GOP state budget plan restricts governor from spending $2.6B from federal aid package – By Joe Sonka (Louisville Courier Journal) / Mar 13 2021
The Republican state budget plan for the next fiscal year, posted online early Saturday, does not appropriate the $2.6 billion in federal COVID-19 aid soon to come to the state’s coffers and prohibits the funds from being spent by the governor without the legislature’s permission.
The executive branch budget bill crafted by Republican legislative leaders is also a significant departure from the plan proposed by Gov. Andy Beshear in January, as it adds $743 million to Kentucky’s rainy day fund and eliminates raises for state and public school employees.
In January, the General Assembly quickly passed a continuing budget bill that kept spending relatively constant to the current fiscal year. Republicans had worked behind the scenes crafting a final budget that was more conservative than Beshear’s — hinting it would devote more of the one-time funds from the 2020 CARES Act and budget surplus to the rainy day fund instead of ongoing expenses.
The budget conference committee met for three days this past week as legislators worked on a budget, where the governor’s budget director John Hicks explained in detail how the state could use the billions of dollars soon to come from Congress’ passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act.
