Pro-Beshear Trump supporter ad claims “Andy cut the income tax.” Here are the facts
A newly released television ad featuring a supporter of Republican former president Donald Trump justifying his vote for Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear tells viewers that Beshear “cut the income tax.”
This claim is true in a technical sense.
Beshear did sign House Bill 1 this year, which finalized a planned cut to the state income tax from 4.5% to 4%.
However, the majority of action to cut the state’s personal income tax has been undertaken by Republicans in the state legislature, often in spite of Beshear’s veto pen and Democratic pushback.
The Trump-Beshear supporter, Alan Greenwell of Jefferson County, says that he feels that “Kentucky has moved forward under Andy’s leadership,” citing bipartisanship, the governor’s record on jobs and law enforcement pay raises. He lingers particularly on the tax cut.
“Andy cut the income tax. That’s a big deal – huge deal,” Greenwell said. “I voted for Trump because I felt that he was putting the American people first. I’m going to support Andy because I do feel he’s putting Kentucky first.”
The bill setting Kentucky on a path to reduce the state personal income tax is a “huge deal” for the state — with many cheerleaders and detractors arguing over whether the move will lead the state to ruin or riches — but Beshear’s position on the matter has largely been reactive.
When Beshear signed House Bill 1, breaking with nearly all members of his party in the state legislature, he shared some concerns of those on his side of the political aisle, but appreciated that the bill would relieve some economic pain felt during an inflationary period in the national economy. He also noted that the state, like many other states in the country due to federal spending packages, was experiencing a significant surplus at the time.
The more consequential bill passed in 2022 that initiated Kentucky’s path to reduce the state personal income tax to zero was championed almost entirely by Republicans and was vetoed by Beshear. House Bill 8 set up a framework to reduce the income tax, then 5%, all the way to zero in incremental drops of at most 0.5% year-to-year given that certain fiscal “triggers” are met and the legislature passes a bill affirming the drop.
The subject of vigorous debate at its passing, House Bill 8 was largely panned by Democrats and groups like the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy warning that it would be a “budget buster,” threatening essential services if a recession were to hit. Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Executive Director Jason Bailey said it was the “worst bill” he’s seen passed in more than 20 years.
“HB 8 will ensure that budgets are grossly imbalanced in the near future and will become more imbalanced over time, leading inevitably to massive budget cuts, a failure to meet obligations like pensions, and/or huge tax increases on middle- and low-income Kentuckians,” Bailey said at the time of its passing.
Beshear echoed these concerns in a veto message in 2022, warning of long-term fiscal risk and negative effects of expanding the sales tax to more services, as the bill also did.
Republicans and business groups like the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce argued that it would spur investment and allow Kentuckians to keep more of their earned income while certain triggers would bar the state from repeating the budgetary mistakes of a state like Kansas, which had to roll back its changes after severe cuts to public services.
The conditions for implementing a 0.5% incremental reduction in the personal income tax rate are as follows:
That at the end of the fiscal year the actual revenues exceed expenses plus the dollar value of a 1% drop in income tax.
That the state maintains a Budget Reserve Trust Fund – also known as the ‘Rainy Day Fund’ – equivalent to 10% of the actual revenue drawn in a given fiscal year.
That the General Assembly vote to approve a drop in the income tax rate.
This year the state fell more than $400 million short of meeting the first trigger, the actual revenues goal, set forth in House Bill 8.
In response to the recent ad, Republican nominee Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s campaign called Beshear’s ad touting the endorsement of a Trump supporter “deception.”
“Andy Beshear is so afraid of losing to me that he’s now comparing himself to Trump,” Cameron said. in a statement “Trump has his candidate in this race. It’s not Andy, it’s me.”
This story was originally published September 28, 2023 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Pro-Beshear Trump supporter ad claims “Andy cut the income tax.” Here are the facts."
