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Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear, a Democrat, has called for a 6.4 percent cut in state funds to higher education. This would reduce total state funding for colleges by more than $50 million. Beshear acknowledged that his proposed budget was “inadequate for the needs of our people” but required because of “the historic recession of the last four years.” But “given our current resources,” the governor explained, “these cuts are unavoidable.”
Unavoidable is relative, however. Beshear also apparently plans to give $43 million in tax breaks this year to Answers in Genesis. Answers is an evangelical group that plans to construct a creation-themed amusement park in Northern Kentucky.
The governor’s 2012 budget also provides $11 million in earmarks to improve the highway near the park.
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Scott Bauries on January 24, 2012 7:16 AM:
I am as concerned as you are, but a small correction: Governor Beshear is a Democrat. And in his defense, he has managed to protect K-12 funding from a hostile state Senate over several years of successive budget cutting. For context, my understanding is that, at the University of Kentucky, our state funding after this cut will be about what it was in 2000, and that's before factoring in inflation.