Beshear's chief complaint with the spending plan deals with Medicaid. The governor said a team of experts gathered to estimate what would be needed to keep the system operating as it is, and the General Assembly fell far short of that figure.
"The legislature cut $2.8 billion dollars out of the number that the experts who put this together said that it will cost over the next two years," he told reporters Thursday.
Beshear said that's on top of cuts from President Donald Trump's signature 2025 tax and spending bill. The governor said he fears what the cuts will mean for providers, who could take the biggest hit.
"And so what does that mean to a birthing center that already has tiny margins? What does mean to hospitals that may only be open right now because of the rates that we can pay?" he added.
The Democrat also dinged the GOP-led legislature for putting $5 million toward affordable housing while adding more than $300 million to the Capitol Annex renovation, a lack of requested parks money, and what he described as a number of "unfunded mandates" throughout the spending plan.
The governor did, however, applaud the inclusion of requested funds for the Department for Community-Based Services, the addition of three new driver's testing locations, and a change for state police.
"We wanted to change things from comp time so they can actually get overtime for their jobs. That money was put in," Beshear reported.
Meanwhile, Republicans say the budget meets the core needs of the commonwealth while avoiding unnecessary spending, and frequently point to the state's conservative budgeting as a reason Kentucky has attracted new businesses and built up a sizable rainy day fund.
Any budget vetoes by the governor will go back to the General Assembly during the final two days of the session in mid-April.