Kentucky school districts swim in money while Medicaid drowns

Gov. Beshear is accusing those who oppose his avoid-all-tough-decisions-until-the-election's-over approach to dealing with Kentucky's Medicaid shortfall as a bunch of meanies wanting to cut funding for "our schoolchildren."

Well.....let's see here:

According to the Legislative Research Commission, local Kentucky school districts have balances of $775 million, which is 49 percent more than they had in 2005. Yet, Senate Republicans propose a paltry 1.33 percent cut for next year, which amounts to a measly $38.5 million. The cuts would only affect SEEK funding, which is only one of many revenue streams local school districts get.

Also, Kentucky's local school districts have gotten $460 million in additional stimulus and job-training funding during the past few years alone. How much is a .5 percent cut during this final quarter of the fiscal year and a 1.33 percent cut next year really going to hurt?

It's despicably irresponsible of this governor to accuse Senate leaders of being mean-spirited -- just because they want to make sure that the money is there to balance our state's Medicaid budget responsibly.