FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — A state funded senior meals program will continue operations after an outcry in Frankfort.
While Gov. Andy Beshear’s office has found a temporary fix, there’s concern more programs Kentuckians rely on could face cuts in the 2026 budget.
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“This wasn’t a routine or regular movement of budgeted dollars, but required we find a usable, specific pot of money,” Beshear said Monday.
“I think they should have been done weeks ago, before our seniors spent a lot of time concerned about where their next meal may be coming from,” Sen. Greg Elkins (R-Winchester) told FOX 56.
It’s the end of a funding dispute Frankfort first found out about on Sept. 8 when a memo from the Department for Aging and Independent Living said there were funding issues with the state’s senior meals program meaning services would be reduced and some senior’s waitlisted.
“It’s not okay to come here a month, more than a month now, after this crisis – and that’s what this is, it’s a crisis – was recognized, without a plan,” Elkins said at the Oct. 9 meeting of the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee.
Elkins was among lawmakers who pressed administration officials for answers at that meeting and questioned if legislative pressure caused the administration to act.
On Monday, Beshear responded by redistributing just over $9 million in the budget originally designated for a Medicaid study. Lawmakers will have to retroactively approve the measure in the 2026 session.
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“The original study was not done. And so the dollars are sitting there,” Beshear said. “To be clear. Such a pot likely won’t be available in the future for this or other programs.”
Beshear said part of the funding issue was the program has grown larger. He added that the expiration of American Rescue Plan Act money that originally funded the program and a possible $300 million budget shortfall are also to blame. He warned that the next budget could result in belt-tightening for some programs due to the shortfall and federal tariffs.
“There’s going to be a set amount in the next budget, and we’re going to have to tailor all the programs towards that,” Beshear said.
Elkins questioned whether a budget shortfall impacted the senior meals program and if the administration should have made a larger request ahead of the expiration of the ARPA money.
He told FOX 56 protecting funding for the program will be a priority in future sessions.
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