FRANKFORT, Ky. — What should we expect from the last couple days of session next week before the veto break?

“Chaos,” House Speaker David Osborne (R-Prospect) said. “That’s usually what the last two days before veto break look like. It’s one of those things where it’s the most maddening time of the year.”

 

What You Need To Know

  • Lawmakers only have two working days left before the veto break

  • If Republican leaders want to ensure any legislation survives a veto, it has to pass by Wednesday

  • The two-year budget and tax reform are still to be decided

  • Other issues like medical marijuana and sports betting have failed to gain traction in the Senate

 

House and Senate leaders are still trying to figure out a budget for the next two years, and Osborne said he expects a deal before leaving for the veto break.

“I think we’re pretty close,” he said. “We have spent an exhaustive amount of time the last several days with budget staff, and a lot of that is very technical.”

Part of that deal will probably include an income tax cut, although exactly what that looks like hasn’t been figured out yet: the House passed a bill cutting the tax one percent next year and doing away with it entirely down the line, while the Senate approved rebates for taxpayers.

“We sent out a very, very good proposal that we were confident in and we remain committed to,” Osborne said.

There are still several other issues left on the table, including medical marijuana, which hasn’t been scheduled for a committee vote. 

Gov. Andy Beshear called on lawmakers to approve it in a Tweet Friday, and Senate Democratic Leader Morgan McGarvey wants to see it passed, too. 

 

“I hope we pass medical marijuana. Kentuckians deserve that relief,” McGarvey said. “It passed the House with a bipartisan vote. I think if you brought it to the floor of the Senate, it would also pass. Let’s bring it for a vote.”

Senate GOP leaders declined interviews after session Friday, and Osborne said there haven’t been many talks about it or sports betting, which passed the House last week.

One thing they are talking about is full kindergarten funding.

“Certainly, full-day kindergarten is a very, very important topic to this body and we’re very intent on seeing that funded,” Osborne said.

A bill making full-day kindergarten funding permanent was pulled from the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee at the last minute on Thursday, and Osborne said he’s not sure if that will pass.

“I’m somewhat torn about the idea of including it in statute,” Osborne said. “I think that really the more important thing that we look at, or we need to look at, is the overall funding we push down to schools.”

Both proposed budgets increased education funding overall, but differed on full kindergarten funding.  

Democrats have called for more funding, including raises for teachers, and accused Republicans of using full-day kindergarten as a bargaining chip for a bill funding charter schools.

Osborne said both are important to them.

“I think that those two are intertwined from the standpoint of a commitment to education,” he said. “I don’t think that they’re intertwined as far as one depending upon the other.”

Lawmakers plan on holding a few committee meetings Monday even though they won’t make any floor votes, including the Senate Education Committee, which is scheduled to hear the charter school funding bill.

Tuesday and Wednesday are the last days of the session before the veto break. 

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