Time is running out for Kentucky lawmakers to consider legislation for this year’s General Assembly session.(WKYT) FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Time is running out for Kentucky lawmakers to consider legislation for this year’s General Assembly session.
The last day to vote on bills is April 14 and the clock is ticking on a new spending plan and other high-profile legislation.
It’s a much different situation for lawmakers this year, usually, talk of a budget uses words like austere or bare bones. This year, surplus is a popular word. “That means we can make game-changing and state-changing investments in education,” said Gov. Beshear. “We can provide universal pre-K to every child in the state.”
However, neither House nor Senate included preschool in their spending plan. There could be both a tax rebate and a trimming of the income tax. the proposals would also give state worker raises and more flexibility for school systems.
Senate President Robert Stivers says they want to be cautious in what they do.
“We do have substantial monies. We want to make smart investments and we want to put a tax code that puts some of the money back in people’s pockets,” Stivers said.
There are three controversial, high-profile bills that have been given a stamp of approval in the House but are yet to be heard in the senate.
The House narrowly approved a funding mechanism for charter schools.
Sports betting through online poker and wagering at horse tracks and horse track-owned facilities cleared the full House. Medicinal cannabis passed the House but its future in the Senate still has some question marks.“So, what I am hoping we will see is continued discussion, more research and we will continue this through the rest of the session to see what kind of support there is,” Stivers said.Lawmakers will meet this Thursday and Friday and then Tuesday and Wednesday of next week before adjourning until April 13 for two days to consider veto overrides.“I hope, as we end the session, we don’t see some of the cruel votes we have seen like cutting $50 million in food aid to hungry seniors and children,” […]
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