Lawmakers hope to pass budget by Feb. 13
FRANKFORT — The top two state legislative leaders said they hope their chambers present a budget bill that contains new tax revenue to Gov. Steve Beshear by Feb. 13.
Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville
Senate President David Williams and House Speaker Greg Stumbo told reporters after meeting with Beshear Friday morning that they think legislative leaders will have a plan by Tuesday to tackle a projected $456 million budget shortfall.
They hope to make it public by Tuesday morning and have the chambers act on the measure by week’s end.
Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said the House would like to see a blend of higher taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. Williams, R-Burkesville, said he thinks his chamber would go along with the additional revenue Beshear has requested, but he stopped short of saying how that should be accomplished.
Beshear has proposed raising the state’s 30 cents-a-pack cigarette tax to $1, which he said would eliminate about $81.5 million of the projected shortfall.
Both legislative leaders also said they hope to avoid Beshear’s plan to put state workers on three days of unpaid leave and use money from the coal severance tax.
Leaders also announced a change in the legislative calendar. They said Feb. 17, 18, 19 and 20 will not be working days for the entire legislature. That would push the end of this year’s General Assembly session back to March 27.
- Jack Brammer
Filed Under: David Williams • Featured • Greg Stumbo • KY General Assembly • State Budget • State Government • Steve Beshear
About the Author: John Stamper is the accountability editor for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Monticello, Ky., he has been with the Herald-Leader in a variety of roles since graduating from Western Kentucky University in 2000. Reach him at jstamper@herald-leader.com
It is so unfair to keep taxing smokers just because you can. This amounts to abuse of our very tax codes. Every time the state needs more money…let’s tax the smokers. Tax the selfish parents that cause all the traffic congestion at our public schools every morning. All because it’s so not “cool” for your child to ride the bus which our taxes pay for.Stop paying children to be “bus monitors”. All the nickel/dime taxes in Kentucky are burdening down the taxpayers and those who live on fixed incomes.
$175 million?? Isn’t that like counting your chickens before the eggs hatch. What are you going to do when noone in the wonderful “burley” state can no longer afford to smoke?? How can you single out one or two groups to pay for all the govt. waste?? Senseless. Taxation without representation.
[...] budget: Top state legislators say they hope to have devised a plan to tackle Kentucky’s projected $456 million budget shortfall by early next week. The budget plan — which lawmakers hope to approve by the end of next week — could include [...]
If you’re living on a fixed income, shouldn’t you NOT be smoking and SAVE that money instead?
Who said anything about a fixed income?
Did you read the story? Or the comments? Or are you just here to further an agenda?
It can not work, it will not work and the next tax could be on right handed people or left handed people, that is the science of it. The federal gov just raised tobacco tax to 1.01 so add another 30 cents to that. People will quit smoking, which in the long run is good, so what does that mean, which group will be singled out next. Taxes only go to pay for new state jobs for buddies of the gov, remember that.
Get over it. If you don’t want to pay the tax, then don’t smoke. I like to drink alcohol and it looks like it will be taxed higher also. And I will pay it because I like to have a drink. That is my choice.
No one is putting a tax on someone because they are overweight, left handed or anything else that they can’t help. This is a usage fee, and it don’t want to pay it, then don’t use it.
They ought to add lottery tickets in there as well, since that is another usage fee.
I’ll be very curious to see what this budget bill contains in these hard times delivered to Kentucky by the one – two punch of the failed Bush Administration and the failed Fletcher Administration. There’s some indicaton that even David Williams saw a glimmer of light from his viewpoint, a dark and cavernous locale, and now he recognizes the dire finanical circumstance of the Commonwealth.
Who cares, I don’t smoke and I buy my booze in Indiana and wine from California.
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