Senate restores spending reductions, Bevin's proposed funding pools in budget as both sides hunker down for negotiations
03/23/2016 09:51 PM
FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Senate passed its version of the biennial budget on a 27-2 vote on Wednesday, restoring most spending cuts proposed by Gov. Matt Bevin and investing heavily in the state’s underfunded public pension systems. Wednesday’s vote on House Bill 303, which saw nine Democrats voting “pass,” will allow House and Senate leaders to try and cobble together a compromise spending plan in a conference committee ahead of a veto recess scheduled to begin next week. Senators resuscitated... Read more 
Rape survivor says Kentuckians deserve full Senate vote on bill allowing DNA collection at felony arrest
03/23/2016 09:05 PM
FRANKFORT — Two weeks ago legislation allowing DNA collection upon felony arrest cleared a Senate panel, but since that time the legislation has not been called for a vote before the full Senate. Michelle Kuiper a rape survivor and advocate for the bill, told Pure Politics on Wednesday that she has been pleading for the legislation to be called on the floor of the Senate for a vote, but the Senate has, so far, taken no action. “I don’t know... Read more
Bill aimed at giving rape victims justice breezes through House committee
03/23/2016 08:50 PM
FRANKFORT – Legislation that would require that all sexual assault kits be tested in a timely fashion was unanimously passed by the House Committee on Judiciary on Wednesday. Senate Bill 63, sponsored by Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, would require all sexual assault kits be submitted to the Kentucky State Police Forensic Laboratory and tested within 60 days by 2020. The bill requires the average completion date for assault kit testing not to exceed 90 days by July 2018,... Read more
Senate bill which increases look-back period for DUI offenders passes House
03/23/2016 06:38 PM
FRANKFORT – The Kentucky House has passed Senate Bill 56 which would provide stronger penalties for habitual drunk drivers. SB 56, sponsored by Sen. Dennis Parrett, D-Elizabethtown, passed 98-0, would expand the so called “look-back-period” for prior drunk driving offenses from five to 10 years. In Kentucky, a fourth DUI conviction in a five-year period is treated as a felony. The clock for determining penalties for offenders is reset after five years under current law. By increasing the look-back period, convictions... Read more
Road plan, Transportation Cabinet budget heading to Senate after clearing House
03/22/2016 10:10 PM
FRANKFORT — Some House Republicans harkened back to Democrats past while another questioned the majority party’s religious faith after interchange improvements near a Noah’s Ark-themed park in his district was cut, but a $4.5 billion biennial road plan passed the House of Representatives on a 56-40 vote mostly along party lines Tuesday. Rep. Leslie Combs, a Pikeville Democrat who chairs the House Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation, said House Bill 305 includes Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed bridge replacement projects and... Read more
Colleges and universities will have 25 percent of funding based on performance in Senate budget, Sen. Givens says
03/22/2016 03:33 PM
FRANKFORT — Public colleges and universities could see a quarter of their baseline funding based on multiple performance indicators in the second year of the Senate’s biennial budget proposal. Senate President Pro Tem David Givens, R-Greensburg, presented the upper chamber’s performance-based funding model to the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee on Tuesday. It calls for schools to be grouped into three separate sectors: the universities of Kentucky and Louisville in one, all 16 Kentucky Community and Technical College System institutions into... Read more
Bill to extend 911 fees to individuals who buy phone minutes passes House committee
03/22/2016 03:20 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill which would require persons who buy phone minutes at a retail store to pay an additional fee for 911 calls has unanimously passed a House committee. House Bill 585 sponsored by Rep. Martha Jane King, D-Lewisburg, would require individuals who buy phone cards at retail establishments to pay a 93 cent fee which would go to fund the facilities, equipment, and personnel needed for 911 call exchanges. Currently, persons who own a landline or have a contract with... Read more
State regulators have told an Eastern Kentucky coal mine to immediately cease operations after a pond overflow released iron-laced water into a stream last week and killed hundreds of fish. The spill at the mine — operated by Hardshell Tipples in Letcher County — sent reddish, acidic water into nearly a mile-and-a-half of Pine Creek, as well as a tributary. More than 700 fish were found dead in the vicinity, and Department for Natural Resources inspectors linked the fish kill with the iron-saturated and acidic water released from the pond in violations they issued to the company. In addition to the Imminent [...]
Thu, Mar 24, 2016 12:00:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
When Dariel Fuentes watched the television footage of protesters beaten and bloodied at a Donald Trump rally in Chicago earlier this month, it reminded him of the oppression he witnessed as a boy growing up in Cuba. During a week when President Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Cuba in more than 80 years, after two years of work to reset relations with the island nation, Dariel was more focused on the race for who will succeed Obama. The 17-year-old said it’s puzzling when American protesters are punished by the police and fellow citizens. The ability to speak out against politicians is [...]
Thu, Mar 24, 2016 10:50:00 AM, Continue reading at the source
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