Abundant government funding is coming in handy for Warren and Butler counties.

Millions of dollars to come for various initiatives in the two adjacent counties spells solid help for high-speed internet access, public education, cybersecurity, first responders, traffic safety and other community-building efforts.

More than $9 million will go for broadband expansion. Gov. Andy Beshear was on hand Monday at the Barren River Area Development District to address area leaders and outline via a ceremonial check presentation the benefits that will be provided.

Parks will be improved and a floodplain in the Whispering Hills Boulevard area will be mitigated – an area damaged in the 2021 tornados. Nearly 2,000 homes will be connected to high-speed internet in underserved areas, utility service added to the Kentucky Transpark, help will come for the new emergency first responder live fire training center in Warren County. Morgantown and Butler County fared well with funds for school and industrial park improvements.

Beshear stressed non-political approaches for improvements related to the funding, which came from various grants and organizations via the state and federal governments.

“There’s no such thing as a Democrat or Republican bridge. There’s no such thing as a red or blue job,” Beshear said. “This is our job to make sure in this window of opportunity, where we’ve been able to do more than ever before and we don’t know how long it’s going to be open, that we sprint forward as fast as we can, that we don’t trip each other up.

“I think everyone’s goal up here is for the next generation to have more opportunity in our state than the last, and the one after that to have even more. If we’re doing this right, then our kids and grandkids will grow up in a Kentucky we could’ve only dreamed about.”

Kentucky is enjoying solid budgetary times, and while there is still work to do in funding education in the state, the influx of money into southcentral Kentucky is certainly welcome and should provide assets in many parts of the economy for years to come.