Stivers: Failure to pass heroin legislation 'tragic'; Will ask Beshear to call special session on the issue
04/16/2014 01:35 AM
Calling the failure of the House to pass a heroin bill “tragic,” Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, vowed to meet with Gov. Steve Beshear Wednesday and urge him to call a special session. Before the 2014 legislative session even began, a bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled legislation aimed at curbing the rising scourge of heroin in Kentucky. The three-tiered bill would have provided education, treatment and tougher penalties for those people caught trafficking the drug. The bill hit speed bumps... Read more 
Clock runs out on heroin bill, among others, after House GOP group protest of procedures
04/15/2014 11:16 PM
What amounted to a 45-minute rhetorical exercise in the House over a provision requested by the Secretary of State, effectively ran out the clock on the 2014 session — including the bill aimed at combating heroin. The heroin legislation was perhaps the most high-profile bill among several that fell short in the final hour of the 2014 legislative session. The measure would have increased treatment availability and education, provided for wider use of the drug Naloxone to combat the effects... Read more
General Assembly 2014: Late night wheeling-dealing-horse-trading edition
04/15/2014 07:24 PM
Legislators spent the evening trying to combine, link and leverage bills in a flurry of negotiations. That didn’t always yield smooth results. The House, for instance, passed the state’s transportation operational budget bill, House Bill 236, by a 58-37 vote shortly after 10 p.m. But in the spending bill — a companion bill to the road and bridge project list — was a provision the Senate put in language that weighed in on a dispute over occupational taxes in four communities... Read more
General Assembly 2014: Final day update -- dinner recess edition
04/15/2014 05:20 PM
The road plan is here. Senators got their copies of the bill will nearly $4 billion in spending for major road and bridge projects. Sen. Ernie Harris, R-Crestwood and the Senate Transportation chairman, said the House and Senate already started with agreement on $2.7 billion worth of projects. The challenge was squeezing $1.7 billion of requests into a little more than $900 million. The result is a road plan that is 25 percent “over programmed,” meaning there are more projects... Read more
Grimes brings in $2.7 million in first quarter of 2014, outraising McConnell
04/15/2014 03:53 PM
The campaign of Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes announced fundraising numbers Tuesday, showing Grimes outpaced Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell by $300,000 in the first three months of 2014. According to a press release from the campaign, Grimes had her best fundraising quarter yet as she brought in $2.7 million, bringing her total amount raised for the cycle to $7.3 million. The Grimes campaign touted the candidates quarter numbers, noting that the total surpassed the amount raised by McConnell .... Read more
General Assembly 2014: Final day update -- noon edition
04/15/2014 10:57 AM
A day after warning of a possible special session to finish a bill outlining road and bridge projects, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Tuesday morning that the House and Senate have a single road plan leaders think they can agree to. Stumbo said the list looks like the one that House suggested to the Senate over the weekend. Stumbo said the House Democratic leaders will have to review the bill and is likely to pass it late today. At noon,... Read more
Lawmakers approve road-building plan, scholarship bill in final hours of legislative session
from jbrammer@herald-leader.com (Jack Brammer and John Cheves)
from jbrammer@herald-leader.com (Jack Brammer and John Cheves)
Slamming headlong into a midnight deadline to end Kentucky's 2014 General Assembly, state lawmakers rushed to vote on a wide array of bills Tuesday night.Click to Continue » [...]
Tue, Apr 15, 2014 11:44:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
McConnell predicts health secretary nominee will have 'worst experience of her adult life'
from syoungman@herald-leader.com (Sam Youngman)
from syoungman@herald-leader.com (Sam Youngman)
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said to laughter Tuesday that he thinks President Barack Obama's nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services is "probably going to be…Click to Continue » [...]
Tue, Apr 15, 2014 11:13:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Alison Lundergan Grimes’ Fundraising Haul Cuts Mitch's McConnell Cash Advantage in Half
from Phillip M. Bailey
from Phillip M. Bailey
For the second time since entering the Kentucky Senate race, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes' fundraising haul has outpaced Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell.In the first three months of the year, Grimes raised $2.7 million compared to the $2.4 million McConnell generated for the quarter.The money advantage still belongs to McConnell, who has raised $22 million overall in a duel campaign against Grimes and GOP primary challenger Matt Bevin.Bevin announced Monday his campaign raised $1.1 million during the same period. [...]
Tue, Apr 15, 2014 8:23:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Andy Barr’s first quarter fundraising leaves him with more than $1.1 million
from Accountability Editor
from Accountability Editor
By Sam Youngman syoungman@herald-leader.com U.S. Rep. Andy Barr raised more than $361,000 for his re-election bid in the first quarter of 2014, leaving him with more than $1.1 million in cash on hand at the start of spring, his campaign reported Monday. Barr, R-Lexington, began the year with just more than $900,000 in cash. During the first quarter, Barr raised more than $257,000 from individuals and about $104,000 from political action committees. Elisabeth Jensen, the likely Democratic nominee to challenge Barr in November, has not yet released her first-quarter haul. Jensen finished 2013 with about $245,000 in cash on hand after she loaned her campaign $100,000 [...]
Mon, Apr 14, 2014 5:01:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
By Sam Youngman syoungman@herald-leader.com Democratic congressional candidate Elisabeth Jensen embraces the federal health care law pushed by President Barack Obama and Gov. Steve Beshear in her campaign's first radio ad. Jensen, who is the likely Democratic nominee to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, released an ad Monday morning that praises Beshear for implementing a Kentucky version of the health care law and blasts Barr and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for threatening to repeal it. "Thanks to Gov. Beshear, Kentucky Kynect provides health care to Kentuckians who had no insurance," Jensen says in the ad. "But Barr, along with Mitch McConnell, voted to [...]
Mon, Apr 14, 2014 3:21:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Mitch McConnell raises $2.4 million, Matt Bevin raises $1.1 million in first quarter of 2014
from Accountability Editor
from Accountability Editor
By Sam Youngman syoungman@herald-leader.com Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had his best fundraising quarter of this election cycle, pulling in $2.4 million in the first fundraising quarter of 2014. But McConnell is also spending heavily. His campaign will report $10.4 million in cash on hand, which is down more than $500,000 from the cash position McConnell started the year with. The McConnell campaign stressed that the spending is not in response to a primary challenge from Louisville businessman Matt Bevin, noting that the majority of expenditures are for the fall campaign. An ad McConnell's campaign ran earlier this year featuring Paducah cancer survivor Robert Pierce [...]
Mon, Apr 14, 2014 2:29:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Governor Steve Beshear is one more name added to the growing list of elected leaders calling for the Legislative Ethics Commission to reconsider its decision not to reprimand former State Representative John Arnold. [...]
Wed, Apr 16, 2014 1:35:46 PM, Continue reading at the source
"The Secretary of State of Kentucky has outraised the Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate, not once but twice" said a gleeful Jonathan Hurst, Grimes' campaign manager. [...]
Wed, Apr 16, 2014 1:35:46 PM, Continue reading at the source
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is in town checking out the work being done to build the two new Ohio River bridges. [...]
Wed, Apr 16, 2014 1:35:46 PM, Continue reading at the source
