New revenue in Kentucky’s upcoming biennial budget will not be enough to account for an estimated $450 million shortfall.
Lawmakers expect about $230 million in new revenue to be available for the budget.
But House Speaker Greg Stumbo recently told a group of Kentucky’s top business leaders that more than half of that money will be used to pay down the state’s pension debt.
“In about a $12 billion budget, it looks like there might be somewhere around a $100 million of new dollars, which is not even gonna allow us, quite frankly, to maintain status quo because just the cost of inflation," hes said.
Stumbo’s comments echoed those made by State Budget Director Jane Driskell, who has warned that budget cuts can be expected.
The Consensus Forecasting Group will meet this Thursday to provide the legislature with final budget numbers.