1 Year Budget is Passed

First, I hope this finds you and your family safe and healthy. We’re facing an unprecedented global health crisis, and our normal routines have been upended so dramatically. If you need help, please let me know. You can also reach out to the following local and state resources:

Pennyroyal Center RESPOND hotline (available 24/7/365): 877-473-7766

Kentucky’s COVID-19 Website and hotline: 800-722-5725, or general inquires can be emailed to KYcovid19@ky.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

When in doubt, call your primary care provider.

Many of you have emailed, messaged or called regarding various items in the budget, and on Wednesday, April 1st, the legislature sent a truncated, one-year budget to the Governor for consideration. Regrettably, this budget is based on revenue projections that no one believes we’ll hit in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. All raises for various state employees that have been discussed have been put on hold. Much needed increases in spending on education and infrastructure are almost entirely delayed. However, we are putting an emphasis on public health, unemployment, and along with several other changes to help all Kentuckians navigate these difficult waters, in Senate Bill 150, Kentucky’s own COVID-19 relief bill that was passed unanimously on March 26th and was signed into law on March 30th. The Executive, Judicial and Legislative branch budgets were all passed to cover spending only for the first half of the biennium. The General Assembly will return for its next regular session in 2021 to prepare a revised budget for the second year of the biennium, ostensibly based on updated economic forecasts. I know we all hope to have COVID-19 well behind us by then.

While the General Assembly currently plans to return for a final day (or possibly two days) in mid-April to consider overriding any vetos and to make final passage of other bills, leadership in both chambers are monitoring the emergency daily. The Kentucky Constitution prohibits the legislature from conducting business in an even-numbered year beyond midnight on April 15th. If we don’t return by then the legislature is adjourned automatically by constitutional mandate.

Unfortunately, with the COVID-19 emergency the legislature has, rightly, decided to recess for as much time as possible to minimize potential exposure to staff and legislators. As a result, many bills that were headed toward more debate and possible passage have fallen to the wayside in the interest of the most important policy work, namely those bills related to budgets, pensions, and public health. I feel confident many of these bills will be filed and pursued again in 2021.

Below I’ve included links to key budget and revenue documents, including a summary of the “main” budget document (Executive branch) to show some of the highlights. If you have questions or if I can help don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email me here, or call my Frankfort office at 502-564-8100.

In the meantime, please remember to maintain physical distance in accordance with CDC recommendations and stay home as much as possible!

We Should Ban Child Marriage

A bill proposed by Sen. Julie Raque Adams that would provide court oversight on petitions for a marriage license for 17 year-olds (SB48), is set for a second hearing in my committee tomorrow morning, and I plan to call the bill for a vote.

After working with Donna Pollard (Survivors' Corner) and the Family Foundation we have arrived at an amendment to the bill the requires parental consent, but critically requires a court to review the petition to prevent the same kind of abuse that Donna Pollard experienced as a child.

Contrary to what was believed by so many on social media, the bill sponsor and I worked together on this amendment and the bill was never not going to be heard.  I said as much after our first hearing on the bill back in February.  I’m looking forward to seeing it pass committee in the morning and then hopefully be voted on the Senate floor soon thereafter.

For those asking, the amendment (known as a “proposed senate substitute”) is attached below.

Initial Proposed Budget

Every two years the Legislature convenes a "long" regular session, running 60 legislative days.  During this even-year session we draft and vote on the Commonwealth's biennial budget.  This process takes many months, but the document itself gets it first official unveiling when the sitting Governor of the day makes his or her State of Commonwealth address in mid-January.  Last week, Governor Bevin gave his address to a joint session of the Senate and House and the following day the various budget bills were filed in the House (where law requires all appropriations bills to begin) and the legislative process begins in earnest.

Below are the budget bills for you to download and review if you're curious.  The bill must pass the House (where it will certainly change shape), before coming to the Senate (where it will change again), and then customarily a free conference committee is formed (made up of House and Senate members) to hammer out a compromise.  Once a unified version of the bill has passed both chambers it heads to the Governor for his signature or veto.

Pension Reform Proposal

UPDATED (9:59am CST): According to the Governor's office, the hazardous section was mistakenly omitted from the first document.  I have replaced the linked PDF below.

Senate, House and Executive Branch leadership have met for months discussing and debating what reforms we should pass to address Kentucky's ailing pensions systems.  The finer points of the legislation itself (a bill I'm told that is in excess of 500 pages) is still being put through statute revision (a key step in all legislation to check for errors) and proofread.  In the meantime, the folks working on the bill have prepared a summary of key points based on the bill.  Again, this is not a wishlist.  These provisions are contained in the bill itself.

Click below to download the summary:

As soon as the legislation is available I will be posting the full text here on the blog so be sure to bookmark the site, follow me at the links below to catch all the updates.

Race to the Bottom

I'm deeply discouraged by the announcement of Churchill Downs and Keeneland today regarding their plans for a racetrack in Oak Grove.  As I have been since I first ran for the Senate, I am staunchly opposed to gaming – it is a regressive tax, targeting the middle and lower income earners, and in this case, the military families that live in and around Christian County, many of whom already live on meager salaries.

I believe gaming is bad for the area and the rest of the Commonwealth, and the opening of a racetrack, while adding a few jobs and bringing in some revenue, comes at too steep a price for the community.

Unfortunately, I don't have a vote on this in the legislature, but it is my sincere hope the racing commission denies their application for a license.  If I have any influence on the project I hope that I can stop it.  I'm for all the jobs and economic development we can find for Christian, Todd and Logan counties (and the rest of Kentucky), but not from gambling.  I wish there was a way to help Kentucky’s signature Thoroughbred industry thrive without it.