This from Ronnie Ellis in the
Richmond Register:
House and Senate leaders broke off negotiations on a new state budget
around 10 p.m. Monday saying they are farther apart than when they
began.
 |
| House Speaker Greg Stumbo |
Afterward, House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and
Republican Gov. Matt Bevin each blamed the other for the impasse and the
increasing tensions between the two sides.
Bevin released a video
on his Facebook page giving out the legislative message line phone
number and asking people to call and urge Stumbo “to sit down in good
faith and negotiate a budget.” As he’d done earlier on his Twitter
account, Bevin said he’s willing to negotiate but Stumbo isn’t.
Stumbo responded in kind.
Following the breakup of the meeting Monday night, Stumbo told reporters negotiators “are getting farther and farther apart.”
Stumbo
said his Monday morning discussions with Senate President Robert
Stivers, R-Manchester, seemed promising. But that changed after Stivers
and other Republican senators met with Bevin around noon, according to
Stumbo.
“I think the governor injected himself around noon and this afternoon there was a different tone,” Stumbo said.
Stivers
didn’t seem to disagree the two parties aren’t getting closer, but he
placed the blame on Democrats who don’t want to agree to cuts in higher
education or give up their influence on projects in their districts
funded by coal severance taxes.
Republicans are insisting the money be used to shore up the state’s troubled pension systems.
Stumbo countered that there is enough money in the budget to address pensions effectively and also invest in education.
“If you have the money, you don’t short-change education,” he said.
As
previously reported, Bevin wants to cut spending by $650 million,
primarily through 4.5 percent cuts to most of state government, and
apply all of that and any excess revenues over expenses to pensions.
The
House restored the cuts to higher education and to support services for
public schools; they also eliminated a “permanent fund” sought by Bevin
to collect those savings until audits can determine which pension funds
most need the extra money.
After the House passed its budget, the Senate re-wrote it to more closely resemble — though not entirely — Bevin’s proposal.
After
the morning’s meetings between Stivers and Stumbo — and apparently
after Republicans met with Bevin — the conference committee of leaders
from both parties and chambers began discussions around 2 p.m.
Senate
budget chairman Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, kicked it off, saying
the Senate proposes contributing $1.447 billion to pensions while the
House would only commit $1.2 billion.
“We think that is a good number and a number we do not intend to deviate from,” McDaniel said of the Senate appropriation.
Stivers
acknowledged Democrats’ concern about the permanent fund sought by
Bevin, offering to insert language that its accrued funds could only be
spent on pensions unless the governor received prior approval from
lawmakers to use it for other purposes.
House budget chairman Rick Rand, D-Bedford, said the House feels
equally strongly about its determination to protect higher education
from cuts and to restore funding for public school support services like
family resource centers.
“That is something we feel strongly about and we are willing to sit at this table and fight for it,” Rand said.
He
said except for the permanent fund and higher education cuts, House
Democrats “are allowing nearly all of what (Bevin) wanted.”
At that point, the discussion ended.
They
agreed to come back around 6 p.m. but ultimately that was extended to 8
p.m.
When lawmakers finally settled into their seats, reporters were
asked to leave. They were allowed back in when the meeting broke up just
after 10 p.m.
Earlier, following the afternoon session, Stumbo hinted they might be unable to reach a budget agreement.
When
the late evening meeting concluded, Stumbo again said he feared the
tone of the discussions hinted the two sides may not be able to agree.
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