Written by Mark Payne, LINK nky politics and government reporter
The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee dug into the details of the proposed Republican state budget on Thursday. The transportation budget, HB241, and the overall budget, HB1, were both voted on and passed before heading to the House floor. Once on the floor, they were also voted on and passed.
“These budget bills are the most important bills in this session,” said Rep. Brandon Reed (R-Hodgenville) when presenting HB241.
Both bills will now head to the Senate.
In the meeting, the A&R committee heard the transportation budget first. It works in tandem with HB1, but this is the first time they have been separated, according to Committee Chair Jason Petrie (R-Elkton). Funds for this budget come out of the General Fund, Road Fund, Restricted Funds accounts, Federal Funds accounts, or Bonds Funds accounts.
In HB241, there’s $220 million set aside from all four funds, with $200 million coming from the General Fund. One big area in the budget was the money set aside for aviation. There’s roughly $10 million set aside each year in the House budget, but in the governor’s budget, there’s approximately $50 million.
Among the Republican talking points for HB1 are $20 million invested per year for a healthcare workforce initiative, as the healthcare field is facing a worker shortage due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Republicans also highlighted their SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) funding, which is the education fund in Kentucky. The House budget seeks to increase the “base SEEK guarantee” of $4,100 in the first fiscal year and $4,200 in the second. It also leads to an additional $800,000 investment in public school districts.
Governor Andy Beshear’s proposed budget offers a 16.9 percent increase, or $685,000 more per year than the House budget.
Money was also set aside for law enforcement agencies. According to Rep. Joseph Fischer (R-Fort Thomas), this budget grants a $15,000 pay increase to every state trooper and motor vehicle enforcement officer, according to Rep. Joseph Fischer (R-Fort Thomas). That represents a 37.5 percent salary boost for new recruits. It also gives an $8,000 a year raise to all telecommunication personnel.
“There’s been an alarming turnover of personnel in our Kentucky State Police and other agencies here, and we wanted to get to the bottom of that and how we could help resolve the issue,” Fischer said. “This budget once and for all rejects the dangerous ideology that we must defund the police. Instead, we have strengthened our state police force by investing record amounts in every area of law enforcement.”
Despite House Speaker David Osborne (R-Prospect) filing Gov. Andy Beshear’s budget bill as HB 285, it is unlikely the Democratic governor’s bill is going to move to the floor anytime soon. With supermajorities in the House and Senate, it is improbable that the governor’s budget will pass, leaving room for the House budget to be passed in both the House and Senate chambers.
Once a bill arrives on Beshear’s desk, he can veto it. But the bill will then face an override from the Republican supermajorities. The House and Congressional redistricting plans were also vetoed by the governor on Jan. 19 but face an override, according to Speaker Osborne.
The governor’s ability to veto will play out as a political strategy over the course of the session. Still, it’s unlikely the power will do any good, as legislative Republicans have the power to jam through any legislation they see fit.
