Thursday, March 16, 2000
Legislators from area split evenly on budget
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FRANKFORT — Northern Kentucky lawmakers split evenly Wednesday night when, after nearly four hours of debate, the Kentucky House passed the state's two-year budget.
The budget passed 85-13. Voting in favor of the budget from Northern Kentucky were Rep. Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, Rep. Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana, Rep. Paul Marcotte, R-Union, Rep. Royce Adams, D-Dry Ridge, and Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills.
Mr. Marcotte said he voted yes because the budget includes millions of dollars for Northern Kentucky University “and I commited to those projects.”
Mr. Draud and Mr. Callahan both mentioned increased education funding as one of the main reasons they supported the budget bill.
But Rep. Charlie Walton, R-Florence, said he voted against the budget because it includes almost $200 million in new taxes “and the people in my district don't want increased taxes.”
Joining Mr. Walton in voting against the budget were Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington, Rep. Jon David Reinhardt, R-Claryville, Rep. Tom Kerr, D-Taylor Mill, and Rep. Joe Fischer, R-Fort Thomas.
The bill now heads to the Senate.
There are no guarantees that the money and projects put in the House budget will survive in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Many of the projects depend on the $180 million in new taxes Gov. Paul Patton put in the budget. Republican senators say they won't pass a budget with tax increases.
“We're not going to have any tax increases,” said Sen. Katie Stine, R-Fort Thomas.
The typical practice in Frankfort is for the House and Senate to pass different versions of the budget then hammer out the differences in conference committees, which are panels of lawmakers appointed by House and Senate leaders from both parties.
Here are the area projects and communities receiving money under the House budget:
• Northern Kentucky University: $7.2 million increase in its state funding over two years; $12 million for a new power plant, $1 million for classroom renovations, $700,000 to lease space for a regional workers' training center.
• $4 million to convert the L&N Bridge between Newport and Cincinnati into a pedestrian walkway.
• $1 million for community centers in Dayton and Bellevue.
• $500,000 to extend water lines in Grant and Gallatin counties.
• $1 million to build county road maintenance buildings in Campbell and Boone counties.
• $750,000 for a Grant County Public Library.
• $700,000 for a youth sports complex in Covington.
• $350,000 for parks in Independence and Taylor Mill.
• $250,000 for sewers in Pendleton County.
• $250,000 for a civic center in Pendleton County.
• $250,000 for fire departments in Bellevue, Dayton, Newport, Southgate, Wilder and Woodlawn.
• Nearly $900,000 for sidewalks, street repairs and community improvement projects in Edgewood, Crestview Hills, Fort Wright, Villa Hills, Lakeside Park, Fort Mitchell and Crescent Springs.
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