BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
FRANKFORT — Governor Andy Beshear warned Monday that a measure by the General Assembly to end the COVID-19 state of emergency early would take food off the tables of more than half a million Kentuckians, most of them struggling seniors and struggling children.
The legislature finished Senate Joint Resolution 150 to end the state of emergency earlier than the previously designated April 14 date and sent it to the governor last week.
Beshear called the measure “politics at its worst” in a news conference Monday. He said if the state of emergency were not extended, the flow of $50 million a month in federal SNAP dollars to Kentucky would end.
“Ending the state of emergency, cutting $50 million worth of food to our people is wrong,” Beshear said. “And for what? There are no restrictions, no COVID restrictions in Kentucky. None. And there haven’t been for six months.
“All they will do I take food off the table of struggling seniors and struggling children,” he added. “My faith tells me that’s wrong.”
Beshear said his administration has talked explicitly about disaster SNAP benefits with leadership in both the House and Senate “every time we have talked about extending the state of emergency.”
Senate President Robert Stivers put out a statement Monday saying it wasn’t the General Assembly’s intent to impair any benefits and, if the governor needed something, he should come to him.
“It certainly sounds like some is saying they wouldn’t have robbed the bank if the security guard had stopped them,” said Beshear. “I mean, that’s pretty silly. We’ve communicated this directly in the extensions early in this session when the legislature agreed to extend.”
The governor said Kentuckians could expect him to take action should he decide to veto the measure and the legislature choose to override a veto and end $50 million of SNAP benefits to the most needy.
“These are dollars flowing from the federal government,” said Beshear. “We don’t pay one penny of it here in Kentucky to get the extra help. And I, for one, certainly think our struggling kids and our struggling seniors ought to have enough food. So you’ll likely see some action on that a little bit later this week.”
