Charter school bill becomes law in Kentucky after veto override

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers began overriding Gov. Beshear’s vetoes Wednesday as this year’s legislative session draws to a close.

The House and Senate faced a long day of voting to override a long list of Beshear’s vetoes. They will also decide the fate of a series of measures that are still awaiting final votes.

In a 28-9 vote in the Senate, both chambers voted to override Beshear’s budget veto.

After reviewing the legislature’s budget work, Gov. Andy Beshear’s biggest complaints were about K-12 education funding, saying lawmakers failed to “deal with the moment” during a time of unprecedented revenue surpluses.

The governor praised several priorities in the two-year state spending plan crafted by the GOP-dominated legislature. He signaled wage increases for state workers and bolstered funding for infrastructure projects, higher education, economic development and job training.

His sharpest criticism was directed at K-12 education funding levels, or what was left out, when he revealed his line item budget vetoes. Beshear’s specific vetoes included proposed salary increases for state legislators and constitutional officials, including himself.

The House took the first step to override Beshear’s veto of a charter school bill, one of the most contentious issues of the 2022 session. The move is aimed at launching charter schools in the Bluegrass state and providing them with funding.

The House narrowly overrode the veto in a 52-46 vote and sent the bill to the Senate for final decision.

The measure has drawn strong pushback from many in public education, with opponents continuing to warn that it would take money from traditional public schools if it becomes law.

RELATED: Beshear says charter schools are ‘wrong for our Commonwealth’ and vetoes bill to fund them

The bill would establish a long-term financing method for charter schools. Public charter schools, like traditional public schools, would receive a mix of state and local fiscal support.

The proposal would also require at least two charter schools to be created under pilot projects: one in Louisville within Jefferson County Public Schools and one in northern Kentucky.

Opponents said that would be just the beginning and warned that charter schools would spread.

The legislature finished overturning the governor’s veto of another GOP priority: a bill that shifts key school governance decisions to superintendents and away from school-based decision-making boards. The override votes won by wide margins in both chambers.

The education bill would also designate a set of historical documents and speeches to incorporate into classroom work, a response to the national debate over critical race theory.

The chants of protesters rang out on Capitol Hill in Kentucky as lawmakers began overturning Beshear’s veto of a bill that would impose new restrictions on abortion, including a ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The House overrode the veto in a 76-21 vote. That sent the measure to the Senate for a final vote to override the veto that could come later in the day.

RELATED: ‘Victims of these crimes should have options’: Kentucky governor vetoes proposed 15-week abortion ban

Opponents are expected to challenge the abortion measure in court on constitutional grounds, but that effort could depend on deliberations already underway in the US Supreme Court.

The proposed 15-week ban is modeled after a Mississippi law the Supreme Court is considering in a case that could drastically limit abortion rights. In taking the preemptive action, supporters of the bill say Kentucky’s stricter ban would be in place if Mississippi’s law is upheld.

Kentucky law currently prohibits abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Opponents condemned the bill for failing to exclude pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

“Those are violent crimes,” Rep. Rachel Roberts said. “This bill forces those women to be raped again.”

Another key part of the bill would establish regulations for the dispensing of abortion pills. It would require women to be examined in person by a doctor before receiving the drug.

That section of the bill is part of a national push by anti-abortion groups to limit doctors’ ability to prescribe abortion pills via telemedicine, and comes in response to the increased use of pills rather than surgery to end early pregnancies.

Approximately half of all abortions performed in Kentucky are the result of medical procedures.

Strict limits on abortion weren’t the only legislation on social issues that lawmakers addressed during the veto session. They also used their majorities to finish overriding a Beshear veto of his effort to ban transgender athletes from sports. The override votes won by wide margins in both chambers despite objections from opponents.

“This bill is child-seeking discrimination,” said Rep. Josie Raymond.

The measure would bar transgender girls and women from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity from sixth grade through college. Supporters say it would ensure girls and women compete against other “biological women.”

“The athlete wants a fair playing field,” said Sen. Donald Douglas. “They don’t care about all these other social things.”

Republican-led states have increasingly adopted such bans on transgender girls or women, though culture war-related bans have been challenged in several states as violations of federal law. Opponents of the Kentucky measure predicted the measure would also end up in court.

“The fight will not stop here,” said Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign.

Opponents of the bill tightening rules for public assistance benefits said it would threaten access to food and health care benefits. Supporters said it would not harm people who need help.

“The only way these benefits will be taken away from you is if you are doing something illegal or if you refuse to be part of the community engagement program,” said Republican House Speaker David Meade, one of the main sponsors of the measure.

The bill would add new rules for benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid. In some cases, it will require “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients without dependents to participate in “community involvement” activities, such as jobs or volunteering.

The House overrode the veto of the bill related to public assistance and sent it to the Senate.

Lawmakers began the process of overriding vetoes of other high-profile bills that would tighten welfare rules and revamp the state’s tax code. Those override votes cleared one chamber and moved to the other chamber. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.

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