By Wednesday morning, it appears that Kentucky Republicans have maintained their formidable supermajorities in both chambers of the state General Assembly, and former President Donald Trump increased his margin of victory in the state as he won the White House for a second term. The day after the election, Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican from Manchester, said he believed it “bodes well” for the Republican Party of Kentucky.
“I’ve already spoken with the Speaker (Rep. David Osborne) this morning,” Stivers said. “We've got plans for an agenda that will continue to get us the good ratings, have appropriate budget surpluses, make our contributions to the pension systems and move the state forward.”
Stivers said that one of the first things the legislature will do when the session begins in January is to reduce the state income tax once again.
But it wasn’t a universally successful night for Republican leadership. Amendment 2, which would have allowed the legislature to divert public funds to non-public education, failed in all 120 counties last night. Statewide, only 35% of Kentuckians voted “yes” on the measure so many Kentucky Republicans pushed for heavily.
Stivers said that the anti-Amendment 2 camp spent a lot of money disseminating their opinions on what the measure would mean for Kentucky. Opponents labeled it the “voucher” amendment, saying it would drain money from public schools.
Millions of dollars went into the campaigns for and against Amendment 2. By mid-October, a record-breaking $14 million went into the battle, with final spending reports due next month. However, as of the same time period, groups supporting the amendment outspent opponents by roughly $1.2 million.
Stivers said Wednesday that the legislature’s focus was always on Jefferson County Public Schools, which he has long heavily criticized. Stivers said the focus of future “school choice” measures would have benefitted the “poorest and the most needy” students, specifically identifying Louisville’s West End.
“This was another tool, since the courts have struck down every attempt we've made to help those disadvantaged communities,” Stivers said.
Stivers is referring to various attempts to pass “school choice” programs found in other states, including a tax credit scholarship program which would have allowed middle-income and low-income families to apply for funding to cover educational expenses and permitted families in eight populous counties to use the funds to cover private school tuition. The state Supreme Court found it unconstitutional, as it would have redirected up to $25 million in would-be tax dollars toward private or charter education.
But Stivers said the General Assembly is not done looking at school districts he deemed underperforming.
“The public has spoken. They said they don't like [the amendment], so we're going to look at other pathways to have accountability and performance in poorly performing school districts,” Stivers said. “And I think everybody is for that. You want accountability and good performance in public education.”
The GOP-dominated legislature has discussed breaking up JCPS, the state’s largest school district. The General Assembly already created a task force this year that will make recommendations on the future of JCPS, possibly including whether it should be broken up.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear called on the legislature to pour more funding into public schools, increase educator pay and enact universal pre-K after the amendment failed.
“It is time our legislative leaders recognize the will of the people and get serious about ensuring that every Kentucky child gets a world-class public education,” Beshear said.
