(LEX 18) — As Kentucky deals with its latest natural disaster, Gov. Andy Beshear is concerned about the state's response to future emergencies. On Wednesday and Thursday, he urged state lawmakers to reconsider a provision in the budget bill that would limit how much his administration could spend to respond immediately to such emergencies.
"The current pending state budget, for the very first time in our history, would limit the amount an executive branch can spend or expend in response to a natural disaster," said Beshear. "And not a limitation after any individual one - but over the course of a year."
Lawmakers set the limit at $25 million for immediate response to natural disasters per fiscal year. That's not enough money, according to the governor.
"We would have exceeded the cap that they are setting in the first three to four months of this fiscal year," said Beshear. "In just three to four months, we'd be out of money that we're allowed to spend to respond to a natural disaster."
Once reaching that cap, he’d have to ask lawmakers for more immediate funding, which would require a special session if they’re not meeting at the time, Beshear said.
"Those are precious moments, minutes, hours, and days where we have to be responding immediately," said Beshear. "All I'm asking is that we be able to do our job for people in their greatest time of need."
The governor signaled that he would line-item veto the provision in the two-year budget measure. The legislature’s Republican supermajorities could override the veto when lawmakers reconvene in mid-April for the final two days of this year’s session. So, Beshear pushed for a compromise.
“If they don’t want to remove the limitation entirely, at least make it bigger,” Beshear said.
However, state Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican, disputed Beshear’s assertion that his hands would be tied, saying the governor would have “ready access” to considerably more emergency funding.
Another budget bill provision would make up to $50 million available each year in the event of a presidential disaster declaration to be used to match federal aid.
If an emergency is so significant that it requires spending more than that, the governor “has a responsibility” to call lawmakers into special session, Stivers said.
“Otherwise he suggests we forgo our constitutional duties as the branch responsible for the purse of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Stivers said in a statement.
The governor’s office responded that freeing up that additional money would take time, meaning it wouldn’t be available in the aftermath but could take weeks or months following a natural disaster.
Emergency funds can be used to provide shelter and food for people displaced by storms, as well as costs associated with activating the National Guard to assist after natural disasters.
When asked what would happen if a natural disaster struck in a year where the cap has been met, Beshear said the situation "presents questions we've never had to answer."
"But it certainly creates impediments to the type of emergency response that we need," he added.
Beshear used a tornado earlier this year as an example. Victims were given opportunities to stay at a state park free of charge. The governor is unsure how the situation would play out once the $25 million mark was met.
"Would we run their credit card and say we hope the General Assembly passes a bill, when I can get them back in, that will cover this? Or, otherwise, we'll send you a bill?" Beshear said.
"What do I do with the National Guard, knowing that there are going to be costs there that ought to be reimbursed," he added. "Or if we need other help to come in?"
“We know that there are going to be people out there that need help in the future,” he said. “All I’m asking for is the ability to help them in the short term. And I hope that we can get that fixed so that we always have the resources to help our neighbors when they’ve been knocked down.”
If that immediate funding runs out when the next massive storm hits, the need to reconvene might mean that lawmakers could be at risk as they make their way to the statehouse amid an ongoing disaster, the governor said. Meanwhile, the immediate needs of people who lost their homes and possessions have to be met, he added.
Stivers said the cost of reconvening lawmakers in a special session would amount to “pennies on the tens of millions of dollars we’d allocate,” while ensuring the governor’s collaboration with the legislature.
