Senate President Stivers preparing to introduce rewrite of expungement bill
02/21/2016 12:30 PM
FRANKFORT — Session after session a bill is filed in the state House of Representatives which would allow the expungement of certain low-level, non-violent Class D felonies, but this year the bill is getting an update in the upper chamber. Senate President Robert Stivers told Pure Politics the legislation would likely be introduced this week, and will include some key changes from the House version of the legislation sponsored by Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville. The current draft of Stivers’... Read more 
Senate GOP ready to mark up budget, but House Democrats will stick to mid-March schedule for vote on bill
02/20/2016 07:12 PM
FRANKFORT — Monday will make the 32nd day of this year’s 60-day budget session, and Senate Republicans are anxious to get their hands on the $21.8 billion biennial spending plan. Senate President Robert Stivers, who on Thursday took to the Senate floor alongside Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee Chairman Chris McDaniel to urge the House of Representatives to expedite its work in marking up the budget, said Friday that the upper chamber is ready to put its stamp on the budget... Read more
Rand Paul says Apple should not be compelled to hack San Bernardino terrorist's cell-phone
02/19/2016 07:41 PM
LEXINGTON — As the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to force Apple to comply with an FBI order to help the agency crack an encrypted iPhone used by one of the attackers in the San Bernardino, Calif., massacre, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul says the tech giant should not have to comply. Apple has strongly opposed the court-ordered request from the FBI to open the phone, which is linked to the attack in California that killed 14 people Dec. 2. “What’s extraordinary... Read more
Senate sends bill that would open some juvenile court proceedings to House
02/19/2016 07:17 PM
FRANKFORT — Legislation that would open some juvenile court proceedings in a four-year pilot program moved through the state Senate on a 29-6 vote Friday. Senate Bill 40, sponsored by Sen. Julie Raque Adams, would give the Kentucky Supreme Court authority to select at least three judicial districts or circuits for the test. The legislation would open dependency, neglect, abuse and parental termination rights hearings unless closed by the judge. Sexual abuse cases would remain closed and judges would have authority... Read more
GOP group unveils website, ad questioning judgement of retired judge running in special House election
02/19/2016 04:20 PM
A group committed to electing Republican officeholders launched a website on Friday questioning decisions made from the bench by former Greenup Circuit Judge Lew Nicholls, the Democratic nominee in the 98th House District special election. The Republican State Leadership Committee announced nichollsneglect.com, a website that highlights three cases in which it says the retired judge’s decisions “allowed child abusers to dodge justice.” “His mishandling of one case caused a child predator’s conviction to be thrown out,” RSLC President Matt Walter said... Read more
Senate passes marriage license legislation
02/18/2016 08:06 PM
FRANKFORT – The Kentucky state Senate passed a bill on Thursday which would create two different marriage license forms; one for straight couples and one for same-sex couples, with the name of the county clerk, or deputy clerks, removed from the form. Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Sen. Steve West, R-Paris, passed by a vote of 30-8 with three Democrats, Sen. Ray Jones, D-Pikeville, Sen. Dennis Parrett, D-Elizabethtown, and Sen. Dorsey Ridley, D-Henderson voting yes. Two Republicans, Sen. Julie Raque Adams,... Read more
Bill which would freeze tuition rates at Kentuckys universities dies in committee
02/18/2016 06:43 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill which would freeze tuition rates at the state’s universities for a 4-year period died in committee on Thursday. Senate Bill 75, sponsored by Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville, would require the Council on Postsecondary Education to limit tuition for resident students at the public postsecondary education institutions to the 2015-2016 tuition level for four years and then require tuition increases for the 2019-2020 academic year to be determined in consultation with the General Assembly. A companion bill, sponsored by... Read more
Senate bill would push for a late August starting date for public schools
02/18/2016 06:11 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill which would move the first day of school in all public schools to late August was heard by the Senate Committee on Education on Thursday, but was not voted on at the request of the sponsor. Senate Bill 50, sponsored by Chris Girdler, would require schools to schedule the first student attendance day no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, unless a school has adopted a year-round calendar. It would allow a waiver... Read more
Budgeted raises will help retain social workers, state police for Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, officials tell lawmakers
02/18/2016 05:52 PM
FRANKFORT — The Justice and Public Safety Cabinet went under the budgetary microscope on Thursday, with officials highlighting some needs that have been addressed by Gov. Matt Bevin in his proposed spending plan. Public safety is an area in which Bevin has proposed increasing spending in his $21.8 billion biennial budget. Among the areas within the cabinet that will benefit from the governor’s spending plan include $12 million more for substance abuse treatment and prevention in anti-heroin legislation passed last year;... Read more
Gov. Bevin's administration sues Planned Parenthood, seeking hundreds of thousands for performing abortions without license
02/18/2016 03:28 PM
UPDATED FRANKFORT — Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration filed a lawsuit Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky on Thursday, accusing the group of operating an abortion clinic without a license in December and January. Stephen Pitt, Bevin’s general counsel, asked the court to fine PPINK either $570,000 for the 57 days its Louisville clinic performed abortions or $230,000 for the 23 abortions performed there from Dec. 3 through Jan. 28, plus $114,000 for operating 57 days without hospital and ambulance transfer agreements... Read more
Kentucky’s automotive industry produced more vehicles and increased its employment in 2015. The Kentucky Automotive Industry Association says the state maintained its status as the nation’s third-largest producer of cars and light trucks. The group says new statistics show production of passenger vehicles rose by 2.4 percent in Kentucky last year to more than 1.3 million cars and trucks. It says the auto industry employed nearly 90,000 people statewide last year, up from 85,552 in 2014. In another sign of growth, it says the industry announced 79 new projects last year totaling $2.8 billion in investments. The growth spread to the state’s suppliers of [...]
Mon, Feb 22, 2016 4:05:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
A group of chemical engineering students from the University of Kentucky’s Paducah campus has won a federal grant for the third time to further research on non-synthetic pesticides. The group will get nearly $15,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency’s People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Student Design Competition, which is given to university teams working on creating sustainable products. This year’s grant will help Chemical Engineering Professor Jeffrey Seay’s students continue their research into using green chemistry to create pesticides in developing countries. Seay’s work has so far focused on Cameroon and India — two countries where it’s common to burn wood [...]
Mon, Feb 22, 2016 2:00:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
The future of Kentucky’s controversial changes to a water quality standard is up in the air, after a settlement last year sent the changes back for federal review. Selenium is a naturally occurring substance that’s released into waterways during strip mining. In large amounts, it’s toxic to both aquatic life and humans. The substance also bioaccumulates up the food chain, so as fish eat other fish, levels of selenium rise. In November 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency approved changes to Kentucky’s water quality standard that changed the way selenium was measured. The state had requested permission to do away with the chronic [...]
Mon, Feb 22, 2016 1:00:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
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