KY governor vetoes GOP ‘tough on crime’ bill, citing concerns on cost, homelessness

Gov. Andy Beshear has vetoed House Bill 5, legislative Republicans’ marquee “tough on crime” piece of legislation this session.

If it becomes law, the bill would add new penalties for the homeless, shoplifters and vandals, carjackers, fentanyl dealers and violent offenders, the last of whom would go to prison for the rest of their lives after “three strikes.”

Beshear said in his veto message the bill “includes some good parts,” but those are paired with others that make the bill “unwieldy,” effectively criminalize homelessness in the state, and much too costly.

Backers of the bill call House Bill 5 the “Safer Kentucky Act.” Sponsored by Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, proponents say it’s an overdue tough measure after years of soft-hearted criminal justice reform in Kentucky that tried, with mixed success, to reduce inmate populations.

Bauman derided Beshear’s veto in a statement.

“I hoped that he would take this opportunity to do the right thing as we work to address public safety, a fundamental obligation of government and an issue that unites Kentuckians regardless of where they live,” Bauman wrote. “Instead, he once again uses misinformation and fear-mongering to distract from the fact that his actions show he is more concerned about offending criminals than protecting innocent Kentuckians and advocating for victims.”

Opponents of the bill say it’s ham-handed and point to the fact that Kentucky already has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, with chronic jail overcrowding.

One estimate on the bill’s cost runs all the way up to $1 billion over 10 years given the projected need for thousands of additional prison and jail beds.

The former director of the Fayette County Detention Center told the Herald-Leader that the state couldn’t handle the financial burden of the state incarcerating more people.

What the financial cost of implementing would be, exactly, is uncertain.

That the legislature did not produce a fiscal impact statement that put a dollar amount on it was also a problem for Beshear, he said in his veto message.

The statement merely says that figure is ”indeterminable but likely a significant increase in expenditures primarily due to increased incarceration costs.”

The majority of statehouse Republicans, who hold roughly 80% of all seats in the House and Senate, voted for the bill and are expected to override Beshear’s veto when they return to Frankfort for the final two days of the 2024 General Assembly on Friday and Monday.