The secretary of Kentucky’s Energy and the Environment Cabinet has provided hints of how state budget cuts will affect his agency. Along with most sectors of state government, the Energy and Environment cabinet’s spending will be reduced by 9% over the next two fiscal years and 4.5% this year under Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed budget.
Bevin has left the specifics of administering the cuts up to his cabinet secretaries. Energy Secretary Charles Snavely wouldn’t say which programs will be cut. “We’re undertaking a review of everything we do and determining if what we do is productive, if it’s cost effective, if there’s a better way to do it," Snavely says.
He says he might eliminate vacant positions altogether in the future. “If you go six months without filling the position and it’s not hurting you too bad then you have to ask yourself if you really needed it to begin with,” he says.
The cabinet’s responsibilities include enforcing federal laws like the Clean Air Act, mine safety, oil and gas regulation and preserving Kentucky’s wild areas. The cabinet’s budget has been cut by 16% over the last four years.
Snavely provided few specifics of how the cuts will roll out, but did say the state will get rid of a $1 million grant to University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research.
Lawmakers have to pass a final version of the budget by April 13th.
