FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers overrode Gov. Andy Beshear's veto on joining the federal school choice tax credit scholarship program established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with a series of votes Monday and Tuesday.
The Kentucky House initially voted for a veto override 77-14-1 Monday, and the Kentucky Senate followed up with a 31-5 vote Tuesday afternoon.
David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation, celebrated the result following the Senate's vote.
"This is a win-win," Walls said.
WATCH: Does the tax credit program violate Kentucky's constitution?
The program would provide a $1,700 tax credit for donations to groups that provide scholarships to help students attend public or private schools of their choice.
Democratic opponents, however, saw the program as an attempt to divert money away from public schools. It's been just a year since voters rejected a state constitution change that would have allowed public money to be spent outside of Kentucky's public schools.
"The message from constituents was clear and simple. Don't divert tax dollars to private schools. Fully fund public schools, and here we are," said Kentucky Rep. Adrielle Camuel (D-93).
Beshear used a similar argument in his veto statement, saying, "The message was clear. Don't divert public dollars. Fund our public schools."
Walls said the argument of diverting tax dollars to private schools didn't hold water.
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"We know that these arguments being made by the governor and others were being completely disingenuous. This is a federal tax credit scholarship program," he said.
Kentucky Democrats issued a joint statement:
“Kentuckians want elected officials to fix public schools. Republicans have instead spent the past decade trying to defund them, defying voters in all 120 counties while they cook up new schemes to send public dollars to private education. The GOP should be working with Democrats to make sure all Kentucky children can get a quality public school education, not using taxpayer dollars to prop up exclusive schools for the wealthiest Kentuckians.”
You can read Beshear's veto statement here:
