Typically, the purpose of the final two days is set for lawmakers to review vetoes. Currently, the political dynamic in Frankfort favors the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, which can override the Governor's veto by a simple majority.
Lawmakers voted to override 17 vetoes on the executive branch budget for the next biennium outlined in House Bill (HB) 1. The five areas of the budget in which lawmakers allowed vetoes to stand included 13 line items. In his veto message, Beshear wrote that some of those line items contained technical errors.
Some highlights of HB 1 that were not vetoed include:
• Eight percent raises for state workers on July 1, 2022, and additional raises based on a pay study for the following fiscal year
• $250 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for clean drinking water
• Hundreds of millions of dollars to fully fund state pensions
• Funds to provide social workers with a $2,400 pay increase in addition to the across-the-board raises
• Funds to increase the SEEK formula from the current $4,000 per student to $4,100 per student in the first fiscal year and to $4,200 in the second year
• Funds to cover the full cost of all-day kindergarten at every public school district in the commonwealth
• Funds to cover 70 percent of transportation costs for public schools
• $25 million in grants for county clerks for elections and deed recording online
• $150 million in the fiscal year 2023-24 for a major overhaul of the state parks system
Another provision in an appropriation measure line item vetoed by the Governor was HB 243, which included an eight percent raise for state legislators. I voted to sustain the veto because I do not think we should be giving ourselves a raise when so many other state workers were left out of this budget, including teachers. However, the Senate voted to override the veto 24-13 shortly after it was overridden in the House.
The Kentucky General Assembly spent the remainder of the second to last day of the 2022 session overriding other gubernatorial vetoes related to public assistance reform, taxes, charter schools, and more. Many of the bills that were returned to the legislature have been highly contentious and politicized throughout this session.
One measure I was pleased to see the General Assembly veto override was Senate Bill (SB) 217. As the primary sponsor, I filed the legislation with the purpose of giving the Department of Fish and Wildlife more autonomy over their agency. SB 217 establishes that the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife is an independent agency by removing the oversight of the Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Board as the final decision maker. The bill intends to maximize department efficacy by eliminating bureaucratic pressure and granting Fish and Wildlife the ability to facilitate the hiring of their agency personnel. It will now go into law with a majority of the legislature voting to override.
Other notable vetoes overridden by the legislature:
SB 1 calls for local superintendents – rather than school councils – to determine the educational curriculum and select their schools’ principals. The Teaching American Principles Act, which would require instruction in social studies to align with a list of core concepts and documents that supporters say are central to American civics, is also included in the bill.
I opposed the bill in its original form, and the provisions that include the Teaching American Principles Act only worsened it. I agreed with the Governor's veto because I do not believe we should dictate what teachers teach in classrooms, nor do I think we should meddle in the affairs of local elected officials. The Senate voted to override by a vote of 24-12-1.
HB 3, an omnibus abortion bill, requires minors to have parental consent before undergoing an abortion procedure. It would also ban the online sale of abortion medication and limit abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Senate overturned the veto by a vote of 31-6.
HB 7 creates new rules around the presumptive eligibility for government benefit recipients and seeks more oversight from the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services. It also establishes penalties for fraudulent sales of benefit cards.
I voted against overriding the Governor's veto of HB 7 because I fear it punishes people, potentially just for being poor. No one likes fraud, but estimates show that instances of fraud in the nutrition program are around 0.002% of cases. On a per-capita basis, Kentucky already has the highest rate of investigating and charging intentional program violations of any state in the southeast. Now, we are going to spend more money than we are going to save by taking food off of people’s plates, and that is not what we should do. The Senate voted to override the veto by a vote of 28-9.
HB 8 is a tax reform measure that reduces the state personal income tax rate to four percent. It also places new taxes on electric vehicles and nonessential services such as elective cosmetic surgery, body modifications, photography, research polling, bodyguard services, and marketing.
I voted to sustain the Governor's veto because HB 8 hinders the commonwealth's ability to properly fund essential services like road construction and public education. It moves Kentucky away from an income-based tax model toward a consumption-based model, which I am concerned will financially burden our most vulnerable citizens. The bill was overridden in the Senate by a vote of 28-8-1.
HB 9 dovetails on legislation passed in 2017 that paved the way for charter schools in Kentucky. HB 9 codifies the funding mechanism for charter schools, authorizes two pilot charter school projects in northern Kentucky and the West End of Louisville, and makes changes to the appeal process if a charter school application is denied by a local school board.
I fought against overriding the Governor's veto of HB 9 because it channels funds away from public schools and into private hands. HB 9, as written, allows private entities to buy textbooks, desks, and buildings, all with public funds. I fear that when public dollars go to private hands, it depletes our public education system, and the people who will really pay the price for this will be the children. The Senate voted to overturn the Governor’s veto by a vote of 22-15.
SB 83 prohibits transgender girls from participating in women's middle school, high school, and college athletics. I believe in fairness and preserving girls’ sports. I voted yes to override and the Senate overrode the Governor’s veto by a vote of 29-8.
All of the bills vetoed by the Governor that were overridden by the Senate suffered the same fate in the House. Several other vetoed bills returned to the General Assembly will go into law notwithstanding the Governor's signature.
Other up in the air measures that lingered in the queue also gained approval by the legislature in the final two days. One such measure prohibits the new gambling machines, often known as “gray machines,” from operating in Kentucky. HB 608 bans the slot-like games that have recently popped up in local groceries and gas stations across the commonwealth. It cleared the Senate with a vote of 24-13. I voted no.
For an overview of the bills overridden by the legislature, as well as a comprehensive list of all legislation approved during the 2022 session, visit legislature.ky.gov. Legislatio
It has been a tough session, particularly in the latter portion, which is typically when the legislature rolls out the more divisive bills. I worry some of the policies enacted later this year could be potentially harmful to our most vulnerable citizens. It is also disheartening that the legislature did not move on some other major issues facing Kentuckians during the session. However, we were able to make some progress working across the aisle on bipartisan legislation regarding mental health, child care, and all-day kindergarten.
In the coming weeks, I intend to have a complete wrap-up of notable measures passed this year that will soon become law here in the commonwealth. If I can ever be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. To share feedback on an issue, you can email me at Robin.Webb@lrc.ky.gov or call the General Assembly Message Line at 1-800-372-7181. Kentuckians with hearing loss can use Kentucky Relay by dialing 711.