Nearly all restrictions have been lifted in the Commonwealth, restaurants are allowed at full capacity again, but the Capitol and Capitol Annex remain closed because of security concerns.
In response to a question at a news conference last week, Gov. Andy Beshear said “a full Capitol re-opening” would occur on July 1, but would include some changes – which his administration has yet to share.
“We saw on January the 6th that we need to have certain security in place, and the legislature in their budget, budgeted for additional security based on a Capitol re-opening. Those funds don’t open up until July the 1st,” Beshear said.
Gov. Beshear said there would be “new and different rules” surrounding capacity in the Capitol and Capitol Annex. There will also be new rules on where citizens are allowed to congregate.
“We can’t disrupt the actual business that is occurring here,” Beshear said in the news conference.
Kentucky Fried Politics reached out to a spokesperson for Beshear about the projected re-opening but was unable to learn exactly what the new rules and protocols will be when the buildings do re-open in a couple of weeks.
The House and Senate Galleries also remain closed for now. Those galleries were open for one day in the 2021 legislative session to the friends and families of lawmakers being sworn into office.
The closure of the galleries was agreed upon by the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) the 16-member statutory committee comprised of the majority and minority party leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives in December of 2020.
There is no public agreement yet from those at the LRC on reopening the House and Senate galleries, but there is some speculation behind the scenes those galleries could remain closed as there could be potential security and first responder concerns to access those areas of the state Capitol.
