The Kentucky General Assembly set its biennial budget last year, but the spending plan could be reopened during the short 2015 session if Senate President Robert Stivers gets his wish.
In a surprise request at a Kentucky Chamber of Commerce dinner Thursday, Stivers urged his fellow lawmakers to consider reopening the budget to find more dollars for a cancer research facility at the University of Kentucky. He called the decision not to fund the building in 2014 a “mistake.”
"I know it is a slippery slope to open up a budget, but I'm asking my colleagues to seriously look at that in a disciplined way," he said.
House Appropriations and Revenue Chair Rep. Rick Rand told cn|2 Pure Politics said it’s a possibility, but he’s hesitant to make any promises.
"We had that debate last year. I'm not opposed to the funding of the research laboratory at the University of Kentucky, but the problem we run into is every university and every body that has an issue wants to bring it up," rand cautioned.
The General Assembly wraps up its first week of a short 30-day session today/Friday. The body will reconvene in February.
