The outcome was never in doubt and after three hours and 24 speeches the House passed its version of a $17.5 billion, project-filled, debt-laden two-year budget 65-33.
There are schools, water and sewer projects and roads for those who voted with Democratic leadership on the plan but there’s less money for education at all levels, cuts to corrections which may hit county jails hardest and few capital projects in Republican districts. One Republican, Rep. Jim Stewart of Flat Lick voted for the measure while one Democrat, Jim Wayne of Louisville voted against it. Stewart voted last week for a $371 million revenue package and he received the only major project in a Republican district.
After his Republican colleagues railed against what they said was retribution for their votes on the revenue measure in the form of no projects in their districts – except for his – Stewart himself spoke, saying by now the entire state realized he was the Republican who voted for the revenue measure.
“I’d like to introduce myself,” said Stewart to laughter from the House.
Other Republicans wer-en’t so pleased. Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, said the Democrat majority punished Republicans for their “philosophical diff-erences” on taxes and later said the state “simply can’t afford” the debt taken on by the budget. He quoted Wayne, who Tuesday said the budget incurs an “appalling” debt ratio of 7.43 percent of revenues needed to pay the debt service. The state typically has attempted to keep the amount of the budget needed to pay its debt to below 6 percent.
Rand, however, said the budget contains less debt than the one proposed by Gov. Steve Beshear, contains no tax increases and several Democrats said it will create or retain 25,000 jobs through the construction projects, a claim House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg has made for the past couple of weeks.
Republicans said the budget is “irresponsible,” and compared it to unpopular spending pol-icies in Washington, often invoking the name of President Barack Obama and accused Democrats of supporting “tax and spend” policies. After Hoover’s claim of a philosophical difference over taxes, Rep. Johnny Bell, D-Glasgow, expressed doubt.
It is nearly impossible, Bell said, that all but one Republican would discover the “same philosophical awakening at the same place, at the same time about the same issue. I think it’s politics.” He said Republicans were pre-paring for their November election campaigns. Republicans like Ken Upchurch of Monticello didn’t argue. He said Democrats would hear the “roar” of angry voters this fall.
But it passed and will now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate where there is resistance to the business tax changes and where bonded capital projects are likely to be altered.
The measure includes $2.2 billion in borrowing: more than $1.3 billion for schools and water and sewer projects; $412 million for roads in the road plan; and $485 million in bonds which will be paid by universities and other agencies from their own funds.
It cuts most state agencies by 2 percent on top of three previous rounds of budget cuts. The budget reduces funding for higher education by 1.5 percent in the first year and 1 percent in the second and provides universities no funding for maintenance and ope-ration of new buildings; takes back $40 million in excess or unused SEEK funding from the public schools but maintains SEEK funding at its current levels for the next biennium. It reduces the school calendar by two days, saving the state $68 million over two years. It does provide full equalization for recallable taxes passed by the Glasgow and Boyd County boards of education.
The budget relies on $256 million in extended federal assistance for Medicaid. Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, said that measure passed the U.S. Senate while Frankfort lawmakers debated their budget. The state budget will provide an additional $10 million for social worker security.
There are no pay raises for teachers or state workers’; they’ll pay more for some health insurance plans; and the budget requires reduction of non-merit or political employees in all three branches and a reduction in contracted government services. It proposes to save $30 million in corrections by holding the prison population at its current levels and by releasing as many as 1,000 non-violent, non-sexual offenders.
RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com.
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After political debate, Kentucky House passes $17.5 billion budget
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Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality. -
Old districts are back ... for now
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the legislative redistricting debacle in Frankfort.
Judge Phillip Shepherd in Franklin Circuit Court on Tuesday tossed out the General Assembly’s controversial redistricting plans and reverted everything back to where it was before. -
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past. -
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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