FRANKFORT, Ky. — A group of Republican senators are calling for more oversight on the governor’s eastern and western Kentucky relief funds. Senate Bill 99, introduced last week, aims to find out exactly how the money is being distributed. 

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Andy Beshear created the Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund following the December 2021 tornadoes

  • Through this fund, thousands of $1,000 checks were sent out to survivors

  • A number of those checks were sent to people not impacted by the disaster

  • A bill in the state Senate calls for more oversight on the governor's relief funds 

“Senate Bill 99 is aimed at identifying, I think, some fundamental information about how these funds are being distributed from the East and West Kentucky Relief Funds that the governor created,” Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, said. 

Westerfield is one of the sponsors of the bill. 

This move from state lawmakers comes after a report by the Herald-Leader discovered a number of $1,000 checks, meant for western Kentucky tornado survivors, were sent to the people who were not impacted by the disaster. 

“As a policy maker and as a member of the legislature that is constitutionally obligated to appropriate funds that the state has, I think it’s important to get to the bottom of it,” Westerfield said. 

Gov. Andy Beshear created the Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund following the December 2021 tornadoes. The fund has grown to just over $52 million. Around $10 million of the money raised was allocated to be sent to tornado survivors through the $1,000 checks. 

A letter which came with a $1,000 check mailed to someone who was not impacted by the December 2021 tornadoes. (Courtesy of Sen. Whitney Westerfield)

Westerfield said at least one of the people in his district, a man in Hopkinsville not impacted by the tornado, received a check in error. 

“The best answer that we got on from the Department of Public Protection on his behalf was that we got the list from FEMA, and FEMA has denied that,” Westerfield said. 

Beshear addressed concerns about the relief funds during last week’s Team Kentucky briefing. Beshear said nearly 200 checks were sent out in error. Nineteen of those are believed to be due to fraud and are being investigated. 

“If, in fact, that 19 number holds, that would be 0.1% of the mailing having any issue,” Beshear said. 

Beshear added checks were only mailed out to people on a list provided by FEMA or private insurance agencies. 

The governor went on to say he would welcome more oversight.

“We’re not concerned at all about more people wanting to know where it goes, but they already do,” Beshear said. "I mean we’ve testified four separate times but if they’d like to put on the books that if you have one of these funds you’ll testify so often, that’s fine.”

Still, on the basis of transparency and accountability, Senator Westerfield believes more needs to be done. 

“We want to know where’s the money gone obviously, not just the checks that the treasurer was kind enough, and on top of things enough to cancel, and to stop payment on, but there are presumably thousands of other checks,” Westerfield said. "We’d like to know where they went, to whom they went.”

The senator also brought up concerns about the constitutionality of the relief funds as they were not authorized by the state legislature. 

SB 99 is set to be discussed in a committee meeting Wednesday morning.

Related Stories