Advocates Decry General Assembly's Failure to Pass Budget

by Stephanie CrosbyThe Kentucky General Assembly’s failure to pass a state budget by the April 15th deadline is drawing response from advocacy groups of all kinds. Kentucky Youth Advocates Executive Director Terry Brooks is among those decrying the legislature’s inaction.Brooks says everyone knew the economy was poor and the budget would be challenging, but lawmakers didn’t act accordingly.“What we got was a last minute exercise in bare-knuckled politics," says Brooks, "and really what we’re talking about is a very disappointing failure of leadership from both chambers and both parties.”Brooks says lawmakers took a bad position by only finding ways to cut spending, and not looking into ways to boost the state’s revenue. He says such methods could be increasing the income tax or sales tax.The Governor will call the General Assembly into a special session to pass a budget sometime before July 1st. That session will cost taxpayers about $60,000 a day.