So far, Trump has greenlit individual assistance—federal help for Kentucky families—in three recent natural disasters, but only one received public assistance. That's money for cities and counties.
If the public assistance did come through, the affected areas would be looking at cleanup bills in the tens of millions. But Beshear said that price tag will be far higher if the federal government doesn't chip in.
"If we're not going to get public assistance, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars between the state and the cities. That throws all of our budgets out of whack and is just a a major blow that would require some more significant action," the governor said Thursday.
That action might include calling lawmakers back to Frankfort to approve more state spending on disasters.
"I think we're just in a wait and see mode. See the numbers that the governor gives us... and we probably have a response back to that," Sen. Robbie Mills said.
Beshear said he's watching two different sets of numbers, what the relief dollars look like with public assistance and without, and that will inform his decision.
"So how long we could go without having legislation for SAFE fund depends on which of those realities we're looking at," the governor said. "I still think it is certainly a possibility, but I want to make sure that I have both sets of numbers. We think we're getting pretty close."