More taxes? Beshear’s budget will raise new revenue, but by less than two years ago.
Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday that the two-year state budget proposal he will give lawmakers next week “will have a small amount of new revenue,” but less than what lawmakers enacted in the state budget two years ago.
It will not increase the state’s 6 percent sales tax, he said, but will provide full funding to the state’s pension systems, make no cuts for the first time since 2008 in higher education, reverse the trend of not signing up every poor child who needs health care insurance and begin the process of making sure every child gets early childhood education.
Beshear also said he supports the school safety bill lawmakers approved last year. But when asked if he will fully fund the plan, Beshear said “we likely will have to do that in steps.” He did not elaborate.
Beshear’s budget plan will be one that “invests in our children,” the first-year governor said at a rally in the Capitol Rotunda for the 16th annual “Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol,” which is arranged by Kentucky Youth Advocates. It attracted hundreds of people from across the state and the legislature’s top two leaders — Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker David Osborne — as well as several other legislators.
Beshear is to unveil his budget proposal at 7 p.m. Tuesday during a joint session of the Kentucky General Assembly in the Capitol.
The biggest question about the budget that lawmakers have for Beshear is where he’ll find the money to pay for his campaign promises, such as raising teachers’ salaries by $2,000 a year.
Asked after his speech if he will raise taxes, Beshear said he will propose raising revenue by less than the amount lawmakers approved in the current two-year budget.
Two years ago, lawmakers made cuts to individual and corporate income tax rates and imposed the state’s 6 percent sales tax on several services, such as auto repairs. They also raised the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 50 cents.
In his speech to the youth advocates, Beshear mentioned beefing up the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP), which provides free health insurance for poor children younger than 19.
“Sadly what we have seen over the four last years is that our percentage of children who qualify for KCHIP, who actually have signed up, has gone down,” said Beshear.
“In other words, the commonwealth has not done a good enough job over the last several years in making sure that every child that is eligible is signed up,” he said. “I can tell you there will be dollars in the budget to make sure we can reach out and get every single child signed up for some form of health care coverage.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 2:27 PM.
