State budget bill passed by Kentucky Senate would increase support for schools

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Senate delivered bipartisan support Wednesday night for a new two-year state budget that would increase funding for K-12 schools as lawmakers moved closer to accomplishing their biggest responsibility of this year’s legislative session.

The budget bill cleared the Senate on a 36-1 vote to advance to the House, which is expected to give final passage to the spending plan on Thursday before lawmakers begin an extended break.

The measure represents the state’s signature policy document, and completing the two-year budget was the biggest task for the GOP supermajority legislature when this year’s session started in early January. The final version was the product of negotiating sessions by legislative leaders in recent days.

Republican senators focused on spending for public K-12 schools across the Bluegrass State as they promoted the budget measure during the debate Wednesday night.

“This is a solid budget,” Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said. “It is the best budget that has been proposed or passed by the General Assembly.”

Support for the state’s main funding formula for public K-12 schools — known as SEEK — would increase by more than 9% during the next two-year budget cycle, Stivers said.

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