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State Capitol

Kentucky Legislature Approaching Mid-Point In 2021 Session

legislature.ky.gov

A veteran Madison County state senator is hopeful the legislature and governor can find some common ground regarding a one-year budget.  The general assembly is almost half-way through the 2021 session.

Both the Kentucky House and Senate passed the skeleton of a budget bill about a month ago.  The aim was for leaders of both chambers to work out agreed-to spending.  Berea Senator Jared Carpenter said the governor’s proposed budget is, quote, “pretty aggressive” in using federal relief dollars. “We want to make sure we don’t try to do long term expenditures with money that’s just going to come in once.  We can’t count on CARES ACT money coming next year or the years after because hopefully this pandemic moves on past us and we get back in our economies are wide open and rolling on,” said Carpenter. 

Carpenter said a true picture of revenues for the Commonwealth is also an elusive number.  

The House and Senate did take action early to modify Governor Beshear’s executive authority related to coronavirus orders.  The governor has taken the matter to court.  The GOP senator noted it’s all about involvement.   “I think that’s the conversations we wanted to have with the governor to be inclusive and we were never just brought to the table to have any decisions.  He made those decisions and everybody else in the state had to live with them.  We want to make it to where, not only this governor, but any governor in the future, if something like this ever happens, that the legislative body has some say in what’s going on,” explained Carpenter. 

The General Assembly is scheduled to conclude its work the end of March. 

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