FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - An austere state executive branch budget
has survived its first legislative vote.

The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee approved the
two-year, $19.5 billion spending plan on Tuesday by a 26-2 vote.

The budget proposal would eliminate cost-of-living increases for
state and local government retirees in a move that advocates have
sharply criticized. Some 200,000 retirees had been slated to
receive 1.5 percent increases.

The House panel also passed a proposed legislative branch budget
by a 28-1 vote and a judicial branch budget by 25-3.

All three proposed budgets included spending cuts of more than 8
percent. They now go to the full House for consideration, possibly
as early as Wednesday.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)