Lawmakers override Beshear veto on KentuckyWired oversight

FRANKFORT, Ky. — State lawmakers have voted to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s, D-Ky., first veto of the legislative session. 

House Bill 314 centers on KentuckyWired, a statewide effort to build thousands of miles of high-speed internet cable to improve access to broadband internet. The project started in 2015 and is incomplete despite more than $1.5 billion in investments.

“Anybody that knows anything about KentuckyWired has known that it’s a huge debacle from the very beginning,” said State Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, the bill’s sponsor. “The state has spent millions and millions of dollars, and it’s time that we move it out, get some fresh eyes and on a stable path.”

The project is overseen by Kentucky’s Communications Network Authority.

HB 314 would change the makeup of the board. The bill was approved by the Kentucky General Assembly and was sent to Beshear’s desk in late February.

Beshear, in his veto message, called the bill an unconstitutional partisan power grab. 

“The bill removes from the Board the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet, the secretary of the Cabinet for Economic Development and the secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, along with the commissioner of the Department for Local Government,” Beshear said. “The bill then directly appoints the commissioner of agriculture, the secretary of state and the treasurer, each Republican officeholders, none of whose offices are served by the Authority’s network.”

The reorganization goes deeper than party lines, Lockett said. 

“It’s a Kentucky issue; I don’t think it’s a Republican issue or a Democrat issue,” he said. “I think he’s wrong, and I think he’s had oversight over this since he’s been in office. And it’s only gotten worse under his leadership. As a caucus, it is incumbent upon us to make sure that our dollars are spent correctly.”

The General Assembly voted to override the governor’s veto. It has now been sent to the secretary of state.