Auditor Ball and Ombudsman Grate Find the True Cause of the Senior Meals Program Panic

FRANKFORT, Ky, (October 22, 2025) – Today, Auditor Ball and Ombudsman Grate informed the General Assembly of the true cause of the panic caused by the Beshear administration surrounding the Senior Meals program. Despite repeated warnings from Kentucky’s Area Development Districts that the Beshear administration’s funding request to the General Assembly was deficient, and a General Assembly willingness to provide whatever funding was needed, the Beshear administration stood firm on the accuracy of its funding request. That request turned out to be insufficient. Other budget mismanagement by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Department for Aging and Independent Living exacerbated the problem. And as it turns out, the money to fix the problem and the authority to use it was always there, before the needless panic caused by the administration.

The letter to the General Assembly can be found here.