A one-year budget was approved Wednesday by the Kentucky General Assembly and local lawmakers say the second year of the biennium will be addressed once more is known about how the state emerges from the worldwide pandemic.
State Senator Whitney Westerfield called the one-year plan a “continuation budget” for a new economy created by mass closures for social distancing.
Representative Myron Dossett says even the most pessimistic revenue projections they had to work from were created before the impacts of the pandemic and they won’t be pessimistic enough.
Ultimately, Representative Walker Thomas says passing a one-year budget and stepping away to see how things progress was the best way to go.
The budget does not include any pay raises for teachers or state employees and doesn’t give any increase in per-pupil SEEK funding to school systems. It does fully fund the obligation to the teachers retirement system.
Hear local legislators discuss the budget and more Sunday morning at 9 on Lite Rock 98.7 and online at lite987whop.com.