As He Promised, Steve Beshear Vetoes Spending Cuts Contained In Senate Medicaid Fix Bill, David Williams Calls Move An "Outrage"! Stay Tuned.

Gov. Steve Beshear vetoes most provisions of Medicaid bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear announced Friday that he had vetoed most provisions in a bill passed by the special legislative session to deal with a funding shortfall in the Medicaid program.

The main provision that remains in the bill is the plan Beshear supported all along: authorization to transfer $166.5 million to this year’s budget from the Medicaid budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The governor has said he will plug the hole in next year’s budget through efficiencies in the Medicaid program.

Cuts to education and other programs across state government, supported by the Senate’s Republican majority and opposed by House Democrats, were among the provisions vetoed.

Beshear, a Democrat, said the provisions that remain basically conform to what he proposed and the House approved during the regular legislative session.

“Today is a victory for Kentucky’s children and Kentucky’s future against a state Senate majority that wanted to slash Kentucky’s schools,” Beshear said in a release.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, called the veto an “outrage.”

He said it deletes not just spending cuts but also requirements on achieving efficiencies in the Medicaid program and reporting progress on savings.

The governor also vetoed a provision that would have prevented him from implementing additional furloughs of state workers to achieve savings.