Bevin to veto budget

matt-bevin-12-06
matt-bevin-12-06

Gov. Matt Bevin announced Monday he is vetoing the budget and revenue bills passed by the General Assembly last week.

Although he has the power under the Kentucky Constitution to veto just parts of revenue and budget legislation, the so-called “Line-Item Veto,” Bevin said he was vetoing both in their entirety.

“Not everything in there is bad,” Bevin told reporters during a Capitol press conference in which he announced the vetoes.  “In fact, much of it is good.  But you can’t take something down by gradations, you either need to remove it entirely or leave it in entirely.”

“To do that would be to take a foundation that is structurally not what it needs to be and say, ‘we still want to build a five-story building, but because of the way the foundation is, we’ll just build everything a little bit to the left.’  That’s just not how you want to want to build what we need to build financially in this state.”

He said he wanted to work with lawmakers “to make sure we come up with a smart, thoughtful, balanced approach to moving forward on both of those fronts.”

When asked if there were any particular parts of the tax reforms he objected to, such as adding the six percent sales tax on some services, Bevin replied, “The whole thing is not as thoughtful or as comprehensive as it needs to be.”

Bevin said many of the lawmakers simply aren’t as skilled in finances.

“There are many legislators who literally just don’t understand this.  They’re smart people, they’re intelligent people, they’re educated people on many fronts.  They don’t understand finances, they don’t understand pensions, and yet they’re the ones who are going to have to make decisions.”

Lawmakers who supported the budget and tax measures said they did it to pay for public education.  Bevin was asked if he fears the vetoes would inflame teachers who have protested at the Capitol several times to stop working.

“It’s illegal for them to strike, I would not advise that,” he said.  “The issue isn’t with teachers, teachers want to teach their children.  The KEA [Kentucky Education Association] has been the problem.  They’ve been very vocal, very loud and refusing to be a part of the solution, even though in reality their members are going to be the beneficiaries of us getting this right.”

It’s not just for teachers, Bevin said.  “There are a lot of policemen who go out every day on behalf of the state and risk their lives.  Some of them get killed in the line of duty defending us.  There are a lot of social workers who walk in and out of broken homes, heartbreaking situations, sometimes very dangerous situations.  There are people out on the highways salting roads, cleaning up debris and laying down asphalt.  All these people expect to have their voices heard.”

Gov. Bevin also addressed the public pension reform bill during his press conference.  He said the unfunded liability is $60 billion, “or $13,500 for every man, woman and child in Kentucky.”

But when asked if he will sign it, “I have made no comment yet on that,” Bevin said.  “I appreciate what has been done on that, but it’s not nearly enough, not even close to being enough, but it’s a good first step.”

Bevin said he has met with lawmakers throughout the process and will continue to do so.

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and House Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne, R-Prospect, issued a joint statement on the governor’s action.

“We believe Governor Bevin is misguided in his interpretation of the budget and the revenue bills, as we are comfortable with LRC staff revenue projections. To our knowledge, the governor has had no discussions with any legislators on the details of this budget and what he might consider to be a shortfall. We believe Governor Bevin would be best served to meet with legislators to understand their thoughts and rationale before making a final decision on vetoing the revenue and/or budget bills.”

The Kentucky Democratic Party also responded.

“We agree with Gov. Bevin for vetoing these bills, but for different reasons. The Republican-proposed tax bill increased taxes on the working class of Kentucky and the budget bill continues the war on public education,” Ben Self, Kentucky Democratic Party chair, said. “Instead of passing a bad bill behind closed doors at the last minute with no public input, we need to focus on bills that help the working class, not the 1 percent.”

Senate Minority Leader Ray Jones, D-Pikeville and House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, also responded in a statement.

“These vetoes confirm the House and Senate Democrats’ concerns that the budget and revenue plan are wrong for Kentucky and irresponsible.  That is especially true of the revenue measure, which shifts the tax burden to 95 percent of working families while lowering taxes for corporations and the richest five percent.  We also urge the Governor to veto Senate Bill 151, the sewage/pension bill. When decisions are made behind closed doors and legislation is not transparently vetted, these are the unintended consequences that result.”

Monday’s veto announcement means Gov. Bevin has now vetoed five bills passed by the General Assembly.

Lawmakers return to Frankfort for the final two days of the 2018 regular session, April 13 and 14, and could override Bevin’s vetoes.  It would take 51 votes in the House and 20 in the Senate.  Interestingly, HB 366, the revenue and tax bill, cleared the House on a 51-44 vote, and 20-18 in the Senate.

By Kentucky Today