More than $175 million in new direct funding for Northern Kentucky projects – including a massive project at Covington Central Riverfront and airport improvements at CVG – is found in a budget proposal approved Wednesday in the Kentucky Senate.
The Senate added the funding to state budget bills that first passed the Kentucky House on Feb. 1. A final budget agreement will be worked out between the two chambers before the current legislative session ends next month.
Projects to directly benefit NKY added in the Senate budget proposals are as follows:
- $150 million in one-time funds to build the Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence at the Covington Central Riverfront development planned for the former IRS site. Both the Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law and University of Kentucky College of Medicine would use the site, with medical operations complementing health sciences opportunities at the OneNKY Center.
- $25 million in one-time funds for economic development at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).
- $6.5 million in state general funds for one-time funds to renovate the Highland Heights and California campuses of Holly Hill Child and Family Solutions.
- Up to $25 million for expanded online course offerings and technology enhancements at NKU.
One-time funding for each project – with the exception of the NKU online expansion and Holly Hill – would come from more than $1.1 billion of the state’s budget reserve trust fund, now in excess of $3.7 billion. That one-time funding is included in House Bill 1, amended and approved unanimously (38-0) in the Senate.
The NKY Chamber of Commerce released the following statement on the biomedical project appropriation Wednesday: “The NKY Chamber thanks and applauds Senator Chris McDaniel for his vision for NKY and for appropriating the funds for a biomedical economic development project for our region. We look forward to helping advance the Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence through conference committee and into law.”
Remaining state budget reserves – also known as rainy day funds – would total $2.7 billion under HB 1 as it stands now.
The rest of the proposed funding would come from the biennial state budget bill, or House Bill 6, which the Senate amended and approved on a 37-1 vote Wednesday. That legislation covers most state government operations for the next two years, plus provides limited funds for some projects like Holly Hill and the NKU online project.
Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights) is the chairman of the Senate budget committee responsible for moving the state budget through the Kentucky Senate. Before his committee approved HB 1 on Wednesday, McDaniel said the bill’s “investments in our people, our energy, in public safety, in education and in the economy, in health, quality of life and infrastructure in our community are necessary and worthy.”
“We stand at an odd juncture in history where we have taken in far more in receipts than we have anticipated and we have one time money and we maintained our commitments to spend those monies in a way that is a one-time spending and not only does not recur spending obligations but stimulates economic activity,” he told the committee.
Statewide funding in Senate-approved HB 1 and HB 6 proposed for education, transportation and more would also impact the NKY region.
At least $890 million – or most of the $1 billion-plus transferred from the budget reserve trust fund under Senate-approved HB 1 – would go to the state road fund for highway, bridge and road improvements “in high-growth counties.” The focus would be on metropolitan areas, like NKY.
A breakdown of which counties would specifically benefit from that appropriation was unavailable at the time the Senate approved the bill on Wednesday.
For K-12 education, Senate amendments to HB 6 include a nearly $100 million increase in guaranteed base funding for schools (SEEK), plus increased transportation funding support in the amount of $44.6 million in fiscal year 2025 and $65.9 million in fiscal year 2026. Funding for teacher pensions would also get a boost: $159.2 million increased general fund support in fiscal year 2025, and a $302.1 million increase in fiscal year 2026.
As for postsecondary institutions, state colleges and universities like NKU and Gateway could vie for significantly more performance-based funding ($201 million per year for institutions statewide, up from $97 million per year) under HB 6 as amended in the Senate. NKU would also be allowed to receive SEEK funding for its Young Scholar Program under Senate amendments to the bill.
On Wednesday, McDaniel said Senate changes to HB 6 resulted from “strategic decisions on how to invest our resources to help areas in need, create a modern economy, and make our state a great place to live. The Senate’s proposal makes sure we are doing transformational things. We are laying the groundwork to ensure our competitiveness in the next century.”
No Senate Democrats voted against either HB 1 or HB 6 on the Senate floor Wednesday. The lone no vote on HB 6 was cast by a Republican, Sen. Adrienne Southworth (R-Lawrenceburg).
The bills now return to the House. The next step will likely be a conference committee, made up of Senate and House members, to negotiate sticking points between the Senate and House plans.