Beshear ordered the gas tax lowered by 10 cents on May 11, but the emergency order has an expiration date after a month. Mayors and county judges have the option of requesting an extension in their communities. 33 chose to make that ask, including Ashland, Winchester, and Louisville Metro.
Fayette County was not on the list.
Beshear's gas tax freeze drew criticism from state Republicans, who worried that the $26.8 million not going into the state's Road Fund over the course of the month would delay road projects and maintenance.
As to why more communities didn't sign on, the governor put the onus on GOP lawmakers who sought to keep track of which mayors and county judges made the requests.
"We would have had a lot of them, but some of our Republican state legislators basically threatened them in an open committee meeting, saying they might pull their projects from the Road Plan. Why? For putting their families first," Beshear said. "So I want to thank everybody who had the courage to say 'I want gas to cost less in my community.'"
In that committee meeting earlier this month, Republican Rep. Ken Upchurch argued the 10 cent reduction in the tax is doing more harm than good.
"This is an unnecessary, self-inflicted wound," he said. "And the benefits of it do not outweigh the detriment of it."
Accused of political pandering, Beshear noted that President Trump has also expressed support for a gas tax holiday.
The 33 communities that requested a continuation of the gas tax cut will see those reductions stay in place until June 30.
The full list of communities where the gas tax reduction will be extended: Alexandria, Ashland, Campton, Carrsville, Carter County, Clay City, Covington, Drakesboro, Earlington, Eminence, Falmouth, Gamaliel, Glencoe, Graves County, Island, Jenkins, London, Louisville, Magoffin County, McHenry, Morgan County, Oak Grove, Owensboro, Owingsville, Paintsville, Park City, Sebree, Smithfield, Smiths Grove, West Point, Whitesville, Winchester, and Wolfe County.