FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s revised revenue forecast is setting up a debate over whether the state should spend more on public services or treat the projected increase cautiously, with a top Republican lawmaker questioning both the economic assumptions and the timing of the update. Sen. Chris McDaniel, a Republican from Ryland Heights who chairs the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee, raised concerns Wednesday as state budget officials presented the updated outlook. Gov. Andy Beshear has described the revision as roughly $1.7 billion in additional money available to support Kentuckians. McDaniel said the upbeat revenue figure appeared at odds with risks identified in the economic outlook, including the war with Iran, higher energy prices, uncertain consumer and business confidence, and weaker consumer demand. He also asked whether a wave of corporate income tax payments received over the summer might be connected to investment in artificial intelligence and whether that growth could prove temporary. “The words don’t seem to match the numbers,” McDaniel said. The Consensus Forecasting Group, a nonpartisan panel of economists from around Kentucky, revised its projection after the state received hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected corporate income tax payments. State Budget Director John Hicks asked the group to meet again, according to the governor’s office. McDaniel questioned whether the forecasting group was being used for political purposes and warned that the state could face a shortfall if lawmakers spend the projected revenue and the estimate proves too optimistic. He said Beshear, who is barred by term limits from seeking another term, would not be in office to answer for the decision. Beshear’s spokesperson, Scottie Ellis, called McDaniel’s claims baseless and politically motivated. Ellis said state law directs the budget director to monitor Kentucky’s finances and noted the forecasting group had been reconvened twice before during Beshear’s administration. She argued that the latest revision gives lawmakers an opportunity to support programs including Medicaid and senior meals. At a separate news conference Wednesday, Beshear urged lawmakers to direct new recurring revenue to Medicaid, universal preschool and meals for seniors. He said the economy was growing even if many families were not feeling the benefits, and challenged the General Assembly to decide whether to use the additional funds to help residents. The dispute could foreshadow next year’s legislative session, when lawmakers may consider whether to reopen a two-year budget approved in early 2026. Reopening it would require a higher vote threshold. Democrats and Beshear have said the existing budget does not adequately fund needs such as Medicaid and education; Republicans have defended their spending decisions and argued for limits on what they view as unsustainable executive-branch costs. The revenue debate is also unfolding as Republican lawmakers pursue a gradual elimination of Kentucky’s income tax, a major source of state revenue. A separate state revenue review last month found the state had missed by more than $1 billion a fiscal trigger required for another income tax cut. Kentucky’s next budget decisions will therefore turn not only on the revised forecast, but on how lawmakers weigh the risk of relying on uncertain revenue against calls to invest in public programs.