The amount of state funding going to Kentucky’s largest city to support downtown renewal, education, health care and other priorities shows that the days of talking about the urban-rural divide in the Bluegrass State are “now behind us.” Are.” mayor of louisville Said on Monday.
The new two-year state budget passed by the Republican-dominated legislature will invest more than $1 billion in Louisville, reflecting the city’s role as an economic catalyst that benefits the entire state, lawmakers said.
Republican legislators and Louisville’s first-term Democratic Mayor Craig Greenberg touted the cooperation achieved during the 60-day legislative session that ended two weeks ago.
“For a very long time, people have been talking about this urban-rural divide that has divided Louisville and the rest of the state,” Greenberg said at a news conference. “Well, those days are behind us now.”
“We may not agree on every issue,” he said. “What we have shown in this session is fine. There are a lot of commonalities. There are a lot of things on which we agree.”
There was no mention of the divisive issues — past and present — that prompted some Democratic lawmakers and others to declare that the predominantly rural GOP legislature was waging a “war on Louisville.” During the recently concluded session, Republican lawmakers passed a measure to make the mayoral election in Louisville, the state’s most Democratic city, non-partisan. And lawmakers defeated efforts in Louisville and Lexington to ban landlords from discriminating against tenants using federal housing vouchers.
A cyclist rides a bike overlooking the Louisville, Ky., skyline on June 7, 2016 in Louisville. The amount of state funding given to Kentucky’s largest city to support downtown renewal, education, health care and other priorities shows that the days of talking about the urban-rural divide in the Bluegrass State are “now over.” are behind,” the mayor of Louisville said on Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Perhaps the most explosive issue is still pending. Lawmakers agreed to create a task force to review the public school system involved in Louisville. The review could potentially lead to efforts next year to break up Jefferson County Public Schools, the state’s largest school system.
Senator Gerald Neal, the state Senate’s top Democrat, said at Monday’s event that “some unanswered questions” remain regarding the legislature’s relationship with Louisville. But Neal praised his colleagues for approving funding for his hometown, and referred to the $100 million over two years for Downtown Louisville as a “home run.”
Other projects winning legislative funding will improve Louisville’s airport, support a community center for teens and adults with disabilities, build the statewide presence of the Louisville Orchestra and support the Kentucky Exposition Center, which hosts trade shows throughout the year. Is.
University of Louisville President Kim Schatzel said the session provided a historic level of funding for the school. He said the budget supports the development of a new health sciences building in downtown Louisville that will prepare more health professionals and advance cutting-edge research.
The state will also help develop a cybersecurity center at UofL that will put the city and state “on the map as a national leader in this emerging and incredibly important technology area,” Schatzel said.
He said, “The construction and cranes on campus warm the President’s heart like nothing else, because they signal confidence in a very bright future for the university and the communities we serve.”
Lawmakers passed a master budget of more than $128 billion for the state executive branch over the next two fiscal years. He also approved tapping nearly $3 billion into the state’s vast budget reserves to spend on one-time investments in infrastructure and community projects.
House Speaker David Osborn said the Louisville investment resulted from disciplined budgeting since the GOP won House control in 2017, solidifying Republican dominance in the legislature.
For successive budget cycles thereafter, “this legislative body has spent less money than we took in,” the Republican speaker said. “It’s not an easy thing to do.”
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Republican Senate President Robert Stivers That said, Louisville serves a mission that extends far beyond its borders in education, health care, transportation, tourism and the humanities. Stivers, who represents an Eastern Kentucky district, said the state’s investment in Louisville is a matter of economics.
“You cannot turn away from 18 to 19% of your population and your revenue, which you bring to the state treasury,” he said.
