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Gov. Bevin Says This Fall May Not Be Right Time for Tax Reform

Stu Johnson

Kentucky’s governor says there’s some question about the agenda for a special legislative session he plans to call this fall.

Governor Matt Bevin participated in the annual Shaping Our Appalachian Region Summit Friday. 

Following the formal ceremony, he said he still intends to call lawmakers to Frankfort in the coming weeks to tackle pension reforms. 

Bevin says now may not be the time to address tax reform issues.

“We do need to update and modernize our tax system.  What I’ve made clear though, is under no way, shape, or form am I intending to raise taxes to pay for the pension problem,” said Bevin.

The governor said he met with House and Senate leadership last Thursday.  Bevin says a second special session may be needed later to deal with changes to Kentucky’s tax structure. 

“It may require a separate special session or it may in fact require our ability to tag it on to this existing one, but at this moment in time my thought is to focus first on the pension issue,” noted Bevin.  “Then, that’s something we will be doing early this fall.”

Bevin says tax reform remains a key objective along with changes to the pension program.  He says states around Kentucky are more nimble when it comes to their tax structures.​

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