The Senate is looking to spend, but apparently not for teachers.
The first version of House Bill 1, a large one-time appropriations bill already passed in the House, proposed $1.8 billion in spending from the state’s Budget Reserve Trust Fund. The version unveiled Wednesday by Senate Appropriations & Revenue Chair Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights) would clear a whopping $3.5 billion.
House Bill 6, the state’s operating budget, remains about the same in terms of General Fund investment. Both the initial House version and the new Senate version appropriate roughly $15 billion each fiscal year. Both chambers are controlled by Republican supermajorities.
To the disappointment of Democrats and public education advocates, the total allocation to the state’s per-pupil funding formula increased by a small margin from $6.4 billion over the next two fiscal years to $6.5 billion. No funds were earmarked directly for teacher raises, which was a key plank on Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s re-election campaign platform.
Read the rest at the Herald Leader.
