The General Assembly’s Senseless and Avoidable Budget Cuts Are Hurting Kentuckians

In the last few weeks, my administration received a number of calls and emails from Kentuckians concerned about painful cuts to Medicaid, behavioral health services and senior meals. These are very real and valid concerns that I want to address.

First, I want Kentuckians to know that these cuts were completely avoidable. In January, I put forward a balanced budget that funded the needs of our Department for Community Based Services; maintained both the full funding and full services for providers like the Lee Specialty Clinic; fully funded Medicaid; expanded the number of Michelle P. Waiver slots for families of children with autism; and provided the dollars needed for senior meals. Unfortunately, the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly chose not to follow my budget but instead created and passed their own, with more than $1 billion less than these necessary services cost the commonwealth.

Their excuse? "We must address the rising costs associated with Medicaid." But the truth is, much of those rising costs came from $6 billion in increases required by laws passed by those same legislators between 2020 and 2025. So, they've added services we have to pay for while taking away the money we have to actually pay for them. The numbers don't add up, and, in their budget, we simply don't have the dollars.

Sadly, they knew it. Members of my administration and I repeatedly warned of these painful impacts dating back to January in my State of the Commonwealth Address. We increased those warnings in March after seeing the initial budget from the General Assembly. Yet, they took no action, and the cruel and senseless cuts moved forward.

Now, Kentuckians are forced to bear the outcome of these shortsighted decisions, which have been exacerbated by chronic defunding from the federal government. It's wrong, and our people deserve better.

Faced with this reality, Republican leadership now says I have "flexibility" to move money and protect essential services as they decry the very cuts they've caused. But if you've underfunded everything by over a billion dollars, there's not the money to move without starving another essential service.

I am doing what I can to help. Right now, I'm working on a plan to save the Lee Specialty Clinic. But, at best, it will be a Band-Aid to slow the bleeding from the failures in the budget.

I need Kentuckians to raise their voices too.

First, continue to call my office and speak to members of my team. We work for you - the people of Kentucky - and we want to do the best we can to reduce this pain. But we can only spend what we have. Like your budget, once ours runs out, there is no more.

What is most effective is for you to call your legislators. They shorted this budget significantly. But they will be back in January with an opportunity to provide the funding needed to save these services and to deliver the money needed for Kentucky providers to serve our people.

Remember, I believe healthcare and having enough to eat are basic human rights; we need to see that the supermajority in the General Assembly believes that too.

-Gov. Andy Beshear

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