Via press release
In a press conference Wednesday, a coalition of Kentucky health, education and community organizations called for state legislators to continue improving the House budget by putting Kentuckians over cuts.
The initial version of House Bill 500 (HB 500), introduced in late January, included dramatic cuts that caused an immense backlash. A new version, passed by the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee late Wednesday, remained flawed but made improvements to the original.
“That’s good news, because it means loud public feedback is working,” said Natalie Cunningham, Outreach Director for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KyPolicy). “But there remain big concerns about Medicaid funding, education funding that continues to fall behind inflation, a 15% cut in higher ed, underfunding of child care and senior services, and what will happen with employee health benefits.”
Jason Bailey, Executive Director for KyPolicy said the new version of HB 500, an analysis of which can be found here, puts more than $600 million in Kentucky’s Budget Reserve Trust Fund, or rainy day fund, which already has a $3.7 billion balance.
“Why would lawmakers want an enormous rainy fund to climb further when Kentuckians are harmed by the cuts and freezes that this budget contains?” Bailey asked. “There is only one reason and it is to try to hit the trigger in the law allowing the legislature to enact more tax cuts. If lawmakers prioritize tax cuts over investments in Kentucky, the benefits go overwhelmingly to the wealthy. Simply not budgeting for more tax cuts would free up substantial dollars to help meet our budget needs.”
Other speakers emphasized the need for the budget to adequately fund Medicaid, food assistance and public education.
“With the new federal requirements from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act staring states down, this is not the time to reduce Medicaid state funding,” said Brittany Elam, Policy Specialist with Kentucky Voices for Health. “When Kentuckians are facing skyrocketing electric bills and inflated food prices, they simply cannot afford a system that starts asking for $20 co-pays or to be put on hold when they call the Cabinet for assistance because the state didn’t fund needed manpower.”
Chelsea Barbour, a farmer and owner of High Five Farm in Franklin County, said legislators need to protect SNAP, which she said benefits not just program participants, but also farmers like herself and the state’s economy as a whole.
“SNAP is a vital resource that fortifies food security for our citizens,” she said. “We need to make sure that any budget includes funding for new administrative costs passed down from the federal government. Otherwise, families will be at risk of losing their benefits and that’s unacceptable.”
Jessica Hiler, Vice President of the Kentucky Education Association, said, “Kentucky’s teachers, bus drivers, school staff and public servants deserve better than what House Bill 500 offers.”
Hiler spoke about the harms of the cap on employer health care contributions included in the original version of HB 500 and the legislature’s long standing underfunding of public education.
“Kentucky educators and public employees are not asking for the moon,” she said. “They’re asking for a budget that treats them with basic dignity — one that fully funds public education, keeps busses running, invests in our youngest learners and does not balance the books on the backs of our school employees.”
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