Lip Service to Kentucky's Debt Problem
SB 1 is a good bill and a KEY VOTE.
SB 1 places a ceiling on Kentucky's debt, limiting the amount to a proportion of the amount of revenue the state is taking in.
In SB 1, the ratio of debt to revenue would be limited to 6%, unless the governor declared that an emergency existed. While this is a high ratio and a large loophole, it is nevertheless a positive recognition that Kentucky's debt should be limited.
SB 1 passed the Senate by a vote of 34-2 with Senators Walter Blevins and Perry Clark opposing and Senators Gerald Neal and Terry Pendleton not present. No credit to them.
The problem is, after these 34 Senators paid lip service to a responsible limiting of budgeted debt to a maximum of 6% of revenue, 30 of them turned around and supported a budget with a debt ratio of 6.5%!
Instead of listing all 30, here are the two Senators who supported capping the debt and opposed the indebted budget:
Sen. John Schickel
Sen. Kathy Stein
Senators Julie Denton and Brandon Smith supported SB 1 but did not vote on the budget.
Kudos to Senators Schickel and Stein for supporting a cap on debt and opposing this indebted budget.
