Gov. Beshear has vetoed 25 bills from the Republican-led legislature. See the list.
With 25 rejections of bills passed by the General Assembly, Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto pen has had a busy 10 days. If not for the volume of vetoes from last year, it would have been a recent record.
In 2021, the Democratic governor vetoed 31 of the bills passed by the Republican-dominated legislature. 28 of those vetoes were overridden by the General Assembly, which holds 75-25 and 30-8 majorities in the House and Senate.
Among the 25 bills Beshear vetoed are priority GOP measures having to do with education, the governor’s powers, tax cuts, public assistance restrictions and more. Beshear also unveiled several line-item vetoes of provisions in the legislature’s budget earlier this week.
Senate leadership has expressed a desire to override the vast majority of Beshear’s vetoes in the two remaining days they have to do so, Wednesday and Thursday. Only a few of the bills vetoed saw close approval votes in either chamber – a bill giving county judge-executives appointment power over libraries and another creating a funding mechanism for public charter schools were passed in the House with only 52 and 51 votes, respectively. 51 votes in the House and 20 votes in the Senate are required to override a veto.
Education vetoes
Senate Bill 1 initially contained provisions shifting certain privileges, such as principal hiring, more toward school districts’ central office and away from school councils. However, it ended up a little more complicated than that. A late-game committee substitute added the language of the controversial bill that deals with Critical Race Theory. That language lists 24 primary source documents to be included in Kentucky school civics curriculum from elementary to high school. The bill sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, also says defining racial disparities solely on the legacy of slavery is “destructive to the unification of our nation,” a provision that some have said would ‘chill’ speech in the classroom.
Senate Bill 83 would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ or women’s sports grades six through senior year of college. In his veto, Beshear referenced Republican governors in Utah and Indiana, where he said they vetoed similar bills for fear of lawsuits. Beshear also pointed out that the Kentucky High School Athletic Association has a policy on the matter already, mandating that transgender athletes that have undergone sex reassignment after puberty make “surgical anatomical changes” and undergo hormone therapy. Bill proponents say being born male provides transgender girls with an unfair advantage in sporting contests and that the bill was about “protecting women.”
House Bill 9 creates a funding mechanism for public charter schools in Kentucky. Beshear called the bill unconstitutional because public taxpayer dollars can only go to public schools. Advocates for public charter schools say that they provide needed options for parents in school districts that may currently lack educational options. The bill passed on a razor-thin 51-47 margin in the House, where exactly 51 votes are needed to override a veto. Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said last week that in his communications with House leadership he thinks the House and Senate will continue to have the 51 and 20 votes necessary to override vetoes in both chambers.
Governor’s powers
Beshear vetoed nine different bills that he said take away powers, both significant and ceremonial, from the governor. One bars anyone in the executive branch except the attorney general, a role currently occupied by Republican Daniel Cameron, from spending government funds challenging the constitutionality of a law – clearly targeted at Beshear, who has challenged past Republican-backed laws. Others include government contract review, a shakeup of the executive branch ethics commission makeup, and various other boards.
Abortion
The General Assembly tackled abortion yet again with the passage of House Bill 3. The bill would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, crack down on abortion medication and put up barriers for minors seeking access to the procedure. It received wide support among House and Senate Republicans, easily passing with majorities strong enough to override the veto. Beshear and some Democratic legislators have been critical of the fact that the bill does not provide exceptions or exclusions for victims of rape or incest.
Personal income tax cut
Beshear vetoed one of the most ambitious Republican priorities of the session, and potentially in Kentucky history: a bill that could completely eliminate Kentucky’s personal income tax. In his veto message, Beshear said it would “threaten Kentucky’s future economic security.” House Bill 8 would radically alter Kentucky’s tax structure, as it envisions eliminating the source of 40% of the state’s tax revenue.
Whether or not the personal income tax rate drops in a given year is dependent on a formula that takes into account actual revenues and expenses as well as the state’s Budget Reserve Trust Fund (or ‘rainy day fund’) and. The formula allows the income tax to drop in 0.5% increments if at the end of the fiscal year the actual revenues exceed expenses plus the dollar value of a 1% drop in income tax. Another requirement for that drop to take place is that the state maintain a Budget Reserve Trust Fund equivalent to 10% of the actual revenue drawn in a given fiscal year.
Fiscal analysis from the state on sponsor Sen. Chris McDaniel’s latest version of House Bill 8 indicated that the legislation will create a negative impact of over $800 million to state coffers in lost tax revenue. Currently, the state is running on a historic budget surplus.
Public assistance restrictions
A scaled back version of House Bill 7 – which puts stricter eligibility rules on Kentucky’s public benefits for the poor, chiefly food stamps and Medicaid – will likely be brought up for a veto override. House leadership said they agreed to drop several parts of the bill that were controversial and, in some cases, potentially expensive, because they would have required additional record-processing staff to be hired at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Regulations’ effect on private industry
House Bill 594 would require the state of Kentucky to consider the financial costs to private industry before enacting new regulations — without also considering the possible public benefits, such as better consumer protection, community health or workplace safety. The bill’s sponsor has said it will “bring transparency and accountability to the development of administrative regulations,” while environmental advocates have said that the legislation misses the very point of enacting regulations.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 2:29 PM.
