Commonwealth Policy Center

Gov. Andy Beshear shared his priorities for 2023 in the annual State of the Commonwealth address. Interestingly, he demanded pay raises for public K-5 teachers, but the issue cannot be addressed until next year since the biennial budget is locked in until then. Beshear also touted record-breaking budget surpluses and the economic prosperity of the Commonwealth. Yet, as House Speaker David Osborne said, “there’s not a single one of those policies that he [Beshear] either sued [the Republican legislature] or the attorney general [Daniel Cameron] over, or veto when we passed them.” House Republicans just passed a bill reducing the state income tax to 4%, a measure that Beshear opposes but a measure that is responsible for revving up Kentucky’s economic engine and making Kentucky economically competitive on the national scene.