Latest news with #Bill544
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saying he is ‘grateful' to lawmakers, Beshear signs bill for Kentucky flood aid into law
The Rolling Fork River in New Haven, Feb. 17, 2025. ( Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony) Gov. Andy Beshear signed a bill into law that sets up a new state aid fund for Kentucky communities affected by recent floods, though he has said the bill 'isn't enough.' House Bill 544, which received final passage in the General Assembly Friday with bipartisan support, establishes a new SAFE fund, or State Aid for Emergencies, to respond to widespread mid-February floods. The bill does not appropriate new dollars to respond to the floods. Kentucky previously started SAFE funds after floods in Eastern Kentucky and tornadoes in Western Kentucky. Beshear said in a video shared on social media Sunday that he was 'grateful' the legislature passed a new SAFE fund on the final day of the 2025 legislative session. The governor said the legislation 'is going to help communities, cities and counties' affected by the floods, which took 24 lives. 'After all or any of these natural disasters, the families that are impacted deserve our very best,' Beshear said. 'They deserve that promise that we're going to rebuild every structure and every life.' 'We're there': Beshear urges legislature to lift its cap on emergency spending Under the legislation, $48 million will be transferred from the previous SAFE funds to the new one created by the bill. It also allows $100 million to be spent on flood aid from the current state budget on governor-declared emergencies, instead of the $50 million limit per fiscal year set by the legislature last year. Beshear said in February that the $50 million cap for the current fiscal year already had been reached. When asked about the legislation before the veto period began in March, Beshear told reporters that the bill was 'a little bit better from where it originally was' as it would allow funds allocated for next fiscal year to be used now. However, he said, that could be a problem for future natural disasters in Kentucky if funding is still limited. Beshear said that 'while the bill isn't nearly enough, I'll sign it.' In other flood-related legislation that was filed this session, Beshear allowed a bill to become law without his signature that gives Kentucky public school districts options to make up or waive days lost to bad winter weather and floods. The Senate added protections for a controversial online school from enrollment caps imposed by state education officials. Additionally, the Senate passed a resolution that would have created a task force that would review how the state could become better prepared for natural disasters. However, the legislation did not move in the House.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KY House budget chair ‘begins the conversation' on state aid for flood victims
An aerial view of Bacon Creek in Hart County, Feb. 16, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony) The chairman of the House budget committee has introduced what he said would 'begin the conversation' on millions of dollars in state aid for Kentuckians reeling from recent statewide floods. Rep. Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, said the measure, which does not appropriate any money, would create a new SAFE fund, or State Aid for Emergencies, like Kentucky had after earlier Eastern Kentucky floods and Western Kentucky tornadoes. He introduced it as a committee substitute for House Bill 544 in the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee Tuesday morning. Hours later, the House passed the bill with a vote of 99-0. In February, floods washed over Kentucky and bitter winter weather followed. In total, 24 people were killed. Shortly thereafter, President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for the natural disaster. The legislation would allow millions of dollars in aid to address the effects of the February floods, said Petrie, who is also the committee's chairman. In the last state budget, the General Assembly imposed a spending cap on emergency funding to respond to natural disasters, but Petrie said at least $23 million is left before the state reaches the cap. At the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, the cap will reset to free up an additional $50 million. Petrie also said $48 million could be transferred from the previous SAFE funds to the new one created by the bill. The latest version of the bill was not immediately available online Tuesday morning but added later that morning. Petrie repeatedly said the bill mirrored legislation for the previous SAFE funds. All committee members present voted in favor of the bill. In response to questions from committee members, Petrie said information about damage estimates from the flood is continuing to evolve. If the legislation needs to change before the current legislative session ends, 'we still have sufficient time to' amend it. 'If we were to leave this session and whatever is done at the end of the session has been accomplished — if it is insufficient for this event or any other event, and there is always the mechanism of calling a special session, having an agreement beforehand and coming in and taking care of the issue,' Petrie said. Under Kentucky law, the governor calls special sessions of the legislature. However, at the end of last month, Beshear had said there would likely be no need for a special session in the coming months. His administration was a part of conversations about the legislation with Republican lawmakers. This story was updated Tuesday afternoon.
