Beshear vetoes SAFER Kentucky Act

Governor Beshear on Tuesday vetoed the wide-reaching anti-crime bill known as the Safer Kentucky Act.

House Bill 5 had been drawing criticism from opponents for its measures on incarceration and the homeless. In particular, the left criticized its measures that would have made it illegal to camp in public spaces, and for tougher penalties on convicted criminals.

Critics said the bill would just make overcrowded jails worse.

Beshear acknowledged that there were some good parts of the bill, but said, “The legislature chose to include these good policies with dozens of other measures in one unwieldy bill that would criminalize homelessness and significantly increase incarceration costs without any additional appropriation.”

The Republican-dominated legislature will have the option of overriding the governor’s veto, but it’s not yetclear if that will happen.