Beshear sets special session, proposes budget compromise | News | Kentucky Roofing Contractors Association

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Beshear sets special session, proposes budget compromise

Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Ky.) has scheduled a special legislative session for May 24 and offered a $17.1 billion compromise two-year budget proposal that includes portions of the House and Senate budget proposals passed earlier this year, according to www.kentucky.com.

The House's budget proposal had included many school and other construction projects, but the Senate disapproved of the more than $1 billion price tag. They argued about the budget for weeks, failing to pass it by April 15, when the legislative session ended.

Beshear's budget proposal includes across-the-board cuts of 3.5 percent for the first year and 4.5 percent for the second year. It also includes less severe cuts to K-12 education, higher education, Medicaid, state police, and prosecutors and public defenders—key areas of the budget. The proposal does not include any new taxes or raises for state workers.

Beshear urged legislators to start negotiations immediately regarding the budget proposal.

"Only the House and Senate can pass a budget under Kentucky law," Beshear says. "It is their responsibility to get the job done. And the citizens of Kentucky will neither forgive nor forget a failure to do so."

Senate President David Williams (R-Burkesville) said yesterday that he and House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonburg) will begin negotiations today.

If a budget deal is not signed before June 1, Kentucky could lose about $113 million in potential savings from refinancing the debt. And if there is no budget deal by July 1—the first day of the new fiscal year—a partial state government shutdown would result.

5/13/2010