Dueling budgets in Frankfort
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Even though Republicans hold a dominant supermajority in both chambers of the Kentucky General Assembly, one thing Gov. Andy Beshear was anticipating was the opportunity to lay out his proposed two-year state budget and policy agenda on Thursday before a joint session of the legislature, laying out the case for what he calls a "moral document."
The governor will still make this address — but Republicans beat him to the punch in an unprecedented move, filing their own budget bill in the House last week instead of waiting to file until the governor's address.
Outside of the dueling budgets, Republicans acted quickly to pass their new redistricting maps, push back the filing deadline for candidates and advance tornado relief bill for Western Kentucky — while a remote-learning bill and the surging COVID-19 pandemic also moved forward.
Dueling budgets
Two days after the House budget committee chairman assured me he would not file a budget bill in advance of the governor's address, he did just that — leapfrogging the governor and outlining a proposal that muscle-flexing Republicans said provided "record funding for education."
A clearly miffed Beshear called that filing a "stunt," proceeding to lay out summaries of his budget proposal this week in several areas — including education, infrastructure and health care.
Beshear will lay out his formal plan in his budget address Thursday at 7 p.m., but we can already expect him to lay out a $2 billion surge in public K-12 spending, big raises for state workers and teachers, funding for a potential toll-free Brent Spence Bridge expansion and benefits for nurses and nursing students.
Regardless of what the governor proposes, the Republicans' veto-proof supermajority will have near-total control over whatever budget bill ultimately passes into law.
Redistricting and filing deadline
Republicans moved quickly to pass new redistricting maps for the state legislature, congressional districts and Kentucky Supreme Court — along with moving back the filing deadline so political candidates actually know what races to run in for this year's elections.
Democrats cried foul on the redistricting maps for the state House, though Senate Democrats were largely favorable toward the GOP maps for their chamber and Congress — where the Jefferson County congressional seat currently occupied by retiring Rep. John Yarmuth appears likely to remain in Democratic control.
A handful of Republicans voted against redistricting maps, including Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, who decried the very-oddly shaped 1st Congressional District now stretching from Fulton to Franklin counties, as well as the complete revamping of her own Senate district.
(GOP Rep. Savannah Maddox also voted against the state Senate map, which knocked out two ideologically similar GOP candidates she had endorsed.)
Columnist Joe Gerth did not like the odd map for the 1st District either, saying it put the needs of incumbent U.S. Rep. James Comer above the needs of Kentuckians.
We still wait on Beshear to sign or veto the redistricting bills — with the state House bill the most likely to get nixed and also the most likely to be the subject of litigation to block it after the legislature overrides any presumptive veto.
Other General Assembly action
There was a lot of other action in Frankfort besides the budget drama and redistricting bills over the past week, such as:
The Senate passed SB 1 to shift power from school-based decision-making councils to superintendents and school boards on curriculum and hiring decisions, as well as SB 25 to add 10 remote learning days for schools — all while Kentucky's new COVID-19 cases hit record numbers. (And here's a look at the other education bills to watch for this session, via education reporter Olivia Krauth.)
Both chambers gave final passage to House Bill 5, providing $200 million to a Western Kentucky tornado relief fund — with $45 million of that immediately available for affected school districts and to procure temporary housing.
Will the mostly maskless General Assembly session become a COVID superspreader? Reporter Debby Yetter took a look at the issue that has already temporarily knocked out members of leadership — as well as two GOP House members reported as "too ill" to be interviewed.
What happened outside Frankfort?
Leaders paid their respects at the funeral of Darryl Owens, a Louisville civil rights leader and longtime elected official.
Water is wet, and Sen. Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci are fighting again.
Are taxpayers going to recover the $15 million given to Braidy Industries, or do the non-disclosure agreements state legislators are signing with them indicate that this aluminum rolling plant is actually going to happen?
The experts agree: Guzzling your own disgusting urine does not cure COVID.
Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Dueling budgets in Frankfort
