Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern
FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s Republican-controlled House and Senate overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of a bill that would opt the state into a program of education grants for K-12 students promoted by the Trump administration and benefiting from a new federal tax credit.
With little debate, the Senate voted 31-5 to overturn Beshear’s rejection of House Bill 1 Tuesday afternoon, after the House overturned the veto Monday. The governor vetoed the legislation last week, saying that he believes “public dollars should only be used for public education.”
Speaking in favor of the bill on the floor, Senate President Pro Tem David Givens, R-Greensburg, said that the governor’s veto message included a lot of things he claimed to do for public education in Kentucky.
“At the bottom, it has the logo ‘Team Kentucky,’ and I’m reminded that there’s not an I in team, but there’s a lot of I’s in this paragraph,” Givens said.
Though some Democratic lawmakers initially voted in favor of HB 1, members of the party have criticized the program as a voucher system to fund “school choice options” like private and charter schools at the expense of public schools. Republicans have countered that the bill would allow all K-12 students and their families to potentially benefit from education assistance grants funded by a federal tax credit created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) touted by President Donald Trump — without having to appropriate state tax dollars.
HB 1 allows Kentucky K-12 students to receive scholarships for private school tuition and other education assistance funded by donations to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) from people receiving the federal tax credit that will become available in 2027 under the legislation passed by Congress last year. In addition to tuition, the scholarships may be used for tutoring services, books, internet access and more.
The Education Freedom Tax Credit is up to $1,700 per year for individuals who donate to scholarship granting organizations, which would then give most of the money to eligible students through grants. The organizations would be able to use 10% of the money for administrative costs. Donors can receive the $1,700 credit even if they do not live in a state that has opted into the program.
The Senate vote was mostly on party lines. Louisville Democrat Sen. Keturah Herron did not cast a vote. Leitchfield Republican Sen. Stephen Meredith was not in the chamber.
Givens urged his colleagues to support the scholarships no matter how they voted Tuesday.
“Let’s leave this conversation today all being ambassadors for what we can do with new federal tax money flowing into both public schools and private schools across the commonwealth,” Givens said.
Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald Neal, of Louisville, urged senators to vote against overriding the veto. He said it is not about rejecting new approaches to improve education in Kentucky, but “ensuring that any policy that we adopt is carefully structured, accountable and works well for all students and communities across the commonwealth.”
During the Monday House debate to override Beshear’s veto, Republican House Speaker David Osborne, of Prospect, said that despite many in the House GOP caucus not seeing eye to eye on “school choice” bills in the past, he believed all House Republicans would vote to override the veto on the bill.
“They’ve never one time … doubted that the genuine hope of everyone who has pushed for opportunities for our kids has been rooted in anything other than wanting what is best for our kids,” Osborne said of House Republicans.
The House voted 77-14 on the bill. GOP Reps. Jim Gooch, of Providence, and William Lawrence, of Maysville, did not cast votes. Rep. Kim Banta, R-Ft. Mitchell abstained from voting.
On the Democratic side, most voted against overriding the veto, but Louisville Reps. Tina Bojanowski, Beverly Chester-Burton, Al Gentry, Pamela Stevenson and Lisa Willner and Newport Rep. Matthew Lehman did not cast votes.
Under the law, the Kentucky secretary of state’s office will oversee eligible scholarship granting organizations. An SGO can benefit not only private school students, but public school students as well.
Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams has publicly supported HB 1 and highlighted it during a Trump rally in Northern Kentucky last week.
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