Rep. Westrom optimistic for bill against smoking inside most public spaces despite tough legislative landscape
01/18/2016 07:30 AM
FRANKFORT — Last year’s 30-day legislative session was a breakthrough for Rep. Susan Westrom’s bill that would ban indoor smoking in most public places, passing the House in its first floor vote by a 51-46 margin. House Bill 145 ultimately met its demise without a hearing in the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee, and while Westrom hopes to gain some traction in the Republican-led chamber, she concedes that this year’s version of the bill will likely see... Read more 
2016 candidate filing update: Candidates make challenges official with deadline looming
01/17/2016 07:30 AM
With the filing deadline for May primaries soon approaching, both Democrats and Republicans are flooding into Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’s office to mount challenges to incumbents and seek open seats. Contenders for the open 1st Congressional District race have been busy filing their candidacy paperwork, but most of the filing action has been taking place in the state House, where more primaries are developing. U.S. representative 1st district — Candidates are beginning to submit paperwork to officially file in... Read more
The Chatter: Ky. Health Co-op goes into liquidation, House passes bill on continuous conduct, search on for new KSP head
01/16/2016 03:10 PM
Weeks before the termination of its final health plan, a Franklin Circuit Court judge placed Kentucky’s failed health cooperative into liquidation on Friday. The Kentucky Department of Insurance, which put Kentucky Health Cooperative into rehabilitation Oct. 29, had requested that step as the nonprofit insurer established under the Affordable Care Act settles its finances. The group had insured some 51,000 Kentuckians, the last of whom will be covered by Jan. 31. Most individual and group plans were terminated Jan. 1 as... Read more
Newly hired director of park resorts settled ethics violation last year after agreeing to buy eatery at marina leased from state
01/15/2016 05:00 PM
When newly appointed director of resorts for Kentucky Department of Parks assumes his new role in state government on Wednesday, it will be a year to the day that he agreed to settle a state ethics violation stemming from his resignation as manager of Kenlake State Resort Park. John Rittenhouse, whose appointment was announced on Thursday, was publicly reprimanded by the Executive Branch Ethics Commission and paid a $1,500 penalty for agreeing to buy a restaurant on a marina subleased from... Read more
Felony expungement bill passes House on 80-11 vote
01/15/2016 01:38 PM
UPDATED FRANKFORT — A bill that would allow most class D felonies to be expunged from a criminal’s record following a five-year waiting period cleared the state House of Representatives on an 80-11 vote on Friday. House Bill 40 now goes to the Senate, where its chances of passing are unclear. Senate President Robert Stivers said the issue has generated “a lot of interest and discussion” in his chamber and the legislation will not “die in the mode of transit down... Read more
Legislation that would repeal prevailing wage for school construction passes Senate
01/14/2016 05:38 PM
FRANKFORT — Once again, a bill which would exempt schools and universities from Kentucky’s prevailing wage law, which sets higher wage rates for public works projects, was passed by the Senate chamber by a vote of 26 to 11. Senate Bill 9, sponsor Sen. Wil Schroder, R-Wilder, says that exempting educational institutions from prevailing wage will allow the districts to save money and put those dollars elsewhere. “Schools are paying more for construction with absolutely no guarantee for better quality,” Schroder said.... Read more
Gov. Bevin seeks to withdraw Beshear's motion to dismiss U of L board lawsuit, nullify his June appointments
01/14/2016 05:34 PM
Gov. Matt Bevin is looking to nullify appointments to the University of Louisville Board of Trustees made by his predecessor, agreeing with plaintiffs in a lawsuit that the panel lacks the required number of minority members. Bevin, in a court filing released Thursday, suggests in response to a lawsuit by the Kentucky Justice Resource Center that relief could be gained by declaring the board’s racial makeup out of compliance with state law, nullifying Beshear’s June 26 appointments to the board and... Read more
Lawmakers exchange barbs over legislative pension transparency
01/14/2016 03:45 PM
FRANKFORT — Over the last session lawmakers in the state Senate have passed legislation in an effort to open up transparency into the pension systems. Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, has filed that bill again with a focus on lawmaker’s pensions, but not everyone in the legislature is in agreement on the need for transparency. Speaking to Pure Politics at a panel hosted by the Kentucky Cable Telecommunications Association Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, took aim at Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville,... Read more
Vulnerable victims protection bill passes Senate committee
01/14/2016 12:59 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill allowing vulnerable victims of abuse to testify about continuing patterns of abuse instead of having to remember specific dates and places where the abuse occurred was unanimously passed by the Senate Committee on Judiciary on Thursday. Senate Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, creates a mechanism for charging a person with the commission of an offense against a vulnerable child or adult victim in a continuous course of conduct. Westerfield, admits that his previous experience... Read more
Beshear returns to former law practice in post-political life
01/14/2016 11:19 AM
After eight years in office, former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear is returning to Stites & Harbison to practice law. Beshear will serve at the firm’s Lexington office, where he had supervised prior to taking office, according to a news release Thursday. The former governor first joined the firm in 1987. The Associated Press first reported Beshear’s career move. “It is a pleasure to rejoin the Stites & Harbison family where I spent many good years practicing law before serving the people... Read more
Felony expungement bill set for House vote after passing judiciary committee
01/13/2016 09:27 PM
FRANKFORT — A bill that would allow the expungement of class D felony convictions cleared a familiar hurdle on Wednesday, moving through the House Judiciary Committee en route to a possible vote on the chamber’s floor on Friday. House Bill 40, which would allow felons convicted of a non-violent offense to seek expungement through a court after a five-year, crime-free waiting period, passed on a 15-3 vote, with Reps. Robert Benvenuti, Joe Fischer and House Minority Caucus Chair Stan Lee voting... Read more
Appeals process for denied medical claims by Medicaid managed care organizations heads to Senate floor
01/13/2016 04:56 PM
FRANKFORT — Medical claims denied by Medicaid managed care companies would be subject to appeal under a bill that passed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday. Senate Bill 20, sponsored by Sen. Ralph Alvarado, moved to the chamber’s floor on a 10-0 vote. The Winchester Republican said his legislation is based on similar laws in Georgia and Virginia, where three out of the five managed care organizations in Kentucky also operate. “The Department of Insurance currently has an appeals process for... Read more
Committee Update: Even numbered elections, legislative pension transparency bills clear Senate Committee
01/13/2016 04:10 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill which would move gubernatorial and constitutional officer elections to even numbered years, and legislation requiring the disclosure, upon request, of retirement benefit information of current and former members of the General Assembly passed unanimously out of the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Wednesday. Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, would amend Section 95 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to the election of state officers, and move the election of... Read more
What Kentucky's federal delegation is saying about President Obama's final State of the Union
01/13/2016 12:15 PM
With a change of tact President Obama’s final State of the Union speech departed from the normal wish list of legislative priorities, and turned towards America’s future. Kentucky Congressman largely panned Obama’s speech, but that’s not surprising considering the partisan tilt to the right at the federal level. Lone Democratic U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth of Louisville was the only Kentucky Congressman to praise the president’s vision. Yarmuth called Obama’s speech a “wake-up call for both the American people and for... Read more
Superintendent Donna Hargens says Jefferson County Public Schools is working to ensure that Louisville families are aware of its offerings in anticipation of a new push for state charter school legislation. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin is a charter school supporter. The Republican-majority state Senate has approved a bill that would authorize charter schools every year since 2010, and the legislation is expected to appear again during this session. The Democratic-controlled House has yet to vote on that legislation, but Republicans have narrowed their minority to just four votes, putting more pressure on the Democrats to hear — and potentially support — more conservative bills. Generally, [...]
Mon, Jan 18, 2016 3:55:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
A county in central Kentucky is poised to consider a zoning change that could affect a massive multi-state pipeline project. Boyle County government will consider whether to require all hazardous liquids pipelines to receive permits from the county’s zoning board. That would create a hurdle if energy company Kinder Morgan’s conversion of the massive Tennessee Gas Pipeline moves forward. The Tennessee Gas Pipeline isn’t new; it’s carried natural gas across 18 Kentucky counties for 70 years. But now, Kinder Morgan is seeking regulatory approval to change the pipeline. The proposal involves reversing the flow and converting it to carry natural gas liquids, rather than natural [...]
Mon, Jan 18, 2016 1:55:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
The country remembers the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. More than four decades after his death, many people see the Black Lives Matter movement as the modern incarnation of the drive for human dignity and legal standing that Dr. King embodied. But others, including members of an earlier generation of activists, find fault with the group, seeing it as an aimless, formless group that still lacks direction and follow-through. Meanwhile, younger activists sometimes see their seniors as too narrow in their focus and rigid in their methods. Others ask whether the mere fact that another protest movement has arisen is [...]
Mon, Jan 18, 2016 1:02:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
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