Kentucky’s COVID emergency could soon end. Lawmakers wonder if it will make a difference
After more than two years, Kentucky’s coronavirus state of emergency could soon end.
The House gave Senate Joint Resolution 150 final passage out of the state legislature on Thursday, 75-20. The resolution, when signed, will have the effect of law. It would end the Commonwealth’s state of emergency, which was called due to the spread of COVID-19, just weeks before the originally set date of April 14.
Aside from ending the state of emergency earlier than planned, the resolution also states that “the Governor shall not declare a new (COVID-19) related emergency” without the approval of the General Assembly.
The effort began in the state’s other chamber, with Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, introducing the measure.
GOP lawmakers in both the Senate and the House have heralded the resolution as necessary to “get back to normalcy,” but some Democrats have indicated that the resolution may cause harm and are unsure as to what benefit it presents.
Dustin Pugel, senior policy analyst with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said that Kentucky could lose more than $50 million in COVID-related Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from the federal government if the state of emergency ends in March instead of April.
“Because of the pandemic, the USDA has provided approximately $50 million more per month in SNAP benefits In Kentucky” Pugel wrote in a letter to legislators. “... But the USDA can only provide this funding to states with a declaration of emergency related to COVID-19.”
Kentucky could get one additional round of allotments in April, but would then lose out on that money between May and September, when Pugel said those benefits will end.
Rep. Nina Kirk-McCormick, R-Inez, said that someone from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) told her that the resolution would have “no bearing” on any SNAP benefits in the state, but did not identify with whom she spoke.
“From my research, this bill will not impact the SNAP program whatsoever,” Kirk-McCormick said. “This bill is to set the people free.”
A request for comment from a CHFS spokesperson was not returned by press time.
“The question we really need to ask ourselves is, are we in a state of emergency? Are the hospitals overflowing? Are the deaths skyrocketing? Are the numbers climbing? That is the question we need to ask, not whether we can squeak by another month or three on federal money,” Rep. Thomas Huff, who carried the bill in the House, said.
Kentucky’s COVID-19 numbers are declining based on most metrics.
Rep. Angie Hatton voted for the measure, but echoed several Democrats’ concerns that the resolution was nothing more than a move to score political points by saying that it gets Kentucky “back to normal” without changing much.
“This is symbolic. I don’t know what good purpose it serves and the explanation today didn’t help me understand that any better,” Hatton said.
Gov. Andy Beshear could veto Senate Joint Resolution 150, but GOP-led support for the bill in both chambers is strong enough to override a veto.
