{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Governor Steve Beshear is expected to deliver his budget address on January 3rd, providing more details about his proposal to spend the state's money and balance its books. Lawmakers will then wrestle with the spending plan until April. Kentucky state budget director Mary Lassiter told the House Tuesday that the next two-year state budget will be the toughest yet for lawmakers to craft, and more cuts to state agencies are likely. Lassiter says Beshear will not propose any broad-based tax increases, and he will not be basing a budget on expanded gaming revenues. Lassiter says the state tapped more than $3 billion in federal stimulus dollars to help plug holes as state revenues plummeted during the recession, but that money is now gone. Lawmakers also have used one-time fixes, such as delaying state paychecks by a day to push them into another fiscal year and delaying debt payments, to save money and not cut key areas such as education, but the state can no longer use those one-time tricks.
