Senate President Robert Stivers acknowledges tariffs could have a negative impact on Kentucky, but he also sees potential positives. Tuesday, he echoed the argument that the threat of tariffs produced results — with Canada agreeing to reinforce its border with the US in exchange for a 30-day pause.
On the topic of federal funding, Stiver says changes coming down from DC could affect any number of areas from state transportation dollars to education to Medicaid. But for now, the Manchester Republican isn't sounding worried.
"We'll have to be reactive. There's no doubt. But until we know the final product... I'm not getting overly exercised about what's going on in DC," he told WUKY, noting the sometimes unpredictable process by which legislation in Frankfort can "go in like an ant and come out like an elephant."
But in a brief floor debate on the new cut to state income taxes, a handful of Democrats, including Louisville's Karen Berg, sounded a note of caution.
"With the risk that we are facing now with our bourbon industry and tariffs, even with our battery plants, and whether or not the new federal administration is going to be in favor of electric vehicles — which it looks like they may not be — we are putting way too many apples in a basket that we can't get a hold of if we need," she warned.
So far, that level of anxiety isn't showing up in Republicans' public statements.