 session, the number of days for which it was budgeted. Lawmakers have yet to reach a compromise on tax issues to fund a budget that currently has a projected gap nearly $890 million through June 2019, before any education increases.

The school funding measure up for debate phases in a $280 million increase in education funding over two years. Kansas currently spends about $4 billion annually on aid to its 286 school districts, but the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in March that education funding is inadequate.

Critics say the bill does not do enough to satisfy the Court's order.

Democratic Rep. Ed Trimmer of Winfield proposed phasing in a $600 million increase over three years so that the increase after two years would be $400 million. The House voted 75-47 against his amendment.

Freshman Republican Rep. Trevor Jacobs of Fort Scott tried to use the funding bill as a mechanism to debate a so-called "bathroom bill."

Jacobs offered an amendment to mandate that transgender students use restrooms, locker rooms or other facilities according to the gender on their birth certificates. Under the measure, transgender and other students could ask to use separate, single-occupancy restrooms.

His measure was similar to a bill in committee that has not received a hearing.

The House Rules Committee declared Jacobs' amendment out of order. The House upheld that ruling on a lopsided voice vote.