Governor Beshear plans to call the Kentucky General Assembly into a special legislative session to address flood-related issues within the next month. The governor made the short remark during Tuesday’s briefing on the state's response to flooding. Beshear didn’t elaborate on when the special session might begin. The Governor says he and legislative leaders are working on ways to lessen the individual taxpayer burden when it comes to new infrastructure.
“That means your water bill is not going to go up when you are already struggling because of the massive amount of dollars it’s going to take to rebuild that water system. It means we can get your kid’s school rebuilt and up and running faster and if we do it right, without raising your property tax,” said Beshear.
The death toll from the historic flood now stands at 38 with the death of an eastern Kentucky high school student who was assisting with response.
The governor said there are 187 people living in emergency shelters and another 315 at state parks. Beshear said 16 travel trailers brought into the area are occupied with a total of 77 available.
Governor Beshear said he continues to be disappointed with some of the federal government response to those suffering from massive flooding in eastern Kentucky. The Governor was critical of the Federal Emergency Management Agency saying FEMA is still saying no too many times to applications for assistance.
“For folks that are wiped out. For folks that without it can’t get back on their feet. This is the federal government, they print money and we’re not talking about all that much. In fact, the president yesterday said even the FEMA limit wasn’t enough to get people back on their feet. I’m hoping that is going to spark a change,” said Beshear.
President Biden and the first lady toured a section of flood-damaged Breathitt County Monday.