Beshear has big plans for Kentucky’s rescue plan money

(The Center Square) – The American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 spending bill that the U.S. House passed Wednesday, has a chance to be “transformational” for Kentucky, according to Gov. Andy Beshear, especially in terms of infrastructure development.

Beshear told reporters Tuesday the state is in line to receive about $2.5 billion, with large cities getting $445 million, smaller communities getting $307 million and the state’s 120 counties sharing $886 million. Those numbers confirm what The Center Square reported last week.

The governor said the funding can be a gamechanger for the state’s economy. He said that for every $1 million invested in clean water projects, it creates more than 15 permanent jobs. But adding new water lines isn’t the only infrastructure project he has in mind.

“With these dollars and what we already have in the budget that I proposed, this is our chance to put the dollars that truly ought to be able to get us – if we use it wisely – to have (broadband) fiber running to every single house across Kentucky and to do it in the near term, not a decade from now.”

Lawmakers in the General Assembly are currently working on a fiscal year 2022 budget and have told the administration they want its input on how to use the funding. Beshear said that would happen in the coming days.

By law, the state legislature must end its session by March 30.

Before Beshear’s press conference, state Budget Director John Hicks gave lawmakers a high-level overview of the funds Kentucky will receive. That money must be spent by 2024, he told them.

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester noted a bill currently in the legislature calls for spending $250 million in state funds to expand broadband access. With Rescue Plan money, he said it’s possible the state could direct taxpayer funds elsewhere.

Others though, such as House Appropriations and Revenue Committee Chairman Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, wondered if the funding news may come too late to be addressed in this budget cycle.

If Beshear has his way, he’ll almost assuredly want at least some of the Rescue Plan aid in the upcoming spending plan.

“You don’t have many opportunities like this to truly be bold, to not have to borrow, but to do things that truly move a state forward,” Beshear said. “So we ought to take advantage of it.”

President Biden is expected to sign the Rescue Plan into law on Friday.

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