Budget at the top of the list for General Assembly session that starts Tuesday

The 2024 session of the Kentucky General Assembly officially starts Tuesday, and when the gavel sounds, work will begin almost immediately on crafting and passing a two-year budget.

That means a lot of time and effort spent on negotiations, number crunching, policy considerations and making and more, with every legislator having their own priorities and goals they want to see make it into that spending plan. Senator Whitney Westerfield of Crofton says it is the state’s most important legislation, and they want to make sure they get it right.

The document that will become the budget starts in the House, and Representative Walker Thomas says he and others have been advocating for more funding to go towards widening and improving KY 115 in Pembroke and he hopes to see that make it in, as he thinks that would benefit the area in numerous ways.

Representative Mayor Dossett of Pembroke says he’s focused on addressing what he call “pay compression” issues, and of course he remains dedicated to making sure the pension systems stay fully funded.

The last day for house bills to be introduced is February 26th and the last day for senators to submit new bills is February 28th.  The session ends on April 15th.