Gov. Andy Beshear dug into the details of the biennial budget Monday. While he did veto some items, he spent much more time highlighting the positive aspects of the budget passed by the General Assembly.
One technical point: While the items Beshear approved become law, the things he vetoed can still be overridden by the legislature in the last two days of the session.
The significant aspects of the bill include investments in broadband, clean water, and infrastructure, which provides money for bridges and the life sciences lab in Covington. The latter saw its funding increase from $10 million in Beshear’s original budget to $15 million in the one that became law today.
Beshear heavily praised the Kentucky economy and, as part of that, the number of jobs his administration has created and planning to create. This includes jobs that will be created at the Covington lab.
“Speaking of that, attracting new jobs, the life sciences lab in Northern Kentucky,” Beshear said. “I believe it can be a game-changer. It is funded in this budget. The budget invests $15 million in the City of Covington to support the construction and outfitting of a share research and development lab facility to serve the region’s rapidly expanding life sciences sector.”
Beshear noted his conversations with Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Taylor Mill), the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee chair, about some of the items in the budget. When McDaniel presented the budget at the last conference committee, he talked about the funding for the lab.
“There was just a generalized feeling from the stakeholders that it could conceivably be more than just a $10 million appropriation,” McDaniel said. “…that kind of research is critical to developing an environment for advance biotechnical research, and we just felt like we wanted to make sure we got it right.”
The bridge funding has been an evolving project in itself. It started in January when Beshear put forth $250 million in matching funds for three major infrastructure projects, including I-69 and the Mountain Parkway Project. Initially, the Senate budget had only $200 million, but McDaniel said they settled on the higher amount after conferring with the governor.
“The governor originally had that number, and they came to us after the product had cleared both chambers and said that it was their belief that would be the most competitive when they put the grants into the federal government,” McDaniel said in March.
On the same day Beshear presented the budget, he also signed House Bill 242, the House’s biennial transportation budget. Sponsored by Rep. Sal Santoro (R-Union), the budget includes $1.3 billion in funds for the Brent Spence Companion Bridge. This is in addition to the $2 billion expected from the federal infrastructure bill. The total cost of the project is expected to be $2.8 billion.
“The total cost of this is $2.8 billion, and Kentucky provides $1.3 billion of this,” Santoro said in a committee meeting. “This is over a few years. We are working with Ohio.”
In February, Beshear said he wanted to break ground on the project next year, which is an election year for the Democratic incumbent. But, with the funding in place in the budget, the project is moving in a positive direction.
“I’m more optimistic today,” Beshear said, “given that most parts of the budget are finalized that we will break ground on the Brent Spence Companion bridge in 2023 than I have been at any time. The General Assembly stepped up and gave us every dollar that we asked for to be as competitive as we can on that grant. And, in fact, it budgeted for virtually every dollar we think it would cost us on the stateside.”
While the budget has positive parts, Beshear noted that education took the biggest hit. The General Assembly budget did not include funding for pre-k or teacher raises, which is something he said he would work on in the future.
“The biggest miss was not investing in education,” Beshear said, noting he will include teacher raises in future budgets. The next budget Beshear would work on would be 2024, which is dependent on his reelection in 2023.
Beshear also vetoed raises for the General Assembly, as they already make “more than the average annual income of Kentucky households,” he said in his veto message. To see detailed veto items in the budget, visit https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/vetoed.html.
The Republican Party released a statement that said the governor didn’t participate in the budget process.
“Once again, Governor Beshear stands at a podium painting a picture of his leadership that doesn’t match reality,” RPK spokesperson Sean Southard said. “The Governor spent the entire legislative session on the sidelines and refused to engage with the General Assembly in any meaningful way. He never walked down the hall to speak with House or Senate leadership. Instead, he chided them from the briefing room. Thanks to strong Republican leadership, this budget makes investments in all-day Kindergarten, fully funds pensions, and provides historic funding to school districts, empowering them to make local decisions about staff salaries.”
Here are other top items included in the budget:
-An eight percent across-the-board raise effective July 1, 2022, for state employees. State police will get an automatic $15,000 per year pay raise.
-Increase funding to domestic violence centers, rape crisis centers, and child advocacy centers.
– Increase for postsecondary education institutions with $80 million each year. Combined with the additional $17 million provided in the prior budget, this budget continues to restore some of the $250 million in budget cuts these institutions have suffered since the Great Recession. The budget also funds the Bucks for Brains program with $40 million to be matched dollar-for-dollar with private donations.
-To help meet the needs of the future workforce, the budget supports Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs with $170 million to help renovate 24 locally operated CTE centers.
Here are items included in the Governor’s budget but not included in the finalized budget:
- A record investment in K-12 funding through the SEEK formula – the enacted budget has over $680 million less for SEEK than the Governor’s budget;
- Funding for universal pre-K;
- Funding for a pay raise for teachers and school staff;
- Restoration of past budget cuts to textbooks and professional development;
- Better Kentucky Promise Scholarship program;
- Loan forgiveness programs for teachers and social workers;
- Hero Pay with $400 million from ARPA funds;
- Staffing to restore services at local and regional unemployment insurance offices;
- Agritech research and development facility;
- Funding for the Commission on Women;
- Increase in funding for the Commission on Human Rights, and
- Funding to modernize Kentucky’s central public health laboratory facility.