Lawmakers want to add more projects to budget

By Ryan Alessi
RALESSI@HERALD-LEADER.COM

FRANKFORT -- Legislative leaders hope to add at least $25 million more for capital projects to the $150 million worth that helped many lawmakers stomach voting for the state's two-year budget bill last week.

Richmond Sen. Ed Worley, the Senate's top Democrat, confirmed Wednesday afternoon that legislative leaders were negotiating over the additional chunk of money, which would come from selling more bonds. The state would pay off the bonds using tax money from coal companies.

Lawmakers, mostly from Eastern Kentucky, already had divvied up $100 million worth of coal severance tax money for a slew of projects, including water and sewer line construction, volunteer fire station buildings and little league equipment. Legislators spent $50 million more on projects in rural areas, paid for with bonds from tobacco settlement money.

Gov. Steve Beshear said he was aware that lawmakers were trying to add more money for water and sewer projects, but he declined to comment until he knew more details.

The additional project money comes as universities are proposing tuition increases, such as the 9 percent hike the University of Kentucky announced Tuesday, and as some school districts are bracing for layoffs, as a result of a $19 billion, two-year spending plan most lawmakers have described as austere.

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Comments

[We're Broke?]

What happened to we're broke? Casinos are going to save us from economic disparity.

Where's that VETO pen at Gov. Beshear? Show us you got the ***** to back up your talk of belt tightening and "NO NEW TAXES or RAISING TAXES"

Let's see it big boy....

[beaverbear]

Gov. Beshear will wait until August or September to call a Special Session to raise taxes. That would help those running against legislators for it would take legislators out of the campaign until the Special Session ended, and it would force legislators to vote for tax increases right before the November election.