FRANKFORT, Ky. – April 16, 2009 -Gov. Steve Beshear today announced that through a series of cost-cutting measures and reallocation of existing funds, the Department of Public Advocacy (DPA) has enough money to continue operating through the end of June.
“We acknowledge that this is a short term fix to a broader funding problem,” Gov. Beshear said. “However, the services provided by this agency are too important to allow them to be discontinued for the remainder of this fiscal year. The entire judicial system would be jeopardized.
“Working with the General Assembly, I am committed to finding funding to address the budget needs of both the prosecutors and the DPA next fiscal year,” Gov. Beshear said. “We will face another difficult budget next year, but the criminal justice system is – and must remain – a top priority.”
The Beshear administration has been working with DPA over the last several weeks to address their fiscal challenges. To address the budgetary shortfall this year, steps taken will include:
Reducing expenditures to minimal levels;
Continuously monitoring and evaluating the need for any expenditures between now and June 30;
Implementing a hiring freeze on all positions in the agency for the remainder of the fiscal year;
Delaying payment on a series of bills until the beginning of the next fiscal year; and
Allocating an estimated $2 million from the State Salary and Compensation Fund to allow the DPA to operate through the end of the year.
“We appreciate the Governor’s time and attention to our needs and applaud his decision to ensure our constitutionally mandated services continue through this year so that our vital role in representing our clients, keeping the courts functioning and in ensuring public safety for Kentuckians continues,” said Public Advocate Ed Monahan . “We are also fortunate to have a Governor who will be working with us on our future funding needs.”
Commonwealth and County Attorneys’ offices throughout the state also faced a budget crunch this year, but unlike the DPA, prosecutors were able to call upon the legal authority to furlough employees to help address any shortfall. As a result, representatives of the Commonwealth and County Attorneys indicated that they have already taken steps to deal with this year’s budgetary shortfall and are focused on next year’s budgetary issues.
Mike Foster, Christian County Attorney, president of the Kentucky Association of Counties and a member of the Prosecutors Advisory Council stated that “prosecutors have attempted to deal with this budget crisis by implementing over $5 million in budget cuts during the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 through a series of layoffs, furloughs and the transmittal of local funds to the State Treasury.
“Unfortunately, Prosecutors are now confronted with an additional shortfall of $4.7 million in the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2009. Additional cuts of this magnitude would totally devastate the criminal justice system in the state of Kentucky.”
Foster further stated “we truly appreciate Governor Beshear’s commitment to addressing these critical issues and the budget shortfalls that created this crisis.”
Proposed legislation that would have allocated an additional $4.7 million each to DPA and Commonwealth and County Attorneys did not pass in the recently completed legislative session. That raised questions about whether the Governor has the authority to appropriate funding on his own to prosecutors and DPA.
However, Gov. Beshear said it was not necessary to resolve that issue since this solution reallocates existing funds. The more important issue, he said, is the long-term funding of the criminal justice system – a solution that will require work from both the executive and legislative branches.