A gavel has fallen and the Kentucky General Assembly began its 2024 session today around noon, and it will be a busy one.

This is an even numbered year, so this will be a 60 day session as lawmakers create a two year state budget.

Some progressive Kentuckians are calling for lawmakers to dig deep into the rainy day fund to make historic public investments.

Kentucky Auditions June Leffler has more.

On the budget as a moral document and the strongest tool we have to together to build an economy where everyone has a chance to thrive.

The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, a left leaning think tank in the state, is calling lawmakers to pull from Kentucky's $3.7 billion rainy day fund.

The budget reserved trust fund is much larger than it needs to be.

More experts agree that a rainy day fund should be around 15% of the state's annual budget.

Kentucky's rainy day fund is expected to be around 32% before the next two year budget begins.

That means the state could use billions to deliver for Kentuckians and still have plenty set aside to be prepared for future future economic downturns.

A coalition of unions, social service providers and progressive advocate say public investments are needed across the board in education, mental health, child care and more.

Doug Price is a retired state parks worker.

State government retirees have not received a COLA in the last 1112 years.

Cost of living has increased dramatically during that time and there are a lot of people out there who are who are hurting.

Andrea Zang says the cost of housing is burdening her.

I expect that for the rest of my life I will be worried about if I can make rent or not.

And I know I am not the only tenant living like this as a tenant.

I'm calling on the Kentucky General Assembly to move hundreds of millions into affordable housing by pooling money into both the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the Rural Housing Trust Fund.

I also ask our lawmakers to permanently boost the Affordable Housing Trust Fund by increasing the funding mechanism that brings money into the fund.

Kentucky's Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, agrees to some extent in his proposed budget.

He included an extra check for state retirees and $10 million to the state's affordable housing trust fund.

But many Republicans and fiscal conservatives might say this is too much.

I think that, again, the philosophy that they follow is to grow government.

My concern would be if one time resources were put towards recurring expenses that will build into budgets not only for the immediate future, but for years down the road.

Kentucky lawmakers will get to hash out every bit of the budget over the next several weeks for Kentucky edition of June Leffler.