LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky lawmakers are scrambling to finish plans for education funding, children and family issues and more.
It is coming down to the wire as lawmakers in Frankfort are facing a deadline that cannot be moved. The legislators are running out of time.
Kentucky Senate Republicans have set the agenda since the General Assembly met in January. The budget remains a top priority.
Senate Democrats came into the session seeking a raise for all public school employees, additional funding for children and family issues, all of which are not aligned with the other side of the aisle.
"We do and will have some controversial matters, most of it will be the volume of what we have to do to get out," Sen. Gerald Neal, Minority Floor Leader, said.
"They are big and we have been trying to get people comfortable understanding what is in it, we have been briefing people through the process," said Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, (R-Georgetown).
The process has been a months long battle of will from both sides. Republicans have been successful in setting up a JCPS study committee that isn't expected to yield a report for at least a year. Democrats sought a red flag law, which would have created a legal pathway to remove firearms from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.
"When you are talking about firearms, even though you have situations where someone could be identified as dangerous, even that is not of some concern by some members of our General Assembly," Neal said.
Lawmakers must have the business completed by the end of the week.
"The biggest challenge really is I have got these lists of all these bills that have made it out of committee and I don't know if we are going to pass them all," said Thayer.
Lawmakers still face two long days on Wednesday and Thursday before reaching a crucial deadline at the start of their break. Republicans have to pass bills by Thursday to retain their ability to override any gubernatorial vetoes when they reconvene for their final two days of the legislative session in mid-April.
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Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved.
