Gov. Andy Beshear delivered a roughly 35-minute State of the Commonwealth Address that continued to warn Kentuckians not to fall prey to the country’s coarsening political dialogue.
The ambitious speech made plenty of promises and touted early achievements of the new administration through executive orders. Here is a rundown of the top takeaways from Tuesday’s address:
Ignore national divisions
“Every day, forces try to divide us by saying that if someone is different than you, then they must be feared,” Beshear, a Democrat, said. “If they belong to a different religion, political party, or watch a different cable news channel, they must be wrong.”
Beshear called on legislators and other attendees who packed the House gallery on Tuesday to turn off the national noise if they want to move the state forward.
“And we see widespread campaigns of misinformation aimed not just at creating division, but even hate,” he said. “And let’s admit it: These attempts at division have been effective. We see it on the internet and in our neighborhoods.”
Beshear is looking to keep the coalition that got him elected unified by ignoring national politics.
There was no mention of President Donald Trump, for instance, who is very popular in the state. He did use the line “Team Kentucky,” which is a favorite of the governor’s, at least five times.
Beshear pointed out to lawmakers how Kentucky is ranked the third-poorest state by per capita income. He mentioned how 22% of children live in poverty; the state is 45th in terms of adults with high school diplomas; and is among the highest in terms of child abuse and neglect.
“Every moment we focus on partisanship, every moment we focus on national division, we fail to address the reality that is before us,” Beshear said.
A pain-to-progress budget
The governor previewed his two-year budget proposal, which he will also present to legislators in an address in the House chamber in two weeks.
Beshear outlined his familiar funding priorities that will guide his two-year spending plan for the state, stressing his emphasis on public K-12 and postsecondary education spending, maintaining expanded Medicaid and continuing to fully fund public pensions.
Hoping to transform “a budget of pain into one of progress,” Beshear said those priorities must be funded to “help us break cycles of poverty” and “do big things.”
However, funding those priorities without devastating cuts elsewhere — or significant sources of new tax revenue — will be difficult to achieve with escalating pension, health care and corrections costs.
Beshear mentioned the possibility of $500 million in new revenue through expanded gaming — a key part of his campaign platform — which Republican leaders of the General Assembly later mocked as a pipe dream.
“The only thing he didn’t propose was puppies,” said House Speaker David Osborne. “And you might as well just go ahead and throw those in, because it’s great to throw out wonderful proposals and ideas, but at some point in time we have to face the realities of how we’re going to manage those and how we’re actually going to fund them.”
Accomplishments 101
Beshear mentioned several of the early achievements of his administration, including reversing decisions made by former Gov. Matt Bevin in his administration’s final days.
Among those reversals: Rescinding Bevin’s Medicaid waiver plan, which Beshear said would jeopardize the coverage of 100,000 Kentuckians, and canceling $8 billion of Medicaid contracts that were rejected by a legislative committee.
Beshear also touted his executive order from his first week in office that restored the voting rights of more than 140,000 Kentuckians who had committed nonviolent felonies and completed serving their sentences.
“My faith teaches me the value of redemption, and these are thousands of our neighbors who served their time and should have the opportunity to become part of our democratic process again,” Beshear said.
The governor highlighted this order by telling the story of Ryan Young, a Louisville man who had lost his right to vote at 18 and had his rights restored as a result of Beshear’s action.
The General Assembly needs to do more, Beshear said, calling for passage of criminal justice reform efforts that reduce the state’s prison population and a constitutional amendment that automatically restores voting rights to such nonviolent offenders.
Spider-Man and the Bible
Beshear regularly remarked about his faith and how it motivates his policy prescriptions for Kentucky. He frequently quoted Scripture and how it teaches to help others in need.
The governor tried to be hip, however, by fusing biblical quotes with comic book lore. Spider-Man, to be specific.
“We are each here blessed to be able to serve,” he said. “But that comes with a special responsibility. That responsibility has been laid out everywhere from the Bible to pop culture. Luke 12:48 states: ‘For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.’ Similarly, the wisdom from Uncle Ben that launched a superhero franchise is: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’”
Pain pill makers are killers
The governor reserved his harshest words for pharmaceutical companies when discussing Kentucky’s drug epidemic. He referred to the crisis as a major challenge to the state, and one that is shredding families and local communities.
Beshear gave a shout-out to Attorney General Daniel Cameron for continuing the lawsuits he brought when serving in that office against pain pill companies and distributors.
“Let’s not sugarcoat it,” Beshear said. “Opioid manufacturers and distributors fueled this crisis. They have the blood of our loved ones on their hands, and they must be held responsible and made part of the solution. We must defeat them.”
Beshear, as a private attorney, worked for the Louisville-based Stites & Harbison law firm that represented Purdue Pharma against the state. It became a campaign issue given that the state received a $24 million settlement with the OxyContin maker, which would prove to be a much smaller amount than other states received.
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Written by Phillip M. Bailey. Cross-posted from the
Courier-Journal via the Kentucky Press News Service.