Budget bills advance with strong support
Sen. Christian McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, speaks Wednesday on the Senate floor. McDaniel, chair of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee, gave an overview of budget-related legislation. A high-resolution photo can be found here.
FRANKFORT — The Senate advanced four budget-related bills Wednesday with bipartisan support as legislators anticipate the next two-year spending cycle for state government.
All four bills – House Bill 500, House Bill 503, House Bill 504 and House Bill 900 – received unanimous approval from the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee earlier in the day. The Senate unanimously approved its versions of HB 500, HB 503, HB 504 and HB 900 in the afternoon.
Sen. Christian McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, chairs the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee. He said it was a pleasure for him to unveil priorities the Senate has for the commonwealth’s spending, and it took teamwork from many people to get the budgets to this point.
“We have written these budgets at times that were exceptionally tight. We have written these budgets during the period of global pandemic and we have written these budgets as things got better,” he said on the Senate floor. “But throughout it…as a chamber, I could not be more proud of our current and past members because we did things with discipline. We made tough decisions when we had to. We crafted our budgets for the future, not just for today.”
HB 500 represents the state executive branch’s budget. The large bill includes scores of appropriations toward education, health care, social services, public safety, economic development, infrastructure and other priorities.
Some of the appropriations in HB 500 as the bill cleared the Senate include:
- Increases in the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funding formula for schools. The base per-pupil guarantee would increase to $4,626 in the first year and $4,774 in the second year
- Increases of 2% per year in the Kentucky Law Enforcement Foundation Program Fund training incentive
- $5 million each year for school safety initiatives
- Full funding for actuarially required contributions to the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement Fund
- $145 million to help address unfunded pension liabilities under the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority
- Around $80 million to provide a 13th check for qualified state retirees
- An annual salary increase of 2% per fiscal year for state employees
- $100 million to meet growing federal requirements of the SNAP program
- $42 million in bond funds for a prison education program through the Kentucky Community and Technical College System
- $44 million to support out-of-home care
The bill calls for reductions to many state agencies at 4% in 2027 and 7% in 2028.
However, there are exemptions, including for the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, SEEK funding, Kentucky Educational Television, Medicaid benefits, family resource youth centers, juvenile justice, Kentucky State Police, the Department of Revenue, the Office of the Secretary of State, adult correctional institutions, the Department of Public Advocacy and the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System, McDaniel said.
HB 503 is the legislative branch budget, and McDaniel said it would provide a 2% raise for each fiscal year for all employees.
He said the judicial branch has not completed a comprehensive salary study from which the legislature can fund employee pay. In the first budget year, $1 million is earmarked for the study, he said.
Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald A. Neal, D-Louisville, said he has appreciated the budget process, discussions and exchange of information. However, he said not everyone will be satisfied, including himself.
“Today, I’ll be casting a yes vote with respect to this legislation, but I think it’s important to make it clear that this is a very complex process. There’s a lot involved here, and coming together and agreeing collectively and speaking in one voice is very important,” he said.
Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, said the budget-planning process has taken countless hours.
“It is such a beneficial time that goes through the interim. We join together with our partners in the House and really puzzle through what’s working and what’s not working,” she said.
HB 504 is the judicial branch budget and includes 2% raises over the biennium along with full funding for nine judges who were added in 2022.
McDaniel said HB 900 relates to the Budget Reserve Trust Fund and is a work-in-progress. It would create a framework for the members of the Senate and House to have input from their local districts and then collaborate on state and local investments.
“We have members from across the commonwealth, across the partisan divide and across many other spectrums who have submitted requests for one-time funding. Those will continue to be addressed as this process moves along. As has been said so many times, this is a lengthy process with many stops along the way, and we will continue consultation as it relates to this bill as it moves,” he said.
Budget bills will now return to the House, and if the House does not concur with the Senate’s changes, the chambers will appoint a committee of lawmakers to hash out the differences.
