Kentucky lawmakers pass flood relief bill, Gov. Andy Beshear signs legislation

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WYMT) - Kentucky lawmakers have passed a flood relief plan.

Friday morning, both House and Senate budget committees passed the same version of the legislation out of their respective committees. The House panel passed it 21 to 0, the Senate followed suit 10 to 0.

The full House passed the bill unanimously. The full Senate passed it 35 to 1.

“Since the very beginning, this has been one of the greatest examples I have seen of non partisanship,” Governor Andy Beshear said.

Governor Beshear signed the bill into law Friday afternoon. You can watch a livestream of the signing below.

“We still have people in tents. We have people in shelters. This provides funding for intermediate housing, get them out of the tents, and into something with a roof,” Representative John Blanton said.

The bill includes $213 million for various flood relief infrastructure plans, focusing on repairing roads, bridges, water systems and help for cities, counties and schools in the region.

“The bill we passed today takes a very substantial first step, in rebuilding Eastern Kentucky,” Senate President Robert Stivers said.

There were some questions raised about housing, but state leaders and the Governor said those needs are being addressed.

“There is significant funding in here that can be used for intermediate housing. We can also use more dollars from the budget reserve trust fund as we are still under a state of emergency if necessary,” Governor Beshear said.

Senator John Schickel of northern Kentucky voted no on the bill. He said he agreed with what is in the bill, but he believed they should have used the full five days to pass it.

Senator Brandon Smith said he would like to see another session to focus on the housing needs in Eastern Kentucky.

“It will get worse. It can’t get better. As we get into cold weather with children,” Senator Smith added.

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