Ahead of lawmakers’ upcoming session on April 13-14, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers has said that the topics of gambling and medical marijuana would not be high-priority.
At a recent press conference, Stivers was asked specifically about House Bills 606 and 136, which pertain to the legalization of sports betting and medical marijuana, respectively. Neither are considered to be hot-button topics for the state’s legislature, as Stivers and others remain largely unimpressed with their proposed economic incentives.
“My opinion is that this would only be a multiple decimal point down in the overall receipts,” Stivers said. “If you think about a dollar, this wouldn’t even be a penny in receipts, for what it may generate.”
Instead, Stivers maintained that the state’s traditional industries, such as bourbon distilling and horse racing, are the true needle-movers. Gaming and marijuana, by comparison, are “not as significant an economic generator.”
As far as the session overall, Stivers listed numerous reasons as to why he considered their efforts to be fruitful thus far. He touted record investments for tourism, revamped educational funding, and the avoidance of utilizing single-use funds for recurring costs.
Addressing problems that were “glaringly shown” by the COVID-19 pandemic was also a point of concern, as Stivers said that “educational initiatives in the realm of nursing” was a key focal point moving forward.
There is some belief that Stivers and other lawmakers may potentially override one or more vetoes from Gov. Andy Beshear. When asked, Stivers said that he was confident there might be at least one, and that he would be eager to read any veto messages to better understand Beshear’s rationale.
