Special legislative session for KY tornadoes response a ‘likelihood,’ Gov. Beshear says
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said it’s a “likelihood” he will call a special session of the legislature to set aside funding to support counties impacted by the recent tornadoes, he told the Herald-Leader Tuesday.
“I think it’s a likelihood at this point,” in part because Kentucky is likely to hit the $100 million cap on emergency disaster spending the GOP-run legislature set in 2024, Beshear said in an interview at the Kentucky Capitol.
Last year for the first time, lawmakers set a limit on the funds the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs is allowed to allocate to match federal disaster funding, in the event the president declares an emergency or a disaster.
In the time since, Kentucky has experienced at least six major disaster or emergency declarations.
The $100 million cap applies for a two-year budget cycle. After storms spun out across the state in early April, Beshear said the state was on track to reach the disaster spending cap by the year’s end, well before the legislature convenes for its next regular session in January 2026.
A month later on May 16, more severe storms and tornadoes ripped through Kentucky — hitting parts of Pulaski and Laurel counties especially hard — displacing hundreds, damaging or destroying more than 1,500 homes and killing 19.
“I’m very worried about hitting against the total $100 million over the two-year period,” Beshear said Tuesday. “We can get reimbursed for that afterward by (the Federal Emergency Management Association), but we have to have those dollars available and appropriated to use” in the meantime.
The governor said he has not contacted legislative leadership about calling a special session, but he has seen willingness from lawmakers to do what’s necessary.
“While I remain very critical of, for the first time ever, putting a cap in the budget on responding to natural disasters, I’ve only seen willingness to do what it takes by legislative leaders,” he said.
As Beshear teases a 2028 potential presidential run, saying earlier this month it’s something he could “consider,” he says his focus now is on Kentucky.
“Certainly right now I’m focused on tornado response, I’m focused on the challenges we’re facing, especially from the federal government, (like) trying to protect Medicaid, social security and food assistance,” he said.
In 2026, “my singular focus, outside of being governor, is going to be the head of the Democratic Governor’s Association, where I have 36 different races,” he said.
“Sometime after 2026, I’ll sit down with my family,” Beshear said. “I’ve said before (running for president) is something I’d never thought I’d consider.
“But I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids, so a lot of our decision making will be, do we believe I’m in a position, or the best position, to try to heal the country? What I care the most about is that the country is healed.”
But for now, his attention is on healing Kentucky, he said.
On the heels of the May 16 tornadoes, President Donald Trump on Friday approved Beshear’s request for individual assistance for Kentuckians in Caldwell, Laurel, Pulaski, Russell, Trigg and Union counties. That assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover property losses that were uninsured.
State Republicans praised Trump — and Beshear — for working to secure that funding.
In a statement, Senate President Robert Stivers said he appreciated “the cooperation shown by the governor and our federal partners,” citing it as “an example of government working the way it should: quickly, collaboratively, and with people in mind.”
Though the option to apply for individual assistance is a win for impacted families, Kentucky has yet to receive public assistance grants — geared toward county, city and state disaster response — or hazard mitigation response grants for the May 16 storms or the April storms, Beshear said.
While comprehensive federal disaster funding support is slow-going, Beshear said the on-the-ground response from FEMA is among the best he’s seen, despite Trump’s cuts to the federal agency. The May 16 storms marked Beshear’s 18th weather-related state of emergency declaration since he took office in late 2019.
“You only have credibility to speak out against future actions of the Trump Administration if you give credit to what they’re doing well now,” Beshear said. “The irony of all of it is, something he wants to tear down I actually think is one of the best things his administration is doing — that’s FEMA.
“The way they’re dealing with people, the way they’re getting information out and working with us is some of the best ever,” Beshear said. “While I believe those were a lot of the changes made during the Biden Administration, this is (Trump’s) Administration, his FEMA, (and) it’s a credit to him.”
Even so, Beshear said he’s “very concerned about the future responses from the Trump Administration,” meaning the deep cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service and how that will impact the ability of those agencies to serve Kentuckians in future disasters.
“Climate change is real, and it’s certainly causing more natural disasters and stronger natural disasters,” Beshear said.
Of the state’s ability to respond to those disasters, Beshear said the “goal is to get better and better and to learn each time.”
“Although I wish we didn’t have so much practice,” he added.
