Kentucky Republican lawmakers on Tuesday overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of a controversial education bill.
The Kentucky Senate voted 31-5 to override Beshear’s veto of House Bill 1. A day earlier, the state House of Representatives voted 77-14-1 to override Beshear’s veto.
House Bill 1 would allow Secretary of State Michael Adams to allow the state to opt into a new federal tax credit scholarship program.
The program allows people to receive up to $1,700 in federal tax credits for donations to organizations that provide scholarships to private and public school students.
Beshear vetoed the bill on March 13, arguing it would have allowed public funds to be diverted to private and charter schools, but Kentucky voters overwhelmingly rejected the ballot measure in 2024.
“Each budget cycle, the vast majority fail to provide the necessary resources and instead continually pass bills to divert needed funds to private or charter schools,” Beshear said.
Kentucky Republicans condemned Beshear’s veto and pledged to overturn it.
“HB1 does not take a dollar from state funding. It is a federal tax credit that will help provide more resources to those who need it most,” the Republican added.
In a statement Tuesday, the Kentucky Democratic Party accused Republicans of using federal funds “to fund private schools for the wealthiest Kentuckians.”
“Kentuckians want their elected officials to fix their public schools,” the party continued. Instead, Republicans have spent the past decade trying to defund these programs, defying voters in all 120 counties while creating new plans to divert public funds to private education.
