A few hours after the House passed another reduction of the state’s income tax, top Kentucky politicians addressed business leaders at the annual Kentucky Chamber Day Dinner in Lexington.  Republicans House Speaker David Osborne and Senate President Robert Stivers, who lead the legislative supermajority in Frankfort, credited the GOP for Kentucky’s current economy — chiefly by passing bills in recent sessions to lower the state’s income tax. Osborne — fresh off this year’s tax bill, House Bill 1, overwhelmingly passing his chamber — noted the bipartisan support the bill enjoyed this year. Only seven of the 20 Democrats in the House voted against the measure.  “(Republican Whip) Jason Nemes opined that perhaps they had seen the light,” Osborne said of the Democrats. “I would submit to you that they saw the same polling that made the governor be for it after he was against it.”  Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who addressed the chamber earlier in the evening, vetoed a one-half percentage point cut in the income tax rate in 2022 and signed another in 2023, the year he was running for reelection. He has signaled he plans to support this year’s GOP-backed proposal to shave the current 4% rate to 3.5%, effective Jan. 1, 2026. The Republican goal is to keep gradually lowering the tax, eventually eliminating it. The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, which has a PAC that recently endorsed most of the General Assembly, supports eliminating the state income tax Stivers promised the crowd he could “guarantee” that the Senate will pass the income tax reduction bill when lawmakers return to Frankfort in February. The Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee is set to hear the bill Friday, teeing it up for a vote next month.  Stivers previewed other legislative priorities in the session which began Tuesday, including undoing some Beshear administration policies that Stivers said raise costs on businesses. The Senate president also said lawmakers “are not going to let taxpayer dollars be used for sex-change operations for people who have committed crimes and are currently incarcerated.”  Lawmakers last month grilled Kentucky Department of Corrections Commissioner Cookie Crews about policies on gender-affirming care for transgender inmates. The administration sought an opinion from Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, a Republican, who recently ruled that Kentucky correctional officials are not required to provide gender-affirming surgery to transgender inmates when medical professionals deem it medically necessary. Beshear has said the regulation will be pulled and aligned with Coleman’s advisory “The governor stood here tonight and talked about all the things he cut the ribbons for, all the things that had been announced. We want him to do more of that. We want him to be successful,” Stivers said. “And you know what? He talked about (how) his dad (former Gov. Steve Beshear) never got to do any of these things. Do you know why? Because he didn’t have the legislature controlled by the people he has the legislature controlled by now.” Democrats held the majority of House seats when Steve Beshear was governor from 2007-15, a period in which state revenues plunged during the Great Recession. Republicans won control of both chambers in 2016. Osborne echoed that sentiment in his remarks, saying that elected officials of all stripes “love to cut ribbons and hand out big checks and shovel dirt and puff our chest out like we actually had something to do with what you all are building. “But the group that never gets the credit they deserve are the men and women who take risks, who invest money and leverage everything to build and grow businesses in Kentucky,” the speaker said. “The biggest hope and my pledge to you is that the aim of this majority is to get the hell out of your way.”  Gov. Andy Beshear delivers the State of the Commonwealth address, Jan. 8, 2025, at the Capitol in Frankfort. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Arden Barnes) At the beginning of his remarks, Beshear jokingly warned the crowd that most of his Thursday evening speech would sound like the State of the Commonwealth address he gave Wednesday evening. In addition to discussing efforts to rebuild communities after disasters, the two-term governor focused on recent economic accomplishments, such as a nearly $712 million battery manufacturing plant expected to be operational in Shelbyville by the end of 2025. Beshear emphasized his long-time wishes for Kentucky education — particularly to better pay teachers and enact universal preschool programs across the state.  “It’s time that we work to fully fund our public school system, and it’s time we stop trying to defund or provide voucher systems or have tax shelters,” Beshear said. “Let’s do the hard work of improving our public schools.” Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald Neal, D-Louisville. (LRC Public Information) Osborne strongly defended Republicans’ education policies and said the legislature has provided a historic record of K-12 education funding. “These are the same people that have not provided one single, substantive, creative, thoughtful, intentional policy change to improve education,” Osborne said. “Because let’s be clear, asking for more money is not big. Asking for more money is not bold. Asking for more money is just an ask — and it’s not working.”  The Democrats’ legislative leaders —  Democratic Floor Leaders Rep. Pam Stevenson and Sen. Gerald Neal, both of Louisville — also addressed the crowd. Stevenson said she believed lawmakers can find ways to better serve Kentuckians, “especially when we spend the time to build on the things we agree on.”  “Kentucky has everything it needs to lead its people to the top of the list, to move away from that middle, or the bottom, and do the things we know to do,” she said.  House Democratic Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson. (LRC Public Information) Neal highlighted examples of Democrats and Republicans working together to move Kentucky forward, such as last year’s “Momnibus” bill, a bipartisan measure that focused on maternal health.  “We agree on most things that we do,” Neal said. “We do have some fundamental differences, but we work to try to make it right.”  One area of difference is that goal of eliminating the state income tax, Neal said, which he said “promises immediate savings, but it also carries reason for concern,” such as a future decline in General Fund revenue. The post Republicans tout lower income tax, gig Beshear at Kentucky Chamber of Commerce dinner appeared first on The Lexington Times.