FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Frustrated with repeated delays costing taxpayers millions of dollars, the Kentucky Senate has voted to effectively end a project that would bring high-speed internet capability to one of the poorest states in the country.
But officials in Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration warn it would likely cost more to kill the project than it would to finish it. That’s because the state could be responsible for paying $286 million to pay off a loan to its private partners that have a contract to build the network.
It’s just one of multiple differences lawmakers will have to sort out as they head into a weekend of likely tense negotiations over how to spend more than $73 billion of state and federal tax dollars over the next two years.