Time now for a review of what's been happening in the state capital.

That's all we're going to have time for.

And we have our two favorites with us.

We have Bob Savage and Trey Grayson.

We're going to dispense with the titles because you know who they are.

Let's get right to it.

The budget.

So the Senate version of the budget bills they passed.

So now the stage is set for negotiations, which could be happening even this weekend and Monday.

Right.

So talk to us about the difference between the two bills mainly and how long will they actually come to an agreement?

How long will it take them to come to an agreement?

So if you look at I think to me the biggest difference was the Senate spent down more of the rainy day fund and then allocated it to economic development projects all across the state, the House.

There's some of that.

But it wasn't as there were not a lot of specific earmarks.

And so when McDaniel was going through 25 million for this 150 million for this to me will be fascinating to see is how do you not leave those in.

Right.

After rolling them out?

And it surprises me a little bit because I thought they might wait until the final document to this to make winners and losers.

But it was over close to 2 billion extra dollars on the rainy day fund that the Senate spent over the House.

I figured, as Trey and many others, that they would go to conference with a long list of things that neither had finally decided and work those out and balance those in that process.

In private, back and forth.

Not going to be that way with the Senate citing so many significant things.

Now, when you go in, I'm sure there's a House list that doesn't exactly match it because there are many requests.

The Senate reportedly had some 300 filings just on their their email list.

Your idea of kind of thing with a lot of detail and a lot of emphasis and a lot of passion.

They narrowed it down, but still a lot of things out there that people will care about, maybe not nearly on the scale as 50 or $100 million, but key to project and programs.

And the Senate version also kind of sets the course for the for the income tax trigger in 2026.

Right.

Unlike what the House say that they said they didn't do that.

But perhaps that might a byproduct.

Yeah.

And that's why that's why we have a House bill one of the House Bill six are structured so that the House but one draws down the rainy day fund.

The Senate budget makes clear that that doesn't count for the math.

Right.

In determining the budget surplus.

Retirees got a shout out from the Senate version, an extra the 13th check that had been proposed by the governor in lieu of a cost of living adjustment.

But I think the retirees might chalk that up as a win.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And the big thing about that is it's a one time thing that was McDaniel kept making that point.

We want to do one time investments.

We don't want to do recurring things because we don't expect necessarily to have this much money.

And they would rather use recurring savings to cut the income tax rate.

So now let's talk about the couple of controversial bills.

I mean, this has been a big week between the Kentucky Safer Act, which we may get to, but also the A.D II bill that affects Kentucky colleges and universities.

That debate just wrapped up shortly before we started to talk here.

And this would ban offices, programs, initiatives, efforts, even deal with scholarships.

We heard people on the floor talking about how this could affect athletics programs.

Where is this?

What what is this all about and why now?

So there's been all across the country and Florida was really the first state that moved to try to address what the advocates of these bills would say is an overreach by local administrators and woke policy makers and sort of kind of reign that in the effort to pass this bill.

And then the Manhattan Institute, the Heritage Foundation, have been kind of singing the gospel across the country.

So all in legislatures, all across the country that are controlled by Republicans are having this conversation.

What's interesting about this particular debate is there was a House version and a Senate version.

The Senate version was narrower than the House.

It didn't go quite as far.

Senate passed its version over to the House.

House hadn't passed it.

They basically stripped out the Senate version, put the House version in and from what we can tell, it wasn't exactly done in conjunction with the Senate.

So I think one of the things to watch over the next week or so is where do they reach consensus?

We saw this happen last year on the transgender bill.

The House took the Senate bill, 150, changed it, made it more consistent with House priorities, and ultimately they prevailed.

So this will be a fight this coming week, and it could mean that nothing passes.

But my guess is something will happen in between the two.

And we know that Dr. Eli CAPELOUTO, president of UK, had come out on SB six, but we haven't heard anything about this new revised, really House Bill nine.

Jennifer Dekkers This time around, and we know the universities also have some asks, and so they're going to be very careful about how far they go with this, right?

They will be.

But this is important to university life and also important just in the last 20 or 30 years of the movements we made as a country, to be more inclusive, more sensitive, more open to how we build a workforce, how we build a future.

This is quite a debate that was probably the longest debate of the session today in terms of hours.

Yeah, yeah.

Almost four.

Emotions.

That's right.

Well, it'll be interesting to see because athletics was mentioned quite a bit whether we'll hear anything from a Calipari or Stoops and.

You said in the ACP saying to black athletes.

Yeah.

Don't Florida skip.

Kentucky.

That's right.

I mean, that came out this week, right?

So that doesn't bode well, perhaps.

Okay.

So now let's talk about the safer Kentucky Act, which they were still debating.

Actually, they had just taken it up when we started a record.

And this is the big sweeping anti-crime bill that sets more increases for some penalties.

Three strikes law, all of these types of things.

And it had two Republicans kind of going head to head on this.

Senator Schickel, John Schickel, whose bill did prevail or its version of the Rewrite and the Judiciary Chairman, Whitney Westerfield.

Yeah.

And those two have fought over the last couple of years on the approach to criminal criminal laws.

Westerfield has been in the camp that has been advocating more the criminal justice reform movement over the last few years, which is kind of lost favor in the legislature.

And Schickel is often often voted no on those particular bills.

They're both leaving.

So it's kind of poignant with the two of them kind of battling for the last time.

So the Safer Kentucky Act, it was unveiled, I guess, last fall.

Yeah.

And over time it's narrow, but it's a big omnibus criminal justice reform package.

It was narrow from its first press conference to its second press conference to when it was introduced in the House to and it was passed in the House.

This version is different.

So they're going to have to iron out those differences.

But it does appear that this is a real high priority for both chambers, leaders of both chambers.

I'm confident something will come together next week.

But Schickel prevailed over Westerfield in their final battle on setting criminal laws.

Right.

And I think real quickly, Bob, you know, one of the things that Whitney Westerfield said before I walked in the studio is that there are groups who are opposed to this bill who will not come out and say it because they, too, have a stake in to the budget, etc., and they don't want to be against law enforcement.

Right.

Who wants to be against crime or for crime, as it were?

Absolutely.

Given the rising crime in America and in certain Kentucky places in the last few years, that's not a shocker that we put so much emphasis on this.

It was an enormous bill, a lot of pieces, a lot of parts, a lot of constituencies interested, a pro or con, like a lot of legislation, this may be nipped and tucked in the future.

Rearranged will perhaps the price tag is enormous.

Could be a billion in ten years.

Yeah, an early estimate was 60 million a year for that kind of investment in law enforcement and taxpayers.

And lawmakers are going to want to see results.

Right.

Well, we'll keep our eyes on is going to be a big week next week.

Even though they don't gavel in until Thursday, they're having meetings that start.

Could be this weekend.

But we know there are some that are scheduled on Monday.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, those two days.

So, yeah, we'll see what happens when they go back in.

Thank you all Rest up.

It's going to be a big week next week.