Legislators are back in Frankfort, and work is already well underway to get a draft budget going in the House, with funding requests pouring in from across the state.
The budget always begins in the House—once the House of Representatives gets the bill filed in those chambers and passed, it will then head to the Senate for consideration. While there, the Senate will make their own changes and requests, before sending their version back to the House for final approval. While the governor can present his own version of a budget, it’s ultimately on the legislators to pass a spending-plan, and they don’t necessarily have to consider his wants.
Representative Myron Dossett watched Governor Beshear’s address and called it quite the wish list, saying the requests from the Governor’s Office are still trickling in.
Dossett expects to see a budget come before the House for consideration in the next few weeks—but he also says that there’s no rush and they intend to be thorough.
Things are looking a bit different for legislators, as they are currently housed in temporary chambers while the state capitol under goes extensive renovations. Dossett says the temporary location is quite nice, and while the space for the public is very limited, he says there’s still plenty of ways to stay informed.
There’s been a flurry of bills filed, with more on the way—the last day to file new bills in the Senate is March 2, and the last day to file new bills in the House is on March 4.