Beshear plans to call special law-making session soon to fight COVID-19
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday his goal is to call state lawmakers into a special session as soon as legislative leaders and he reach “a general consensus” on what steps to take to fight the raging coronavirus pandemic.
He said it needs to happen soon but did not mention a specific date. Only the governor can call a special law-making session and set its agenda
The Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders are in negotiations over what actions should be taken to fight COVID-19, which Beshear said continues to hit the state “harder and harder.” He said a record 2,198 Kentuckians are now in the hospital with the virus, with a record 615 in intensive care units and a record 384 on ventilators.
A recent Kentucky Supreme Court decision allowed new laws that limit the governor’s emergency powers to take effect. The ruling allows the legislature to have a say in what actions should be taken.
Beshear, speaking at a news conference to update the virus’ toll in the state, said a special legislative session is needed soon.
Asked about a rumor that he plans to call a special session to begin next week, Beshear said a session is needed to keep in effect the state of emergency for the pandemic he declared in March 2020.
He said he will be pushing “for some other things.”
He noted that schools that are shutting down now because of the virus need more flexibility on having non-traditional instruction days when students can do online work from home.
The state education commissioner now can waive up to 10 so-called NTI days to count towards student attendance days in the school districts’ calendars.
“I’m going to seek all the tools I can,” said Beshear. “I’m not going to hold off on calling a special session if I don’t get all of them.”
A special session is expected to cost taxpayers about $68,000 a day. It usually takes at least five days to hold a special session.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 5:42 PM.
