Kentucky Senate committee advances Ag development funding, rejects design-fund release for Kentucky State health center

A Kentucky Senate committee voted to approve House Joint Resolution 31, which ties back to last year’s budget appropriation of $5,000,000 to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for agricultural economic development.

The approval occurred after a motion from Senator Boswell and a second from Senator Maiden. The roll call recorded multiple aye votes and the measure was announced as passing with favorable expression.

House Joint Resolution 53, which would release design funds for a health services center at Kentucky State University, failed after debate and changes of vote during the roll call. The motion to approve HJR 53 was made by Senator Mason and seconded by Senator Mace Bledsoe. During the roll call several senators initially voted aye; during the tally some senators explicitly changed their votes to no. Chair Pete McDaniel cast a no vote and explained his reasoning on the record: "I'm casting a no vote today. While I think the new president has done a nice job in continuing the momentum of Kentucky State University, the fact remains that it's a university that's underperformed for a dramatic period now. Before I'm willing to endorse something like this, I want to see more sustained improvement from that university," he said.

After members changed votes during the roll call the chair announced the final count as three aye votes and five no votes, and declared the measure failed. Committee members discussed that the resolution did not enumerate the exact amount in the text; one senator recalled the figure as approximately $5,300,000 but said the dollar figure was not enumerated in the resolution and that Kentucky State University had not met with the committee prior to the vote.

Votes at a glance: - House Joint Resolution 31 — Approve release/tie to prior budget appropriation of $5,000,000 to the Department of Agriculture for Ag Economic Development. Motion: Senator Boswell; Second: Senator Maiden. Outcome: Passed (measure announced as passing with favorable expression). - House Joint Resolution 53 — Release of design funds for Kentucky State University health services center (amount not enumerated in resolution; one senator recalled ~$5,300,000). Motion: Senator Mason; Second: Senator Mace Bledsoe. Outcome: Failed, 3 aye, 5 no. Several senators changed their votes from aye to no during roll call.

There was no further business at the meeting; members were told an additional meeting would be scheduled later in the day for further consideration of measures.