Governor Andy Beshear delivered his State of the Commonwealth Address Wednesday night. In the speech, Beshear praised Kentucky’s economic growth over the past year while recovering from two major natural disasters.
The governor is pushing for legislators to make his “Education First Plan” law. Part of the plan Beshear said includes a 5% pay raise for public school educators.
“I sat beside my children during distance learning, just like so many of you. The simple fact is you can’t address learning loss without enough educators. Put another way: You can’t catch a kid up in math without a math teacher. Addressing our teacher shortage absolutely requires a pay raise.”
The governor is also asking lawmakers to pass legislation to legalize medical cannabis. Last year, he signed an executive order easing restrictions on the drug for medical use.
“Far too many Kentuckians are suffering from life-threatening and chronic conditions, like our veterans with PTSD, or Kentuckians with cancer. 11 That is why I issued my executive order. It allows people to get the help they need without fearing a misdemeanor.”
The governor also praised Kentuckians for their response to two major natural disasters that claimed lives in both eastern and western parts of the commonwealth.
GOP leaders had a less than positive response to the governor.
Top leaders from the Kentucky House and Senate say Governor Beshear is taking credit for economic initiatives that were primarily orchestrated by the legislature. House Speaker David Osborne said Governor Beshear has not looked favorably on many general assembly-backed economic policies.
“Those are pro-business policies that we’ve passed over the last six years and, to my recollection, there’s not a single one of those policies that he didn’t either sue us for as attorney general or veto when we passed, as governor. So, I struggle a lit bit with the concept that he’s taking credit for economic success when he’s vetoed every one of those bills,” said Osborne.
Regarding the governor’s call for pay raises for educators, Senate President Robert Stivers said allocating monies for certain groups during a short session is not sound policy. Osborne said one proposal being examined to help with a teacher shortage is to help individuals get certified in a second career as a teacher.
Governor Beshear also suggested $200 million go into state employee and teacher pensions. House Speaker Pro Tem David Meade noted the governor knows some of these ideas are non-starters.
“He’s knowledgeable enough to know that we cannot open the budget up to do something that drastic and to spend that much money and that’s just gonna have to be done next year in the budget year, whether that’s with him or with a new governor, but that’s going to have to be done in a budget year,” said Meade.
Henderson GOP Senator Robby Mills says the legislature has taken a conservative approach to stabilizing pensions. He added there’s an ongoing cost for cost-of-living adjustments, something he characterized as, quote, “more money to follow after that money.”
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