KENTUCKY — The fast-moving, 60-day 2022 Kentucky General Assembly legislative session is underway and all eyes remain on the 2-year budget spending plan.

Democrats cite a $2 billion surplus in this year’s budget that they say can be invested in the state, but Republicans are taking a more conservative approach.

“This is a once in a generation opportunity for us and Kentucky. It’s the first time since I’ve been up here that we have money in the budget. We have $5 billion in federal infrastructure funds and $1.3 billion in American Rescue Plan funds. We have a billion dollar surplus right now. We have a projected $1.9 billion surplus and a rainy day fund that’s overflowing. This is the time when we can do things. We can make sure that every child has that affordable childcare. We can make sure that every Kentuckian has access to internet. We can put in place programs that are really going to benefit the state. It’s funny, whenever we’re out in public and somebody says, hey, Senator McGarvey and my wife, she always goes, remember, he’s just a state senator. We’re under no delusions here. 20-25 years from now, people won’t necessarily remember who was here, but they’re going to remember what we did with this opportunity. I hope that’s when they say, You know what, back in 2022, that’s why we have this, this company here now. That’s how Kentucky got ahead in education. That’s when Kentuckians got access to high-speed internet and that’s why these jobs. So I really think this is an interesting opportunity for us to make investments in all areas of the state, from tourism, to arts, to education, to workforce development, right? To improve the quality of life, to get the jobs here to make Kentucky the place we want it to be. As for tax reform, I’m calling this tax reform right now the big foot bill, okay? But he’s talking about it, but nobody’s seen it. And I think tax reform is important. But tax reform is really one of those policy issues that is important to be tackled together. Because whether you’re Democrat or Republican, whether you’re urban or rural, you need to have input into what the state’s tax code looks like. If we’re really going to have an effective tax code that again, looks out for Kentucky’s working families, but all voices need to be at the table,” explains Morgan McGarvey (D - KY Senate Minority Leader).

“The house, I think did a great job getting the budget to us earlier than ever. They worked on it for eight months. Got it to us early, which gives us a lot more time to let that cooling process occur. And by that I mean, go through it in a contemplative manner, so we can make good decisions on how to spend taxpayer dollars. So to get to your question, I would say sometime in early March is earliest you’re going to see a budget product come out...Our caucus, I think, is very interested in doing significant tax reform. I think I think we should deliver a tax cut to the people of Kentucky and I think we should continue what we started a few years ago, when we cut the tax rate from six to five and didn’t do a flat tax. I’d like to see that rate lowered more. I think a better taxation system for Kentucky would be less of a focus on taxing production. That would be income taxes, and more of a focus on taxing consumption,” says Damon Thayer (R - KY Senate Majority Leader).

You can watch the full In Focus segment above.