Kentucky Republicans mixed on governor’s new spending plan

(The Center Square) – Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear outlined his spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year in his State of the Commonwealth address Thursday night, saying it’s a time for the state to aggressively invest in the state’s future.

Republican leaders in the General Assembly, who will lead the way in marking up that budget, gave the governor some support but they had some questions, too.

Among the items Beshear called for is $220 million for the Better Kentucky Small Business Relief Fund to help small businesses that suffered losses due to COVID-19. Beshear hopes that will be spun off separately and passed on an emergency basis so the funding can be made available as soon as possible.

The governor’s also proposing $1,000 salary hikes for public school employees and a 1% raise for state workers. He’s also wanting to add $100 million to the state’s rainy-day fund.

In addition, Beshear said he directed $48 million in federal CARES Act funding to pay Kentuckians who have waited months to receive unemployment benefits and missed out on a federal program because they previously did not make enough to qualify.

Beshear wants to spend $100 million to repair schools and $50 million to improve broadband access in rural areas. With $600 million in one-time funds, he said he wants to take advantage of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to spend it wisely.

“We get to decide how history looks back on us in 10, 20 or even 50 years,” the governor said. “This is our chance. So let’s think and act differently so we can get different and better results.”

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said on KET after the address that he didn’t want to “rain on the parade,” but he had concerns about how much borrowed money and federally infused funds were going to be part of the budget.

After the address, Stivers, House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, Senate Appropriations and Revenue Chair Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, and House Appropriations and Revenue Chair Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, issued a joint statement where they said they will review his documents and hope he will continue a dialogue with them as the budget discussions continue.

“A budget is the ultimate policy document, and this means we must invest every taxpayer dollar in a manner that reflects our state’s priorities and financial realities,” they said. “This pandemic is far from over and our Commonwealth still faces great uncertainty. We question the prudence of spending millions of dollars in new programs when our economy remains extraordinarily unpredictable.”

Both the House and Senate committee were scheduled to meet Friday morning in Frankfort to get more information from state Budget Director John Hicks.

Thursday’s address by Beshear, a Democrat, was unusual for several reasons. First, it detailed a one-year plan, rather than the typical two-year budget legislators traditionally pass in the longer even-year sessions.

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