By KARYN CZAR
Here in Kentucky, we are facing a $1.1 billion dollar budget shortfall if more federal aid isn’t approved by Congress.
During his Tuesday press briefing last week Governor Andy Beshear said “There’s no alternative to additional federal help other than the people of Kentucky suffer for it.” Beshear added that the Coronavirus has decimated every state budget. “If we do not have additional stimulus from the federal government, another CARES Act, we would be facing devastating cuts and I believe they would be the largest cuts in our history.” Those cuts would fall between 16 to 29 percent.
He says any further relief bills need to include liability protections for businesses, hospitals and other organizations. “If there is a final rescue package, that’s when it will develop and it will start once again in my office.”
The CARES Act, passed in March, expanded unemployment insurance benefits, provided stimulus checks to eligible Americans and provided funding to states who lost revenue during shutdowns.
