Melodie Shrader: Day Ten of KY's Legislative Session in Review

Neither the House or Senate took action on their first day back after a three day weekend. And the Governor urged them to join him in making a bold difference in the lives of Kentucky families during his budget address to a joint session of the House and Senate last night. According to Gov. Beshear’s, his proposed 2014-2016 biennial budget increases per-pupil K-12 funding to its highest level ever; restores damaging cuts to teacher training, textbooks, school safety and Extended School Services; expands preschool services to more than 5,100 more children; dedicates funds to expand high-speed broadband access throughout the state; uses “agency bonds” for the first time ever to invest in the campuses of Kentucky’s two-year community and technical colleges; restores funding to desperately needed child-care assistance programs that help parents stay employed; and builds a $24 million advanced manufacturing training center that will supply workers to the auto industry and other sectors.

The Governor’s Executive Briefing can be accessed here. For a copy of Governor Beshear’s Budget Address click here.

LEGISLATIVE TRACKERS BY INTEREST

Click on the links below

HEALTH CARE TRACKER
INSURANCE TRACKER (NON-HEALTH CARE)
PERSONAL PROPERTY & TAXES
CRIMES & PUNISHMENT

UPCOMING MEETINGS:

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

8:30am, Annex Room 129
HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND SMALL BUSINESS
Agenda: Consideration of HB 181,

9:00am, Annex Room 169
HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE ON LICENSING AND OCCUPATIONS
Agenda: FOR DISCUSSION ONLY: HB 67 and HB 68, The Family Foundation of Kentucky

10:00am, Annex Room 149
HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND INSURANCE
Agenda: Consideration of HB 73 and HB 206

Noon, Annex Room 131
HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Agenda: The following bills are posted and may be called for consideration: HB 129, HB 176 and HB 179

Noon, Annex Room 154
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Agenda: Consideration of SB 53 and SB 58

2:00pm, House Chambers
House Convenes (Orders of the Day)

2:00pm, Senate Chambers
Senate Convenes (Orders of the Day)

‘Pride and regret’ in Beshear budget

Jan 21, 2014 11:09 pm

Gov. Steve Beshear on Tuesday night offered state lawmakers reluctant to tackle tax reform in an election year a two-year budget he said filled him with both pride and regret. It’s a budget that proposes more money for elementary and secondary education and for state workers’ salaries – but cuts nearly everything else.

Beshear offers plan to pay for KCTCS projects

Jan 21, 2014 10:43 pm

Gov. Steve Beshear says the state should authorize $145.5 million in agency bonds to pay for a host of expansion projects at Kentucky’s community and technical colleges.

Beshear Budget Preserves K-12 Education, 5% Cuts For Most Agencies

Jan 21, 2014 10:41 pm

Making good on his pledge to reinvest in K-12 education, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s biennial budget would restore public education funding to 2008 levels, with a pledge of $189 million in a budget greater than $20 billion. But Beshear said his budget was was made possible in large part by a 5 percent cut across many state agencies.

Kentucky budget proposal slashes agency funding to boost education

Jan 21, 2014 10:40 pm

Gov. Steve Beshear proposed Tuesday night that the General Assembly restore years of funding cuts to public schools but slash spending in many other parts of state government — including universities — to make that happen.

Thayer on KY even-numbered election year change

Jan 21, 2014 10:25 pm

State Senate Majority Leader Republican Damon Thayer says more Kentuckians would cast ballots for governor, attorney general and the Commonwealth’s other constitutional offices if those elections were held in even-numbered years. Thayer says low-voter turnout for such elections ought to give pause to every Commonwealth resident. “I’m concerned because fewer and fewer people are deciding who runs our executive branch, and I think that should be something that, from a civics point of view, we are concerned with.”

Political Paddock: For Alison Lundergan Grimes, coal presents an endless tightrope

Jan 21, 2014 10:22 pm

For some federal candidates in pro-coal Kentucky, the “D” behind their names is an inconvenient truth. In an interview Friday with the Herald-Leader, likely Democratic Senate nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes demonstrated just how tough that truth can be as she continued her defense of coal in striking contrast with her national party. Grimes has not blinked in her support of coal since getting in the race last summer. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allied super PACs are hammering away, seeing a tie between Grimes and perceived coal enemies like President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as a key to victory. McConnell rarely fails to mention Obama’s “war on coal.” Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, a super PAC aligned with the senator, has spent $150,000 on radio ads, half of that during the past week, calling Grimes a “dishonest liberal” who takes money from anti-coal Democrats. That’s where the incon venient truth comes into play. Grimes does raise money with Democrats like California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called coal a “fuel from hell.” She doesn’t really have a choice.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Day Ten of KY's Legislative Session in Review