By Bruce Schreiner
Associated Press
FRANKFORT —
Showing little enthusiasm, the Kentucky House passed a $17.1 billion, two-year state budget on Wednesday that would impose cuts across a broad spectrum of state agencies but would avert a partial government shutdown this summer.
Despite the 94-4 vote, Rep. Harry Moberly seemed to sum up the mood of many lawmakers: “Like the rest of you, I regret I have to vote for this.”
Moberly, D-Richmond, ranked the measure as perhaps the worst budget he ever supported in his long career. He said it falls short in education funding and fails to stimulate job creation amid persistent high unemployment in Kentucky.
The proposed budget would spare the state’s main funding formula for elementary and secondary education, but higher education would endure cuts, as would programs including those for gifted and talented students.
Under the plan bound for the Senate, most state agencies would face cuts of 3 1/2 percent in the first year and 4 1/2 percent in the second year, though some high-priority programs would take smaller cuts. The budget includes no new taxes.
“I don’t think anyone ... could say state government is not tightening its belt,” said House budget committee Chairman Rick Rand, D-Bedford.
Senate budget committee Chairman Bob Leeper, I-Paducah, said the Senate would give the House plan a thorough review while working “as expeditiously as possible.”
Senate Majority Floor Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the budget will be heard in committee on Thursday and come up for action in the full Senate on Friday.
Gov. Steve Beshear said the budget work “seems to be moving along at the appropriate pace, and hopefully by Friday I’ll get a budget on my desk.”
The House-passed proposal largely follows Beshear’s proposal to break an impasse between House and Senate leaders. That deadlock prevented lawmakers from passing a new budget in their 60-day regular session, which ended in mid-April, resulting in a special session that began Monday. Each day of the special session costs taxpayers about $63,000.
Several House members said they felt compelled to support the spending plan to limit the length of the special session and keep much of government from shutting down. Thousands of state workers face layoffs if a new budget isn’t enacted before the next fiscal year starts July 1.
The budget bill drew scant praise but plenty of criticism during the House debate.
Moberly aimed his harshest criticism at Beshear, saying the Democratic governor’s budget proposal amounted to a “capitulation to the lack of vision” by the Republican-led Senate.
“Where are you governor? Come out and show us some leadership,” said Moberly, a former House budget committee chairman who decided not to seek re-election this year.
Asked for a response to Moberly’s criticism, Beshear said: “I thank Harry for his public service and wish him a good retirement.”
Rep. Jim Wayne, a Louisville Democrat who opposed the bill, said, “It’s slash, slash, slash in every area. It’s pitiful.”
Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, voted for the budget but worried that the cutbacks would hamper government services and hurt education.
“Those who are in need are going to be the first ... to receive the cuts,” he said.
Some lawmakers bemoaned the decision to drop Beshear’s proposal to provide state matching money to replace the state’s most dilapidated school buildings.
Rep. Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana, said some children in his district attend an old school where the staircase has to be propped up and plaster falls occasionally.
“These are not projects; these are necessities,” McKee said.
Leeper expressed disappointment that the House dropped the money to help replace rundown schools, adding: “We’ll look at that and determine whether we want to press that issue.”
During the regular session, House Democrats wanted to issue hundreds of millions in bonds for school projects but grudgingly backed off the proposal because of Senate opposition.
The House-passed measure also authorizes Beshear to furlough state workers if deemed necessary to help cope with budget problems caused by the economic downturn.
Meanwhile, a provision to direct $100,000 in state money to a Christian school in Breathitt County in eastern Kentucky drew criticism from Rep. Joni Jenkins, who opposed the bill.
Jenkins said the provision would defy a recent state Supreme Court ruling that said public funding for religious education violates the Kentucky Constitution.
The House also passed an accompanying revenue measure that would generate about $88 million in the next two years to help balance the budget. The revenue would come from several tax code changes but would not affect general tax rates.
