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Beshear Budget Utilizes New Taxes, Cuts Nothing

Beshear Budget Utilizes New Taxes, Cuts Nothing
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By The Associated Press/West Kentucky Star Staff
Jan. 28, 2020 | FRANKFORT
By The Associated Press/West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 28, 2020 | 06:46 PM | FRANKFORT
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear proposed spending increases for public education from kindergarten through college and for health care in a state budget plan that avoids cuts and counts on limited new revenues from taxes on cigarettes and sports betting.

In a speech Tuesday evening before the Republican-led legislature, the Democratic governor proposed a $2,000 pay raise for every public school teacher, fulfilling a campaign pledge.

Beshear called for a 1% increase in the state’s school funding formula, known as SEEK, for public K-12 schools. That would inject about $87 million more into schools in the next two years. Base per-pupil funding would rise by $40 to $4,040 per year. 

For public universities, which have absorbed repeated cuts for more than a decade, the governor's budget calls for a 1% spending increase for all postsecondary education institutions.

“There are finally dollars to start reinvesting in our families,” Gov. Beshear said. “Let me be clear, these dollars are limited, and they won’t undo the pain of the last 14 years all at once. So we must invest wisely and we must lead with our values. To me, those values must begin with public education. And that is exactly where this education first budget starts: Public education is the key to breaking cycles of poverty.”

Beshear's new spending plan fully funds the state's Medicaid program, including the expansion under his father, former Governor Steve Beshear, which added 400,000 people to the rolls. Spending on expanded Medicaid would increase from 8.5% to 10%.

The General Fund would have no cuts for the first time in 14 years, with a 1.5% increase in the first year and another 2.4% in the second year. 

Beshear's plan leaves the state's sales and income tax rates unchanged, and doesn't include money he hopes would come from legalizing casino gambling, another agenda item pushed by his father. However, Republican lawmakers have indicated it won't get much traction.

The new plan does assume there will be a 10-cent increase in the cigarette tax, a tax on e-cigarettes and that sports betting will be legalized. 

The legislature must now that Beshear's proposal and work to pass a budget in this year's session, which lasts into April.  

You can see the 2020-2022 budget documents at the link below.

On the Net:

KY Budget Documents from Governor's office
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