Kentucky General Assembly sends a bare-bones state budget to Gov. Beshear
The Kentucky General Assembly continued its headlong push Monday to pass an array of bills, including a nearly $12 billion state budget, in their final two workdays before losing the ability to override any gubernatorial vetoes.
With limited public input and shortened committee meetings under the guise of preventing the spread of COVID-19, Republicans have passed a steady wave of legislation over the past three days. As of Monday morning, 45 bills were awaiting Gov. Andy Beshear’s signature or veto.
The pace has drawn some backlash, both from people who have expressed disappointment at not being able to testify against bills and from lawmakers who think the legislature is attempting to pass too much.
“I think members have filed too many bills,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, last week. “Our super majority is supposed to be about smaller government and we keep sponsoring more and more bills.”
Here are some of the bills that were moving through the process Monday:
Budget
The House and the Senate gave final approval Monday night to a $12 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, a plan that Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, has called a “continuation” of last year’s austere budget written in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It now goes to Gov. Andy Beshear. The Democratic governor has the power to veto specific lines in the bill if he chooses, although the Republican-led legislature would likely overturn any changes he makes later this month.
While introducing the plan on the Senate floor, McDaniel said the state’s sales and income tax revenue remained relatively strong during the pandemic (in part, he said, because of people collecting unemployment), but corporate tax collections show some potential underlying problems in the future.
The budget does not answer how the state will spend $2.4 billion it is expected to receive in federal aid from the American Rescue Plan that passed last week, except to give the legislature ultimate control over how the money is spent, which McDaniel said is “legislative prerogative.”
Senators said it was too early to tell exactly where that money should go and that the legislature was forced to do a continuation budget until they learn more about how they can use the federal money.
The budget puts more than $600 million into the state’s rainy day fund, which would raise that fund’s level to more than $1 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s going to take a lot more thought,” Stivers said. “What are the things we need to do? This is why we have a flat-line budget that is going to have a lot of reserve cash in it.”
Stivers mused about some of the things the state might be able to do with the money, like investing in academic research or increasing broadband access, saying the state needs to “think big and we need to think bold.”
Rep. Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, presented a more sober look at where he thinks the money will go. He pointed to potential increased costs for the Teacher’s Retirement System and a $500 million to $600 million federal loan the state used to pay unemployment insurance. The state’s businesses will have to pay back that loan if lawmakers don’t provide money to pay it down.
“There are some big items coming at us,” Petrie said.
House and Senate leadership have already met with Beshear to talk about proposals for spending the money. Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said the plans must be ambitious.
“It couldn’t be done in this budget to get it out today,” said Sen. Morgan McGarvey. “But it is time for us to rise and meet the challenge that has been set before us.”
He said he does not believe this budget bill will be the final one that comes out of this legislative session.
The Senate vote was 30-0, with six members passing. Several of those who passed said they were concerned that the measure was not bold enough to meet Kentucky’s needs. The House voted 74-23, largely on a party-line basis.
Elections bill
After early voting proved popular in Kentucky during the 2020 election, Republicans have been moving legislation that would expand Kentucky’s voting options — currently some of the most restrictive in the country.
House Bill 574 would allow anyone to vote early, in-person for three days before an election, while also making the online portal for requesting absentee ballots permanent (though with restrictions on who qualifies for a mail-in ballot).
The bill cleared the Senate State and Local Government Committee Monday and is headed to the full Senate for a vote.
There have been efforts to restrict voting access in other states after former President Donald Trump made unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. The Kentucky bill, though, includes provisions to appease Republicans who may be wary of fraud — it allows the Secretary of State to automatically purge from the voter roles anyone who registers to vote in another state — while also providing the most substantial expansion of the ability to vote in years.
Some have questioned if the bill has enough support to pass the Senate, particularly since Thayer has long opposed election reform efforts and said it was “a mistake” to let Secretary of State Michael Adams and Gov. Andy Beshear determine how the election would take place during the pandemic.
In the committee Monday, Thayer said he supports the latest draft of the bill, which would prevent the online portal for requesting absentee ballots from opening more than 45 days before an election, added language that would trigger an automatic recanvass in close elections, and prevented school boards from using taxpayer money to pass a tax increase.
“I’m going to support this bill, but I’m compromising some of my own principles and beliefs on what I believe on elections,” Thayer said.
Constitutional amendment on abortion
A constitutional amendment intended to spell out that nothing in the Kentucky Constitution should be construed to “secure or protect the right to an abortion” easily passed through the Senate State and Local Government committee.
The constitutional amendment was proposed last year, but failed to pass in a session cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. If it passes the Senate, it will go on the ballot for voters to decide in 2022.
Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said the amendment isn’t needed and noted that it does not include language to create exceptions for abortion if a woman is raped or if the health of the woman is in jeopardy. Fischer said any abortion laws would be determined by the legislature.
When asked why the bill is necessary — the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe V. Wade protects the right to an abortion — Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Ft. Thomas, said he is concerned the Kentucky Supreme Court will knock down the state’s anti-abortion laws and that the bill is necessary “in order to uphold our current laws, so it can’t be challenged in state court.”
Changes to legislative session
The House gave final passage to another constitutional amendment — House Bill 4 — which, if approved by voters in 2022, will allow the General Assembly more flexibility in when they meet over the course of the year.
The constitutional amendment would eliminate the current deadlines for the legislative session (they have to finish by March 30 in odd numbered years and April 15 in even numbered years), while keeping the requirement that the legislative session be limited to 30 days in odd-numbered years and 60-days in even numbered years.
House Speaker David Osborne, the sponsor of the constitutional amendment, said it was necessary because the legislative session needs to be modernized. The last constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to meet every year, rather than every other year, passed in 2000.
“I think that COVID and the situations that presented themselves during that point in time showed the need for us to have some flexibility in how we conduct our sessions,” Osborne said. “I do believe that the way we have conducted our sessions has become antiquated.”
Senate President Pro-Tem David Givens, R-Greensburg, filed a companion bill that would put in place a March 31 and April 15 deadline for the legislature, but allow them to reconvene for 12 calendar days throughout the year. The bill is intended to show how the legislature would use the flexibility provided by the constitutional amendment to set their own calendar, rather than be limited by the constitution.
The constitutional amendment passed 78-16, which will put it on the ballot in 2022. Givens bill has not yet passed the House, though Osborne said even if it does, they will pass a similar bill next session.
The House of Representatives was expected to vote on bills late into the evening. Among those approved Monday were:
▪ SB 6, which sets ethics rules for people who serve on the transition teams of newly-elected constitutional officers.
▪ HB 310, which deals with victims of sexual offenses. The House added an amendment that would close a loophole that would have allowed a man accused of raping and assaulting an 8-year-old girl to go free because he was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 2:30 PM.
