Kentucky Senate Passes Tighter Budget
March 24, 2010
Monday night, the Senate passed a $17 billion, two-year budget, with more spending cuts than the house proposed in its budget.
In the Senate’s budget, no state agency was spared as all of them face cuts 1.5% deeper in the first year than the House called for.
Medicaid and education will also receive larger cuts if parts of the Senate’s budget makes it to Governor Steve Beshear’s desk.
The Senate voted to cut public schools by nearly $39 million over the next two years as a further cost-cutting measure.
A move Bowling Green senator Mike Reynolds says had to be done.
"We basically are tightening our belts and doing the best we can not to hurt anyone but at the same time to live within our means."
In addition… the Senate decided to extract nearly a million dollars worth of school construction projects from the House’s budget.
Not because they weren’t necessary but because…
" ;Those were also rewards for house members that voted in favor of the majority party’s budget, so that wasn’t exactly as far as it could have been," says Reynolds.
20th District House representative Jody Richards says the education cut now will do more harm than good in the future.
"When the legislature cuts education, that will have a debilitating effect down for a generation," says Richards.
However, the Senate wants to re-institute the two school days the house wanted to cut out.
The cost to bring back those days is $72 million.
Also on the chopping block is Medicaid, which under the Senate’s budget would be cut an additional $26 million more than the House suggested.
Some jobs in Frankfort would also be on the line if the Senate’s budget passes.
"We completely cut out the long-range planning committee which will cost some jobs and one agency completely," says Reynolds.
Reynolds also says some of the state’s road projects will be pushed back to the second year, rather than the first.
Starting Wednesday, 10 members from the House and 10 from the Senate will iron out the two budgets into one.