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Post by Press Release on Sept 11, 2011 8:02:41 GMT -5
Lawmakers get glimpse of expanded UK veterinary lab
LEXINGTON--The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory sitting on the University of Kentucky's Coldstream Research campus has been involved in diagnosing animal disease for years. Now, it is gaining a national reputation for its work. The lab received full accreditation by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians in July 2009 in the middle of a $28.5 million project to expand the facility's research space. A few months later in October 2009, the facility became of member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. Today, 2011 president of the national network and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory's Director Dr. Craig Carter said the lab is one of 39 veterinary diagnostic centers nationwide that is capable of conducting tests on animal diseases like foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza that were once conducted only at federal laboratories. "People listen to us and they respect the work we are turning out for animal agriculture," Carter told the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture during its meeting at the lab today. The committee members toured the facility following the meeting. Besides diagnostic testing to improve animal health, the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory work also includes--but is not limited to--research of diseases that can spill over from animals to humans, Carter said. Foot-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease, avian flu, West Nile virus and swine flu are among the diseases that have jumped the species barrier between humans and animals in recent decades, based on scientific reports. "We can't have good human health without good animal health," Carter told lawmakers. Committee Co-Chair Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, told Carter and other UK officials from the College of Agriculture at the meeting that the lab is "state of the art". When Givens asked how the lab determines if the state's livestock industry faces an immediate health threat, Carter said the university has systems in place to detect changes in populations like past increases in the infectious disease blackleg that affects cattle and sheep. "The first year we saw a lot of blackleg clusters and reported the need to vaccinate for blackleg," said Carter. The following year, he said the blackleg cases were "down to nothing." Sen. Joey Pendleton, D-Hopkinsville, said he was glad to see the improvements to the lab and suggested that the committee work during the 2012 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly to invest in improvements at its sister facility, the Breathitt Veterinary Center at Murray State University. That center is also fully accredited nationally. "We've come a long way, but we've got a lot further to go," said Pendleton. Rep. Jim Glenn, D-Owensboro, asked UK College of Agriculture Associate Dean for Research and director of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station Dr. Nancy Cox if the college hopes to expand its ever-growing undergraduate student base (now totaling around 2,300). Cox said the growing number of students has required more personnel, but also shows growing confidence in the college. "We are very proud of the confidence the students and their parents have in us," she said, adding that a large percentage of the college's incoming freshmen are from outside of Kentucky. "We think if we are that attractive to out-of-state students, we must be doing something right," she said. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Sept 12, 2011 18:53:27 GMT -5
Nominations now accepted for 2011 Vic Hellard Jr. Award
FRANKFORT -- The Kentucky Legislative Research Commission is now accepting nominations for the 2011 Vic Hellard Jr. Award. The award, given annually in memory and recognition of Mr. Hellard’s contributions to an independent legislative institution and devoted service to the Commonwealth, recognizes a person who has advanced the interests of citizens of the Commonwealth by example and leadership. Letters of nomination should be submitted by Oct. 31, 2011 and should explain how the candidate: 1) Demonstrates vision, considering the long-term implications for the public good; 2) Demonstrates innovation, finding new approaches while appreciating history; 3) Champions the equality and dignity of all; 4) Enhances the processes of a democratic society, promoting public dialogue, educating citizens and decision makers, and fostering civic engagement, and; 5) Approaches work with commitment, caring, generosity and humor. Please submit nominations to: Hellard Award Selection Committee, Legislative Research Commission, Attn: Ben Payne, 702 Capitol Avenue, Room 101, Frankfort, KY 40601, or online at: www.lrc.ky.gov/HellardAward.htm The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Sept 14, 2011 20:39:42 GMT -5
Arrests of children age 10 and younger studied by lawmakers
FRANKFORT—Children age 10 or younger who face criminal arrest in Kentucky should not be prosecuted but instead referred to social services, state judicial and social service officials told a state legislative committee today. “All the research shows the earlier a child is referred to court, the more likely the child will be to continue in the juvenile justice system,” said Patrick Yewell, executive officer for Family and Juvenile Services in the Administrative Office of the Courts. “Many studies show that (these children) are … about four or five times more likely to continue in the juvenile justice system.” More than 2,700 Kentucky children age 10 or younger have been charged with a public or status offenses over the past six years, Yewell said. Of children in that age group currently facing a criminal complaint in Kentucky, 54 percent receive diversion while many of the rest end up in the criminal justice system. Many in Kentucky’s juvenile services and juvenile justice community say diversion should be required—not just an option—for children age 10 and under who face a criminal complaint with probable cause, Yewell said. Should diversion fail, advocates of the proposal want children to receive social and mental health services in their communities instead of time in the criminal justice system. Deputy Commissioner of the Department for Juvenile Justice Hasan Davis said even children age 11 and 12—much less children age 10 or younger—who come through the juvenile justice system require costly one-on-one attention, 24 hours a day. “They do create for us a very unique set of circumstances,” Davis said. “We usually have to pull out staff and do one-on-one supervision … and change everything about our protocol, so it provides for us a real challenge that should be addressed some other way.” Those thoughts were echoed by Public Advocated Ed Monahan, who said many of these young children are being represented across the state by his office. “These kids will be better handled outside the criminal justice system,” Monahan said. “The criminal justice system currently is spending a substantial amount of money on these kids; A lot of competency hearings, and the criminal justice system is not really set up to deal with child social service issues.” Setting a limit for prosecution at age 10 and under would also address research that Monahan said shows a young child’s brain is not developed enough to understand criminal punishment, he explained. “Ten and under is a modest attempt to acknowledge that persons at that level don’t have the ability to have the culpability to put them in the criminal justice system,” Monahan said. Additionally, he agreed with comments made by Yewell that the longer these children are in the criminal justice system, the more likely they are to be in the juvenile and adult criminal justice system in the future. Most criminal charges filed against children age 10 and younger in Kentucky stem from a complaint that a child is beyond control of school or parent, or has committed minor assault or criminal mischief, Yewell said. The report that 60 to 70 percent of children age 10 and younger facing prosecution in at least some areas of Kentucky are African American was a concern to Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville. “I am stunned that we would have so many African Americans under age 10 in this system,” Owens said. Davis said such “disproportionality” is a problem nationwide and is the result of many risk factors including lack of access to services, family unity, and others. Owens called the situation a “crisis.” Tilley said the committee is working to study many sides of the issue. “Everyone who has a stake in this needs, and certainly has a role to play in this, needs to be at the table,” he said. More testimony will be heard at future meetings, he added. Rep. Kelly Flood, D-Lexington, said she is working on legislation for consideration during the upcoming 2012 Regular Session that would put time limits on valid court orders involving status offense violations by juveniles. Flood told the committee that the legislation would not take away judicial discretion, including discretion in cases where a child is a danger to self or others. Testimony was also received by the committee regarding proposed enhancement of the state’s criminal gang statutes. Third Judicial Circuit Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Prior said her area, which includes Hopkinsville, has seen a growing amount of gang activity moving into Kentucky from Tennessee. Gang activity is also found in other regions of the state, lawmakers were told. At least 118 of the state’s 120 counties have some reported gang activity, according to Prior. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Sept 20, 2011 19:57:43 GMT -5
Calendar set for 2012 legislative session
FRANKFORT – The 2012 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly is scheduled to begin on Jan. 3 and will last 60 days, the maximum number allowed by the state constitution. The session will conclude on April 9, according to the schedule that has been approved by Senate President David L. Williams and House Speaker Greg Stumbo. The schedule is pending ratification of the full 16-member Legislative Research Commission, which Williams and Stumbo co-chair. Legislators will not meet in session on Jan. 16 in honor or Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or on Feb. 20 in observance of Presidents’ Day. The veto recess – the period of time when lawmakers commonly return to their home districts to see which bills, if any, the governor chooses to veto – will run from March 28 through April 7. The 2012 session calendar can be viewed online at: www.lrc.ky.gov/sch_vist/12RS_calendar.pdf The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Sept 21, 2011 16:57:40 GMT -5
Energy panel discusses energy diversification in Kentucky
FRANKFORT—Kentucky’s energy diversification efforts make it more attractive to the energy industry and government regulators, the state Special Subcommittee on Energy heard today from an industry official. Native Kentuckian Jolly Hayden, who is now based in Texas as a vice president for transmission development with NextEra Energy Resources, said long-range cost analyses and other considerations of using natural gas, hydro power and other resources to make electricity are helpful to the Commonwealth, which currently derives 94 percent of its electricity from coal. Hayden explained that diversification gives Kentucky more leverage in today’s energy arenas. “Instead of exporting coal by rail and barge, you could start to export coal by wire,” Hayden told the committee. Subcommittee Co-Chair Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, said coal faces increasing opposition in the U.S. while it increases in demand in China and other places. House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, said Kentucky became a national model for energy policy after the Kentucky General Assembly passed landmark energy bills in 2007 and 2008. Over $1 billion in incentives in several different energy fields—including biofuel, natural gas, and coal—have been initially approved under that legislation in the past few years, Adkins told Hayden. If all those projects were to become reality, Adkins said the investment would draw over $17 billion in capital construction to the Commonwealth. “We are trying to entice investment in Kentucky,” said Adkins. (And) we are trying to do it in a very responsible way.” Hayden said while Kentucky’s strength is coal, it is “also our risk.” Diversifying with natural gas, which has an extensive network of pipelines through Kentucky, or hydro power in areas on the Ohio River that benefit Kentucky were among his suggestions. As for natural gas, Hayden said that “by supplementing some of our coal fleet with gas, it creates a little bit of head room with our friends at the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) as well as the Sierra Club and the likes.” Improved market access through transmission organizations like the Midwest ISO and PJM—both which help move electricity throughout different regions of the country—would also help the state, Hayden told lawmakers. Several members of the subcommittee said keeping electricity costs low in Kentucky is important to them, other Kentuckians and companies that have located or will locate here. Adkins said, keeping costs low is “critical.” That need was also stressed by subcommittee Co-Chair Rep. Keith Hall, D-Phelps, who emphasized the committee’s openness to the current U.S. energy debate. “This committee is not just a coal committee. We have visions, and we have goals,” Hall said. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Oct 8, 2011 13:12:55 GMT -5
Meth lab, pill mill testimony heard by panel
FRANKFORT—Drug enforcement organizations and prosecutors are asking the Kentucky General Assembly to make pseudoephedrine—an over-the-counter drug needed to produce methamphetamine—available only by prescription in the Commonwealth. Advocates say the change would ensure products like Sudafed that contain pseudoephedrine get into the right hands instead of being purchased for meth labs through loopholes in existing law. Current law requires that pseudoephedrine products be kept behind the counter, that identification be presented for purchase, that all purchases be logged, and that purchases be limited to 9 grams every 30 days. But the law is reportedly being circumvented by meth producers and helpers called “smurfers” who travel to different pharmacies and buy one or two boxes of product at a time to avoid the purchase limit. Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele, who serves Laurel and Knox counties, told the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary today that smurfers are a real problem. The 9 gram limit “will stop one person from buying, but it doesn’t stop someone else from buying,” Steele said. Only two states—Oregon and Mississippi—have laws requiring a prescription to buy products containing pseudoephedrine. Officials in both states have reported significant drops in meth lab busts since their laws took effect in the past five years. Kentucky lawmakers considered legislation during the 2011 Regular Session that would have mandated a prescription for pseudoephedrine and other meth precursors, but the bill—Senate Bill 45—did not pass into law. Legislation on the issue is expected to reappear during the 2012 Regular Session. Kentucky now has the fourth-largest number of meth labs incidents in the country, Steele said. The number of actual meth labs is much higher, he explained. In Laurel County, Steele said the discovery of 165 meth labs was counted as one incident because the labs were found in one location. Law enforcement organizations joined Steele before the committee in requesting that pseudoephedrine be available only by prescription since, they say, the current system is not working. “We need some type of legislation to help us do our job,” said Mark Burden of the Kentucky State Police. Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, asked if any other compounds besides pseudoephedrine need to be controlled. Steele said the pseudoephedrine is the only drug absolutely required to make meth, without substitution. “I’m always (concerned) that something else can be turned into meth,” Marzian said. “They’re so inventive and resourceful.” Other lawmakers questioned whether a prescription requirement would be effective. Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville, mentioned a report out of Oregon that said more than 80 percent of Oregon law enforcement called meth their area’s “greatest drug threat” after that state’s 2006 prescription requirement had been in effect for four years. “I guess my question is if we’re going to schedule a drug, does it actually … solve the problem,” said Seum. Steele clarified there are two different problems at play: drug abuse, and meth labs. Meth labs can be reduced with a prescription requirement because pseudoephedrine is required to make meth, he explained. Representatives from the Consumer Healthcare Products Association and Appriss, a Louisville-based criminal justice technology solutions company, then explained that they are not in favor of a prescription requirement. Carlos Gutierrez with the CHPA said “there’s no public outcry to take the products out from over-the-counter. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.” A recent Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America study revealed that 71 percent of Americans opposed a prescription requirement, said Gutierrez. He added that CHPA recommends that the General Assembly instead consider legislation to supplement MethCheck, a tracking service operated by Appriss, with a meth offender registry to reduce purchases of pseudoephedrine for illegal use. Gutierrez said his industry would also be in favor of reducing the purchase limit from 9 grams a month to 7.5 grams a month and reducing the amount allowed to be purchased per year by almost half. Jim Acquisto with Appriss said almost all the measures that lawmakers favor are in place. He said electronic tracking is the best monitor of the sale of retail substances in the U.S. “I submit to you it’s a better way to control the substance,” he said. Testimony of the growing problem with so-called “pill mills” in Kentucky was also received by the committee. Pill mills are medical facilities where licensed physicians typically write prescriptions to almost anyone for money, according to news reports. These reports indicate that there may be tens of thousands of pill mills in operation nationwide, including many in Kentucky. Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, has prefiled legislation for the 2012 Regular Session that would combat pill mills in the Commonwealth. The bill would create a new law defining pain management facilities and require that all of the facilities be licensed. The legislation would also include facility ownership requirements, employee requirements and require the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to regulate the facilities. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Oct 8, 2011 13:17:50 GMT -5
State conservation cost sharing has far-reaching effects
FRANKFORT — Soil and water conservation in Kentucky received a financial boost when it began receiving funding through the national tobacco settlement agreement over a decade ago. Now, a major state conservation cost share program is boosting water quality from Kentucky all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Kentucky Division of Conservation Director Steve Coleman today told the legislative Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee that his agency’s Soil Erosion and Water Quality Cost Share program is helping to leverage millions of dollars to protect the Green River watershed in west and southern Kentucky and three watersheds in the Mississippi River Basin that are contributing to poor water quality in an “hypoxic”—or oxygen depleted—area on the Gulf coast. The Green River Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program has committed $110 million in federal and state cost share dollars to successfully protect 100,000 acres in 14 counties, Coleman said. Under the Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI), created in 2010, Coleman said Kentucky was awarded $3 million in fiscal year 2011 for three projects that will help limit the state’s impact in the Gulf hypoxic zone. Another $500,000 will be provided over the next four years through the state cost share program for each of the three projects, according to the Division, and incentive payments totaling more than $25 million will be awarded to Kentucky landowners. Kentucky watersheds with projects tied to the Mississippi River Basin Initiative are the Licking River, Lower Green River, and Mayfield Creek watersheds. Committee Co-Chair Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville, asked Coleman why the Red River Watershed in southern Kentucky is not part of the state’s project area. The Red River Watershed and Obion Watershed in far west Kentucky are part of a conservation partnership with Tennessee, Coleman said. Thus far, he said, the two states have been unable to finalize a proposal for funding in those areas. “It is being pursued. We just haven’t gotten to that point just yet,” he said. Coleman said he is pleased with the successes of his agency’s cost share program and soil stewardship program, created by the 1994 Kentucky General Assembly. State law requires that funding provided through the programs be administered by local conservation districts and Kentucky Soil and Water Conservation Commission. “I’m very proud of what has been accomplished by the programs that the General Assembly has established, and cannot emphasize to you the number of individuals this program has touched,” he said. The dollars leveraged through the program to address agricultural pollution issues has protected resources and allowed farmers to keep farming, he said. The agency’s cost share program has assisted over 12,500 landowners with implementing best farming practices over the past 17 years, said Coleman, at a cost of approximately $119 million to the state. The actual amount spent on management practices and infrastructure is higher, he said, because landowners are required to match the dollars they receive by 25 percent to 50 percent or more. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by In The News on Oct 9, 2011 7:05:39 GMT -5
courier-journal.com Stivers, Stumbo at odds on redistricting Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester
FRANKFORT, KY. — Key leaders of the Kentucky House and Senate disagreed Wednesday on the question of when the General Assembly should tackle the politically sensitive issue of re-drawing district lines for the 138 state legislators and Kentucky’s six members of the U.S. House of Representatives. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said the House wants to do the job during a special session held between the Nov. 8 election and the start of the regular session Jan. 3. That would prevent redistricting from being muddled with important matters on the regular session agenda, he said. But Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the Senate wants to address redistricting in the early part of the regular session and avoid the cost of a special session, which is about $63,000 per day. Stumbo also said that he would like to see Kentucky’s seven Supreme Court districts redrawn because populations within them vary by nearly 20 percent from the ideal — one-seventh of the state’s total population of about 4.3 million. Stivers said the General Assembly should not stop with the Supreme Court and should redistrict lower judicial levels as well. Stivers said Stumbo’s home county of Floyd has four circuit judges whose caseloads are far below recommended guidelines of the state bar association. www.courier-journal.com/article/20111005/NEWS01/310050102/Kentucky-House-Senate-leaders-odds-redistricting
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Post by Press Release on Oct 20, 2011 16:35:04 GMT -5
Lawmakers told WEG kept promise to draw new horse events to state
FRANKFORT—Kentucky Horse Park officials said early last year that the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games would bring more horse events to Kentucky, and they were right. In addition to at least 70 horse shows featured at the Kentucky Horse Park each year, the park now has 14 new signature events—12 of which will return year after year—that park Executive Director John Nicholson said would never have come to Kentucky without investment in new facilities built for the WEG. Those 14 shows alone will bring around $44.2 million to the state that would have otherwise gone to other states, Nicholson told the state legislative Interim Joint Committee on Economic Development and Tourism today. But interest in the revitalized Kentucky Horse Park has not stopped there. Other events, many held in Tennessee for many years, are now locating to the Kentucky Horse Park because of its WEG upgrades. In 2012, the Grand National Championship for the Paso Fino Horse Association will move to the Kentucky Horse Park from Memphis, TN. A year later, in 2013, The Road to the Horse: World Championship of Colt Starting will move to the park from Murfreesboro, TN. Perhaps one of the greatest economic coups for the Kentucky Horse Park was its ability to draw the National Horse Shows from New York to Lexington. The historic national competition, which was held at Madison Square Garden for decades since the late 1800s, is what Nicholson called the “oldest, most prestigious horse show in the world.” It will now be held in the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park beginning next month, when the show meets in Kentucky for the first time Nov. 2-6. “You would make the statement that the greatest day would be the day after the (World Equestrian) Games closed, and many of us wondered it that could be true” said committee member Rep. Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana. “Your presentation this morning shows (you were right).” Nicholson said the work that made the 2011 WEG possible and the results of that work “was always about legacy,” adding “I think we made a statement about who we are as a Commonwealth last year, and I think we made a very positive statement.” The horse industry—and the Kentucky Horse Park—are fixtures in Kentucky’s $11.4 billion tourism industry, explained Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Deputy Secretary Matt Sawyers. After WEG, Sawyers said, the park became “the epicenter” of the Horse Capital of the World. Department of Travel and Tourism Deputy Commissioner Hank Phillips said his office’s primary focus at WEG was the popular The Kentucky Experience pavilion where representatives from nine tourism regions, over 400 Kentucky artists, dozens of artifacts and hundreds of thousands of tourists gathered to celebrate what makes the Commonwealth unique. Authenticity is the state’s selling point, said Phillips, who told the committee that the Department of Travel and Tourism’s new marketing theme—“There’s Only One Kentucky”—is built on its one-of-a-kind people and places, from the Red River Gorge to Mammoth Cave to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. “If you can point out something that exists no place else in the world, you can’t get much more authentic than that,” Phillips said. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Oct 26, 2011 16:55:44 GMT -5
Task Force hears options to address childhood obesity
FRANKFORT – Kids are being fed too many empty calories, members of the Childhood Obesity Task Force were told today by the creator of a program that encourages students to adopt healthier eating habits. Kentucky is currently ranked third in the nation for childhood obesity by the Trust for America’s Health. With 21 percent of the state’s children considered dangerously overweight, future health problems are a growing concern, said Dr. Antonia Demas, President and Founder of the Food Studies Institute. The Center for Disease Control predicts that almost half of all kids born in 2000 will develop Type II diabetes in their lifetime, Demas said. Demas hopes to combat this issue through a research-based curriculum she created called “Food is Elementary.” The program, currently implemented in several Jefferson County public and private schools, aims to prevent childhood obesity by introducing children to healthy fresh food options and teaching them basic nutrition and life skills. “We need to get government to take a stand and realize the health of our kids really does matter,” Demas said, asking legislators to help her expand the program to every school in Kentucky. In response to a question from Senate President Pro Tempore Katie Stine, R-Southgate, Demas reported that all Louisville-area schools participating in the curriculum showed dramatic improvements. Legislators also heard testimony from Jefferson County Public School representatives about other nutrition and physical activity initiatives being implemented, including a Student Nutrition Advisory Council that allows students to test and provide feedback on new recipes before they are included on the menu. A number of the efforts discussed are supported by the Whole Foods Market in Louisville. Tim Roethgen, Marketing Team Leader for the Mid-Atlantic Region of the chain, said the store has expanded its missions to other parts of the state. The store partnered with the Rockin’ Appalachian Mom Project (RAMP) to provide healthier food options to all public school students in Martin County, where 35% of the population lives below poverty. Whole Foods Market worked with RAMP and the Martin County School District to plant community and school gardens, provide healthy eating education, install salad bars in all 6 school cafeterias, and stock the local food pantry. Their collaboration has made a difference, according to Inez Elementary School Principal Mike Cassady. “You’d be surprised how many kids will choose a salad if it’s provided to them,” he said. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Oct 27, 2011 19:38:49 GMT -5
Benefits of solar power shared with state lawmakers
FRANKFORT—Kentucky has more sunny days than you might think, say the state’s solar power advocates. Arizona—ranked as the sunniest state in the nation by the National Weather Service—only has 44 percent more solar radiation than the Bluegrass State, according to Denis Oudard of Kentucky based Solar Energy Solutions. Even places like Germany that are not typically considered sunny use solar as a hot water and electric energy source. In short, solar energy appears to work almost anywhere, Oudard said. “You don’t have to be a Mark Spitz to swim,” Oudard said before the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government today. With billions of tons of coal reserves in the ground, Kentucky is known for being primarily a coal state. The state also has large natural gas reserves. But Oudard and his colleague, Andy McDonald of the Kentucky Solar Partnership, said solar is already at work at some Kentucky schools, homes and businesses, and is worth the investment—despite Kentucky’s somewhat unpredictable weather. Solar panels for thermal or electric use can be found on roofs of Kentucky homes, on hybrid buses run by public transportation systems, on some public buildings – including the new Capitol Education Center – and atop a handful of public schools, like Richardsville Elementary in Bowling Green. McDonald said the 72,000 square foot school, which opened in 2010, is designed to use 75 percent less energy than a typical school in the state. “This is the first net-zero energy school in the U.S.,” he said, “and it was built at less cost than a conventional school.” Kentucky now has solar product manufacturers and distributors contributing to the state’s economy, said Committee Co-Chair Rep. Steve Riggs, D-Jeffersontown. Nationally, employment in the solar energy industry has increased 6.8 percent since Aug. 2010, said Oudard, and more growth is expected over the next year. In fact, Oudard said “solar electric investment creates jobs at a faster rate than any other type of energy.” An article in the Oct. 17 issue of U.S. News & World Report says almost 50 percent of the nation’s 2,100 solar firms expect to add jobs in the next 12 months. Solar energy, at a cost of about 20 cents a kilowatt hour, is more costly than the current 5.5 cents to 10 cents per kilowatt hour that Kentuckians now pay on average for electricity, McDonald said. Still, investment in solar energy may become more popular as Kentucky’s power plants age, he said. “Solar may be more expensive than current power, but may be on par with—or cheaper than—building new plants in the future,” he said. In response to a question by Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville, Oudard said it is more economical for solar to be installed on a new structure than an existing structure since retrofitting is required on existing buildings. Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said more investment in solar energy like that in place at Richardsville Elementary will improve affordability. “As more schools and public buildings come on board, that will come down,” he said. Just last summer, Richards said that Richardsville Elementary actually sold solar power back to the Tennessee Valley Authority because it was not able to use the energy it had harnessed with school out of session. Committee Co-Chair Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said he supports alternative forms of energy. But he also pointed out that the U.S. has 200 years of coal reserves and a lot of oil reserves at our disposal, “…if we were just allowed to go get it; and I think you know the places we are talking about.” The committee also received testimony from Kentucky League of Cities’ officials who presented the organization’s legislative platform for the upcoming 2012 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. Issues presented by Lyndon Mayor Susan Barton and Midway Mayor Tom Bozarth on behalf of the organization included retirement reform for city governments, addressing the cost of drug abuse in cities and towns, revenue issues and elimination of most city classifications, and a 9-1-1 funding shortfall. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Nov 3, 2011 21:17:58 GMT -5
Lawmakers hear road safety recommendations
FRANKFORT – Members of the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation were asked yesterday to consider expanding Kentucky’s primary seat belt law to include vehicles designed to carry up to 15 passengers. Current state law requires seat belt use in vehicles designed to carry up to ten passengers. Jason Gabbard, Chair of the Kentuckians for Better Transportation Safety Committee, said he considers Kentucky’s law to be better than most states. Still, he wants the seat belt law expanded in accordance with recommendations presented by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB provided legislators with a report on last year’s crash on I-65 near Munfordville that killed 11 people. The accident involved a semi-truck and a van designed to carry up to 15 passengers. Most of the van’s 12 occupants were unrestrained. The two survivors were in child safety seats and experienced only minor injuries. If everyone had been wearing a seat belt “some injuries might have been mitigated and the likelihood of ejections would have been reduced,” said Steve Blackistone, state and local liaison for the NTSB. He also asked lawmakers to consider a complete ban on all cell phone use by commercial vehicle operators. NTSB investigators found the truck driver in the accident had used his phone while driving a total of 69 times in the 24 hours prior, including a final call placed the same time the accident occurred. Some committee members wondered if a hand-held only ban would be sufficient, or if a specific law for commercial drivers should come from a federal level. The NTSB doesn’t differentiate between hand-held and hands free cell phones, as both are distracting to drivers, Blackistone said. No other states have yet enacted such a ban on hands-free phones. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Nov 9, 2011 17:12:00 GMT -5
"Issues Confronting the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly" book available
FRANKFORT – A book containing issue briefs on topics likely to confront lawmakers during the Kentucky General Assembly's 2012 session is now available in print and online. "Issues Confronting the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly" contains 47 issue briefs prepared by members of the Legislative Research Commission staff. The book is not meant as an exhaustive list of issues that lawmakers will consider, but reflects a balanced look at some of the main topics that have been discussed in legislative committee meetings. The publication can be viewed online at: www.lrc.ky.gov/lrcpubs/IB236.pdfPrinted copies can also be picked up at the LRC Publications Office in the State Capitol, Rm. 83. The Kentucky General Assembly’s 2012 session begins on Jan. 3 and is scheduled to adjourn on April 9. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Nov 10, 2011 17:57:16 GMT -5
Reduction in agricultural development funds likely, lawmakers told
FRANKFORT — State and regional agricultural projects will likely have 36 percent less available state agricultural development funding this fiscal year because of the struggling economy, a state legislative committee was told yesterday. Kentucky Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy Chief of Staff Joel Neaveill told the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture that the likely reduction in available Agricultural Development Fund dollars for state and regional investment follows a revision of Kentucky’s official revenue estimate for fiscal year 2012 by the Consensus Forecasting Group, an independent panel that forecasts the state’s revenue growth. The CFG revised the state’s revenue estimate for the current fiscal year last month in Frankfort. The anticipated reduction in available state and regional ADF dollars for fiscal year 2012 would exceed a 24.6 percent reduction in ADF dollars for state and regional investments that Neaveill said occurred in fiscal year 2011. County agricultural development funds will not be affected by any projected reduction in ADF funds, Neaveill told the committee when asked what investments would be affected by committee co-chair Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg. Funding for the ADF is provided by tobacco settlement dollars from a 1998 national tobacco settlement that included Kentucky and 45 other states’ Attorneys General. State General Fund money is not used to fund ADF projects, explained Neaveill. The projected reduction was one of several issues raised by GOAP staff for legislative consideration during the upcoming 2012 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. Another issue, raised by GOAP Executive Director Roger Thomas, is the need for a permanent statutory change that would enable the Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation to provide an entity or individual with a low-interest loan greater than $1 million and up to $5 million. The change would do away with the current legislative practice of creating an exception during budget sessions, held every two years, to existing law that enables the KAFC to offer the larger loans. Thomas said the exception to current law—which allows existing law to be “not withstood,” in bill drafting terms—has been approved by the General Assembly over the last three budget cycles. KAFC’s assets have grown to almost $40 million over the last four years, he explained. Committee co-chair Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville, said he believes the requested change could be “a subject for discussion as the session unfolds.” “I think (other factors) along with the fact that it just takes larger projects to have the kind of impact that you want to have is certainly a logical reason to make that increase,” Stone said. Thomas also suggested that state lawmakers change the definition of “beginning farmer” in state law from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s definition to the state’ s so-called “working definition” that Thomas said is more flexible. He explained the change would allow loans to be made that are not possible under the USDA definition. The GOAP would also like to continue Kentucky’s federally-funded On-farm Energy Efficiency and Production Incentives Program which has served nearly 200 recipients with federal stimulus dollars alone, Thomas said. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Nov 15, 2011 18:15:05 GMT -5
Kentucky leads the nation in improvement rates for degrees, committee told
FRANKFORT – Kentucky improved its rate of adults with a college degree more than any other state during the first decade of the new millennium. Bob King, President of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, presented this and other findings to Interim Joint Education Committee members yesterday. King shared a September report from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems which also ranked the state first in six-year graduation rates at four-year institutions and undergraduate credentials awarded to young adults. Kentucky was second for the rate of improvement of young adults with at least an associate degree. The study also measured three-year graduation rates at two-year institutions and undergraduate credentials of at least one year. Kentucky placed third and fifth, respectively. “There was no other state in the country that made more improvement during the decade of the 2000s than Kentucky in terms of these important measures of higher education performance,” King said. He also presented the council’s strategic agenda to sustain the Commonwealth’s level of growth in postsecondary achievement. Part of the plan asks the legislature to provide $25 million of performance-based incentives in fiscal year 2014. Campuses could earn the funds by reaching goals such as increasing graduation rates and decreasing achievement gaps of underprepared students. This new incentive would be a good way to stimulate further improvement, King said. More than half of all states use some form of outcomes-based funding for postsecondary institutions. Currently, Kentucky does not tie higher education funds to performance. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Nov 17, 2011 18:13:35 GMT -5
Lawmakers urged to fund colon cancer screenings
FRANKFORT -- Kentuckians should have better access to colon cancer screenings, members of the General Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee were told yesterday by supporters of a proposal to direct $8 million in state funds to a screening project over the next two years. Funding for the Kentucky Colon Cancer Screening Program would save lives and lower health care costs, said Dr. Whitney Jones, founder of the Colon Cancer Prevention Project. “Each year more people in Kentucky die from colon cancer than breast cancer, cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis combined. All of those have public health programs to address the issue,” Jones said. Kentucky’s Colon Cancer Prevention Project, however, has remained unfunded since it was created in 2008, he said. “By funding this program … we can make education, prevention and early detection of colon cancer a funded priority. The program will educate all Kentuckians about prevention and screening, as well as about early detection, and provide thousands of uninsured Kentuckians access to screening services.” Jones urged lawmakers to support Bill Request 275, legislation sponsored by Rep. Jim Glenn, D-Owensboro, and co-sponsored by Rep. Bob DeWeese, R-Louisville. If approved during the 2012 legislative session, the proposed funding boost would come in two installments: $3 million during the next fiscal year and $5 million the following year. Funding for the Kentucky Colon Cancer Screening Program would provide screenings to uninsured individuals from age 50 to 64 and others at high risk for colon cancer. With 150,000 Americans diagnosed with colon cancer annually, the disease is the nation’s top cause of cancer death among non-smokers, Jones said. “Kentucky perennially has been among the top five worst states in the nation for mortality. At any time, 10,000 Kentuckians are fighting colon cancer. It is a major problem.” Colon cancer deaths are 90 percent preventable with appropriate screenings and prevention efforts, Jones said. “Sadly, far too many times colon cancer is caught in the late stages as many people are underinsured and uninsured and don’t have the means to pay for that information or for that screening.” The public needs more information about colon cancer and the importance of screenings, said George Foster of Owensboro. Foster told lawmakers that he was diagnosed with colon cancer and, on a recent doctor visit, told he had another three to four months left to live. “It’s devastating for me right now because I was on the verge of retiring,” he said. Foster said awareness of colon cancer doesn’t match the threat it poses. “We don’t have enough information out there about colon cancer, colon cancer screenings, diagnoses and symptoms of what you may encounter or may not encounter,” he said. “It’s just not put out front like it should be.” Amid warnings that it will be difficult to find money to boost colon cancer prevention efforts during tight budgetary times, Jones urged lawmakers to consider screenings a part of the budget solution. “It’s fiscally responsible, allowing the state to save millions in treatment costs down the road,” he said. “This is prevention in action.” The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Nov 30, 2011 20:35:04 GMT -5
Employers winning most contested unemployment insurance claims, lawmakers told
FRANKFORT—Employers were the winners of the majority of employer-contested unemployment insurance cases in 2010 and are emerging the winners of these types of cases in 2011, state lawmakers were told today by the state official who oversees unemployment insurance for Kentucky. Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Joe Meyer, whose Cabinet oversees Kentucky’s unemployment insurance claim division, said that employers—not fired or terminated employees—won 70 percent of the 61,000 unemployment insurance cases contested by employers in 2010. The employers’ success rate for contested cases so far this year is 71 percent, said Meyer. “In terms of our actual application, and our rulings…70 percent of the time, the employers win,” he told the Interim Joint Committee on Labor and Industry. The committee had earlier received testimony from some area employers who told lawmakers they have fired employees for documented reasons only to see those employees be awarded unemployment benefits. Joining the employers during their testimony was Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, who said the employers “encountered that they’ve fired somebody they thought they had a documented reason to fire, and they (the employee) end up collecting unemployment insurance, which has been very much of a shocker …” Lexington area insurance salesman, stock broker and real estate broker Ben Kaufmann told lawmakers about a former maintenance employee who Kaufmann said was not where he was supposed to be during work hours and was eventually fired, only to be awarded unemployment by the state. “I’m scared to death to hire people. We need to do something,” Kaufmann said. Another employer, Cynthia Bohn of Equus Run Vineyards, recounted scenarios involving a former employee who allegedly committed unemployment insurance fraud and a former worker who received benefits after allegedly not performing well upon job reassignment. Although employers are winning most of the unemployment insurance cases they contest, Meyer told the committee and others presents that unemployment insurance law is designed to favor the person who is applying for benefits, not the employer. Employers have an “absolute right” to legal representation at benefit determination hearings, said Meyer, but unemployment insurance law is designed to favor the applicant. “The burden of proof is on the employer,” said Meyer. Meyer said there are a set of eight standards adopted by the 1982 Kentucky General Assembly that clearly constitute misconduct by a fired or terminated employee under state unemployment insurance law. If those standards are met, the terminated employee may not receive unemployment benefits. If someone is let go for a reason other than one of those eight standard reasons, Meyer said the employer is responsible for establishing that misconduct was committed by the former employee, if the employer wants to avoid paying benefits. In short, unsatisfactory work and inability to perform one’s job, in general, are not considered enough reason to deny a person benefits, explained Meyer. “When you are looking at misconduct for the purposes of unemployment insurance, they really have to identify whether there is an intentional or reckless bad act against the employer’s interest,” he said. Rep. Bill Farmer, R-Lexington, stressed the need for consistency in the unemployment insurance proceedings. “I think if there were a factor of consistency here…the entire group is going to be better served.” Meyer said the unemployment insurance appeals process is a legal process, and decisions made are in writing. Committee co-chair Rep. Rick Nelson, D-Middlesboro, said the issue might need to be addressed by the General Assembly, which has addressed the issue in the past. “It sounds to me like you are playing mostly by the rules that the General Assembly at some point enacted into law. So, if there are any changes to be made, maybe that’s something a legislator needs to address,” said Nelson. Meyer said there is a state unemployment insurance fraud hotline for someone to contact if fraud is suspected. Anonymous tips can be submitted to: www.oet.ky.gov/stop_ui_fraud.htmor e-mail can be sent to the Kentucky UI Fraud mailbox at: oet.uifraud@ky.gov The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Dec 16, 2011 21:36:34 GMT -5
Charles Siler named 2011 Hellard Award Recipient
FRANKFORT -- Former State Rep. Charles Siler, who served two notable stints in the Kentucky General Assembly before retiring in 2010 as one of Frankfort's most respected lawmakers, has been named recipient of the 2011 Vic Hellard Jr. Award for excellence in public service. The Hellard Award, the highest honor the Legislature can bestow, has been given annually since 1997. Siler -- known to all as Charlie -- was chosen for this year's honor by the 16-member legislative leadership that comprises the Legislative Research Commission. The award's namesake, Vic Hellard Jr., was executive director of the LRC staff for 19 years. The honor goes each year to someone who embodies the values that Hellard brought to his long career: A public servant of vision, appreciating history while finding new ways to do things, someone who champions the equality and dignity of all, nurtures the processes of a democratic society and promotes public dialogue while educating and fostering civic engagement, approaching that work with commitment, caring, generosity, and humor. In announcing Siler's selection, LRC co-chairs David L. Williams, President of the Senate, and Greg Stumbo, Speaker of the House, noted that he met all those criteria perfectly. They remembered Siler as a quietly passionate voice for the people of his beloved Laurel and Whitley counties, and a leader of vision, heart and good humor who made life better for all Kentuckians, whether they knew his name or not. 'I'm honored, I'm touched, and I accept this award humbly,' Siler said. 'Vic Hellard was a special man, and this is a special award, even more so since it's given to me by my respected colleagues.' Siler's civic career was historically remarkable, spanning national and even world history. His military career alone traced the narrative arc of the last half if the 20th Century. It began with the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. He served in occupied Japan. He served in the Korean War. He was with the troops protecting Dr. Martin Luther King's Civil Rights march on Montgomery in the 1960s. When his long military career ended, he returned to Kentucky, and ran for office to help shape his home state's history. As a representative from District 82 and a Republican, he was a voice for veterans and a voice for labor, but his greatest passion was education. He voted for the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 though he knew the tax increase to pay for it would likely get him beat next election -- and did. But four years later, Siler's district sent him back to Frankfort, where he served till he retired in 2010. His tenure in the House was called by one observer a study in thoughtful, courageous representation. When he came back from his years out of office, Siler voted for 1997's higher education reform, another politically difficult vote on principle. But he said it was critical for community colleges to better prepare Kentuckians for the new 21st Century workplace, and for universities to answer the call for citizens of exceptional preparation to prosper in a complex world. Siler is the 15th recipient of the Vic Hellard Jr. award, and only the third former legislator (Romano Mazzoli, a former state Senator and Congressman, won in 2009, and former state Sen. Walter Baker in 2003). Hellard himself died in 1996, a year after his retirement from the LRC. The award in his name has been given annually since. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Jan 6, 2012 18:33:28 GMT -5
This Week in Frankfort
FRANKFORT – When the 2012 General Assembly convened here Tuesday, three major issues – redistricting, the budget, and a gubernatorial push for expanded gambling – dominated early-session conversations. Other near-certain issues (prescription-drug abuse, raising the high-school dropout age, child protection in the face of recent deaths, nascent moves toward comprehensive tax reform, among others) had their mentions in the Capitol hallways too, as everyone settled in for a long winter. They were the focus. But sure as sunrise, some unheralded bill or bills will catch sudden fire and blaze across the headlines and airwaves as this year’s 60 working days unfold. That’s the nervous charm of a young session – wondering about the unexpected, awaiting the unknown. But for this week at least, the main focus was on the known, and a lot of what seems known sounds troubling. Virtually all things governmental flow from the state budget. And when the governor delivered his State of the Commonwealth Address to a joint session in the House Chamber Wednesday night, he served fair warning that the budget he’ll submit with his Budget Address Jan. 17 will come as a slapped-down, sobering challenge to the Legislature’s best budget minds, with deep cuts on the table. By some reports, state agencies have been asked to prepare budget requests between 7 percent and 9 percent below current funding levels. Those jarring reductions would come on top of no fewer than 10 rounds of budget cutting in the past four years, some $1.3 billion all told. But here’s a more startling and telling figure: Close to $3 billion in federal stimulus money was infused into Kentucky’s budget over the past three years. That money is gone. In all probability, nothing approaching it will come this way again. That partially explains something some might find puzzling: Why the budget situation yet again looks desperate, despite reports all year that state revenues were on a nice uptick after bottoming out scarily in the Great Recession. The down-and-dirty explanation is, with no federal help, Kentucky is on its own again. And once again this year, the word ‘shortfall’ is in the air, to the tune of more than $300 million – with some recent estimates as high as $461 million-plus. That’s not to mention the serious concerns that remain -- and grow -- about Kentucky’s unemployment-insurance fund and the state-employee pension fund. Those two elephants in the room compound the overall sour fiscal outlook outlined by the governor in his speech. And pension-fund woes, specifically, aren’t measured in hundreds of millions of dollars – they’re measured in billions, by some estimates somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 billion or even more. Those billions aren’t all due tomorrow or next year, but they represent a massive unfunded long-term liability that underscores the dire straits Kentucky finds itself in fiscally, and the hard job the Legislature faces in navigating the Commonwealth out. To help shore up future state finances, the governor urged upon lawmaker a two-flank attack. He proposed they submit to voters a constitutional amendment to authorize casino gambling — at as many as nine casinos statewide, by some reports — to generate revenues not only for the state Treasury but also to help Kentucky’s troubled horse-racing industry. Beyond that, he proposed they establish a mechanism for arriving at some consensus on comprehensive tax-code reform, with the substantive work on that effort most likely beginning after this session ends. Tax reform is an idea that has gained legislative traction in recent years, with some lawmakers saying Kentucky’s tax code is antiquated and unreflective of 21st Century economic reality. The last top-to-bottom reform came in the 1950s. It’s been patchwork since. But casino-gambling legislation has had a uniformly tough go in the Legislature, never coming anywhere close to passing both chambers, though the governor featured expanded gaming as a main plank in his election campaign of 2007. Key lawmakers say they’re taking a wait-and-see attitude this time around, until they get a look at the details and proposed wording of whatever amendment the governor sends up to them. Under the constitutional-amendment approach, once passed and if passed by the Legislature, voters themselves would have the final yay-or-nay on casinos at the ballot box, in a statewide referendum on Election Day this coming November. More immediately, however, the Legislature is diving right into work on one of the first items on its agenda: Redistricting of House, Senate and Congressional districts. States must adjust district lines every decade to account for population changes or shifts identified by the most recent Census. Redistricting can be – and frequently is -- a highly charged political and personal issue for lawmakers, especially those who have served certain folks for years only to see lines redrawn so they lose that longstanding personal connection. Inevitably, when lines are redrawn every 10 years, some lawmakers and constituents feel that pain. The end goal (a strict legal requirement) is to draw cohesive and population-balanced districts so every Kentuckian has equal representation in Frankfort and in Washington. In a perfect world, this needs to be accomplished quickly, before the filing deadline for the November elections, at the end of this month. The General Assembly and its administrative arm the Legislative Research Commission encourage citizen involvement in the workings of their branch of government, and offer several means for them to do so. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Jan 11, 2012 6:29:39 GMT -5
Senate Majority Floor Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, reviews news coverage of the Kentucky General Assembly prior to the start of the day's legislative session in the Kentucky Senate.
Teacher evaluation bill clears House Education panel
FRANKFORT—A bill that would require the state to create a uniform teacher evaluation system for Kentucky’s 174 school districts for implementation during the 2014-2015 school year has cleared the House Education Committee. Currently, each school district in the state has its own evaluation system for certified personnel, according to House Education Committee Chairman and House Bill 40 sponsor Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway. By creating one system of teacher evaluation, Rollins said HB 40 would “promote continuous professional growth of our teachers so that they can become better.” “It’s one-size-fits-all, but it should be,” he said. “In most districts, you have a principal observation that may last an hour once every three years if you have tenure and once every year -- at least once a year -- if you don’t have tenure. That’s very subjective,” Rollins said. “I think it would be much better if a peer (a certified employee who teaches the same subject matter) evaluated that teacher once every three years to help determine that teacher’s content knowledge.” Multiple measures, including principal observation, parent and student feedback, would likely be part of the new evaluation system, he said. School districts that already have a multiple measure system of evaluation could apply to the state Department of Education to have the requirements in HB 40 waived, Rollins said. The Department of Education would work with professional school and teacher organizations to develop the system prior to the 2014-2015 school year, according to the bill. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Jan 11, 2012 17:58:20 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Rep. Tim Couch, R-Hyden, debates a bill up for consideration in the House State Government Committee.
The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Jan 13, 2012 19:58:55 GMT -5
This Week in Frankfort
FRANKFORT – Nearly two weeks in, the 2012 General Assembly seemed slow coming together. Its first and most immediate challenge – state-level redistricting – was reported bogged down in predictable political concerns. Deeply ominous but deeply vague early warnings from the Beshear administration about the budget situation left lawmakers pensive, waiting for specifics in the governor’s Budget Address. Anything but speculation on the much-trumpeted casino-gambling proposal was hard to come by. The big engine of a full 60-day Legislature idled. But the session suddenly lit up in near late-session mode this week when a House committee -- and quickly, the next day, the full House -- passed a reapportionment plan for itself that would (among other surprises) force at least a half-dozen Republican incumbents to run against each other, should they all survey the redrawn electoral landscape and seek re-election. The House plan would also create seven open seats, and pit a second-term Republican incumbent against the Democratic Majority Floor Leader (a 25-year veteran) in a redrawn home-district reelection battle. Republican House leaders protested. Democrat House leaders pled demographic necessity. A court challenge – not uncommon in redistricting disputes – was immediately mentioned, and is now being explored. But the proposal passed 63-34, on a mostly party-line vote. Five Republicans voted for it. No Democrat voted against it. The bill went on to the Senate, where passage at this point seems likely under a House-Senate white flag, an agreement to not tinker with each other’s reapportionment maps. Redistricting of House, Senate and Congressional districts is a once-a-decade Constitutional requirement. States must adjust district lines to account for population changes or shifts identified by the most recent U.S. Census. Redistricting, always, is a blistering process for any legislature, anywhere. Political futures are on the line and sometimes ended, old district friendships and allegiances are riven, long-term lawmaker-constituent relationships are torn asunder. There’s rarely if ever a painless reapportionment. And it’s not simply party-vs.-party strife. Even within majority caucuses who control the process, members can be deeply divided when the knife falls on home turf. All this is especially true in the Kentucky House. Its districts, being much the state’s smallest, (with only about 42,000 people as opposed to well over twice that in a Senate district and over 723,000 in a Congressional district) tend to be the most interpersonally connected. But large district or small, there’s one axiomatic truth. If, as Tip O’Neill said, ‘All politics is local,’ you could add a close corollary: ‘All redistricting is personal.’ Nor is it easy to meet the strict legal requirements for successful remapping. Not infrequently, court challenges are filed, legal problems are found, and plans must be redone. It’s gritty, unpleasant and plain hard work. But it’s also central to good representative government. The end goal is to draw cohesive and population-balanced districts so every Kentuckian has equal representation in Frankfort and in Washington. True North in the process is, always, the insistent, longstanding Supreme Court mantra: One person, one vote. Coming into the session, there was a felt need to accomplish redistricting quickly, before the filing deadline for the November elections at the end of this month -- although that’s a practical and political concern, not a legal one. The Senate is expected to take up its own redistricting plan shortly, and, as mentioned, there seems to be agreement between chambers to accept each other’s new self-drawn maps without objection. The same can’t be said about a Congressional reapportionment plan passed by the House earlier this week that generated no detectable enthusiasm among Senate leaders. Therein might lie the most bruising redistricting struggle of this year’s session. News yet to come on that front. Meanwhile, the ‘wretched’ budget situation outlined glumly but in no real detail by the governor in his State of the Commonwealth speech last week means almost any action needing money is on hold till the governor submits his budget proposal next week. At that time, with all cards turned up and all chips on the table, the Legislature’s budget-writing subcommittees can begin work in earnest, and the session will gear down to its core winter’s work. Writing a two-year state spending plan is the central chore of a 60-day session. Speaking of which, there was a bit of good money news last week. This year’s state revenues are up over last year, and on track to meet projections. It seems likely the Legislature will avoid the double whammy of dealing with a current budget shortfall while looking down the barrel of major shortfalls in the budget it’s writing for the next two years. Kentucky’s general fund grew by 6.9 percent last month over December a year ago, the state Budget Director reported. This was seen as a nice turnaround after two consecutive anemic-growth months for state revenues. Through the first six months of the current fiscal year, general fund revenues have grown by 3.1 percent over the same period last year. Revenues must grow by 2.8 percent over the full 12 months to meet revenues assumed in the current state budget. That means incoming receipts need to grow by 2.6 percent in the remaining six months to pay for what’s budgeted, a number that now seems doable. Also in December, revenues into the state Road Fund grew by 13.3 percent compared to the same period last year. This in part reflects higher gasoline prices, but it’s good news nonetheless. Anything on the plus side is, as digging out of the Great Recession continues. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Jan 20, 2012 17:28:44 GMT -5
This Week in Frankfort
FRANKFORT – If the poet was right when he said, ‘In my beginning is my end,’ the 2012 legislative session began this winter with intimations of a difficult end in spring, forced by hard reality to adjourn in mid-April with a budget leaving deep scars across the face of state government. That prospect was outlined in two sobering early-session speeches by a governor who used language striking enough to give pause. In his State of the Commonwealth Address to a joint session of the House and Senate on the session’s second night, Gov. Steve Beshear called Kentucky’s budget situation (unspecifically but vividly) ‘wretched.’ This week’s follow-up Budget Address was more specific. It was the message of a governor whose budget writers – after 10 previous rounds of cuts since 2007, with some agencies seeing cuts totaling 38 percent -- have run out of rabbits to pull from their hat. Basically, Beshear was passing that empty hat to lawmakers. It felt like a night of reckoning. He outlined shortfalls so vast in the cumulative scheme of recent years, with cumulative cutting now so deep, that the budget he proposed was, he said, ‘inadequate for the needs of our people.’ It was another sobering phrase. Newspapers headlined it. Kentucky’s two-year, $19.5 billion General Fund budget is once again back to basics. Federal stimulus money, which flowed so generously the past two years, is gone to come no more. Fund transfers, the obvious cutting of fat, the easy efficiencies and economies, accounting tricks like delayed debt payments -- those are mostly used up, or even worse, as in the latter instance, coming back around and coming due. In the deep trough of the Great Recession, they were just patches. They combined in recent years to account for about $3 billion in non-recurring dollars. That string, though, has about run out. Three one-time moves involving big money were still left to the administration, and all three are played in the budget proposal. Some $103 million is taken from the state’s $122-million Rainy Day Fund. A tax amnesty program is proposed that could, with any luck, bring in $61 million. And a budget summary handed out later shows $245 million in proposed fund transfers. The summary posits a $742 million gap, all told, between ongoing revenues and base spending. Bottom line: Even with those one-time millions, it’s a budget that comes up $286 million short, and envisions new cuts of 8.4 percent across much of state government, with some few exceptions. Taking the full hit would be the governor’s office along with all other constitutional officers, plus the cabinets of Economic Development, Finance, Energy and Environment, Labor, Public Protection and Tourism. Some legislative leaders said, given revenues and needs, they saw little room for much change in the overall stringency of the administration’s plan. Still, legislative spending priorities will almost certainly prove somewhat different than the administration’s. The question is, how much and what way? Only the Legislature can pass a state budget. It will be the Legislature, over the next three months that writes the line-by-line particulars of the budget. The governor can only propose. And while what he proposed for much of state government was pain, it wasn’t all bad news and cuts. The administration did find money for a few spending increases, including $21 million to reduce the backbreaking caseload of social workers, an issue much in the headlines lately. The money would enable 300 new social-services workers to be hired, at least 100 of them frontline door-knockers. Another recent page-one concern – the struggle against prescription drug abuse – would get new money too, with $4 million to expand the state’s tracking program to fight it. Substance-abuse treatment for adults and teenagers in the Medicaid program would get $8 million. That’s new. Such treatment is not now available in the state-federal health-coverage plan for low-income Kentuckians. Some key areas would be spared the full 8.4-percent cuts. State universities would be cut by ‘only’ 6.4 percent next year, and Kentucky State Police and most public safety agencies by 2.2 percent. Some few areas – albeit admittedly among the state’s most costly -- would escape the knife altogether. Exempted from cuts would be Medicaid, basic SEEK funding for grades K-12, preschool programs, Corrections, veterans' affairs, child and adult protection, mental health, public defenders, student financial aid, mine permitting, and strip-mine reclamation. While all would be spared actual cuts, in most cases inflation and rising costs would inevitably take their toll. Most notably: While SEEK funding for elementary and secondary education wouldn’t be reduced, it is essentially frozen at its current level – so anticipated increases in student population mean per-pupil expenditures would in fact drop back to 2008 levels. Other education-related programs do face actual cuts. Key support programs like after-school initiatives and family resource and youth-service centers would be cut by 4.5 percent. But in positive news, the stand-alone state Road Fund is doing well, riding the back of higher gas prices. Several major road projects (paid for specifically from that fund) will, the governor says, proceed. His proposed budget includes $100 million for Louisville’s Ohio River bridges project in the next two years, plus $236 million in previously approved bonds for that project. The bonds would be paid off later out of the Road Fund. The budget also sets aside $143 million to continue widening a dangerous stretch of Interstate 65 north of Bowling Green, where major wrecks seem almost daily and too often deadly. Other light in the tunnel: General Fund revenue is growing again, too, as Kentucky’s economy continues its slow but steady recovery. That welcome growth is projected to increase modestly throughout the two-year budget. But even the most optimistic hoped-for growth falls far short of replacing the one-time federal stimulus funds that shored up the state budget during the worst of the recession. The absence of stimulus money explains a widespread public disconnect out there, with folks wondering: Why do we hear about revenues improving, yet also that deep cuts are needed? The answer is ‘structural imbalance’ – using one-time money to plug revenue gaps to meet ongoing expenses. Along those lines – and to address that situation -- the governor used his Budget Address to once again pitch his signature issue, expanded gambling in Kentucky. He called on the House and Senate to pass and send to the voters a constitutional amendment to allow casinos in Kentucky. He contended that casinos at the state’s racetracks alone would dump one-time license fees of $266 million into the Treasury, and thereafter pump $377 million yearly into the General Fund. So far, no expanded gambling proposal in recent years has gained sufficient legislative traction to even approach two-chamber passage. How – or even if – the issue unfolds this session remains unknowable, and unknown. But legislative response so far has been muted, at best. Meanwhile, the other immediately compelling issue of the session’s first month – state, federal and judicial redistricting – proceeded on pace, with the Senate signing off on a reapportionment plan the House passed for itself earlier, while adding its own for itself. The two chambers had jointly unfurled white flags on drawing new district lines, agreeing not to interfere in the other body’s determination of its own makeup. As in the House plan passed last week, where majority Democrats drew districts that in several cases pit incumbent Republicans against each other and create electoral difficulties – if not impossibilities -- for other minority Republicans, so did majority Republicans in the Senate draw lines that in several cases pit incumbent Democrats against each other and create electoral difficulties – if not impossibilities -- for other minority Democrats. Such is the nature of redistricting, always the most bruising, political, and personal process any legislative body undertakes. With no prior gentlemen’s agreement, however, Congressional redistricting is up in the air. The chambers passed substantially different plans that will need a conference committee to resolve. Work on that was scheduled to resume Friday, at this writing. Redistricting of House, Senate and Congressional districts is a once-a-decade Constitutional requirement. States must adjust district lines to account for population changes or shifts identified by the most recent U.S. Census. It’s a legally and technically tough job, easy to find fault with, and certain to caused bruised feelings. But it’s ultimately central to good representative government, necessary under our system -- and something every Legislature is glad to see in its rearview mirror.
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Post by Press Release on Jan 26, 2012 21:13:18 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London (right), and Rep. Tommy Turner, R-Somerset, follow proceedings in the Kentucky Senate.
Energy incentive expansion bill clears House committee
FRANKFORT—Legislation that would expand the kinds of alternative and renewable energy projects and facilities eligible for state incentives—including renewable geothermal energy—was approved by the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee today. House Bill 246, sponsored by House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, would expand the types of facilities that would qualify for incentives under the Kentucky Alternative Fuel and Renewable Energy Fund and Incentives for Energy Independence Act (IEIA) while exempting some geothermal drilling supplies and tools from state sales and use tax. If passed into law, HB 246 would take effect on Aug. 1. The bill now goes to the full House for a vote. HB 246 is the latest among several key energy measures that have made Kentucky a national leader on energy issues, Adkins said. “We’ve come together and really built what is recognized as a national model by the Council on State Governments,” said Adkins. “This Kentucky General Assembly needs to be proud of that. We need to hold that in high esteem.” “This is about jobs—this is about creating a strong economy in Kentucky to produce the kinds of jobs our people need and deserve,” he added. Projects that would qualify for Alternative Fuel and Renewable Energy funds under the bill would include energy storage and energy efficiency or conservation technology projects. Facilities qualifying under the IEIA would include facilities with a minimum capital investment of $25 million that are involved in the manufacture of components, energy storage or energy efficiency or conservation technology. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Jan 27, 2012 18:09:50 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, makes a floor speech in the Kentucky Senate calling for improved civility in politics.
This Week in Frankfort
FRANKFORT – Each session has its own rhythm. But speaking generally, January has a quick burst of early legislative news, then lawmakers gear down for a long uphill grind that builds to a late-March/mid-April peak. The process takes a while, as it should. With the unhappy terms of this year’s budget discussion now known, its own redistricting done (though the separate Congressional reapportionment remains hung up), and a still-unspecified proposal on gambling said near-ready for introduction in a show-me Senate, the Legislature settled into early-session get-the-process-moving mode this week, as committees started bills on the long road to becoming law. A few bills have already trickled to the floor of each chamber for a vote. But, at this writing, only the aforementioned in-state redistricting bill has passed both, and been signed into law by the governor. As January fades, and the one-quarter mark of the 60-day session passes and the one-third point approaches, here’s a snapshot – three snapshots, in fact -- of where big things stand: The budget: THE issue of this and every long session. This week, the state budget director outlined for lawmakers the specifics of a tax-amnesty plan proposed by the governor in his Budget Address last week, Amnesty is one leg of the administration’s four-legged stool, on which it looks to balance a budget it says starts out more than $700 million out of whack. The amnesty program – which would remove penalties for tens of thousands of delinquent taxpayers, and also forgive half the interest on what they owe if they come forward now and settle up -- could raise $61.2 million over the next two years, the administration says (with historical justification). Statewide amnesty was last offered ten years ago, and took in $40 million. An earlier and even more successful program in 1988 netted over $60 million. Delinquent taxpayers would have an added incentive to take advantage of this year’s offer – there’d be higher penalties and interest on those who don’t. The governor’s budget-balancing plan also includes taking $102 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, $245 million in other fund transfers, and 8.4 percent in agency spending cuts across a broad swath of state government, with some few areas (like SEEK school funding, Corrections and Medicaid) exempted. Redistricting: House and Senate reapportionment is done, now signed law. But House Republicans have challenged that plan in Court, unhappy that it forces at least a half-dozen GOP incumbents to run against each other, should all decide to seek re-election. The House-passed, Senate-approved, gubernatorially signed plan also pits a third-year Republican incumbent against the Democratic Majority Floor Leader (a 25-year veteran). One of the main Republican technical objections is what they call excessive splitting of counties. Democrat leaders insist the new lines meet all Constitutional requirements; Republicans say they don’t, and let’s let the courts decide if that’s true. Such minority-party challenges are not uncommon in redistricting battles, the most partisan and (if you find yourself in the crosshairs) personally wounding issue any Legislature ever takes up. Meanwhile, the two chambers remain at odds on Congressional redistricting, which didn’t fall under their ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ to pass without objection the other chamber’s plan for itself. Lawmakers came to Frankfort with a felt need to wrap up redistricting quickly, before next week’s filing deadline for the November elections. But that’s a practical and political concern, not a legal one. A plan emerged at mid-week to possibly move the Congressional filing deadline back, as a House-Senate conference committee works toward compromise. Gambling: Historically, pretty clear lines have been drawn. This governor has wanted expanded gaming. The Legislature has not fully bought into the idea, not in the majorities needed to pass both chambers. This year, the governor has proposed casino gambling, in the form of a constitutional amendment submitted to the voters for an up-or-down vote. Actual details have been vague. But the news this week was that language for such a bill had been settled on, for possible introduction soon. Like so many issues at this point in the session, this one is still developing. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Feb 1, 2012 21:02:43 GMT -5
Resolution honors Ernie "The Turtle Man" Brown, Jr
FRANKFORT – Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon (left), presents a resolution honoring Ernie "The Turtle Man" Brown, Jr. (right), in the Kentucky Senate. Brown, star of the Animal Planet program "Call Of The Wildman" was accompanied by regular sidekick and expert banjo player Neal James.
FRANKFORT – Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard (left), and Sen. Ray Jones, D-Pikeville, react to the reading of a resolution honoring Ernie "The Turtle Man" Brown, Jr., in the Kentucky Senate.
The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Feb 3, 2012 18:30:16 GMT -5
This Week in Frankfort
FRANKFORT –If you Google ‘How often do redistricting plans end up in court?’ you get 134,000 hits in 0.37 seconds. Somewhere in all those hits, you’ll likely now find ‘Kentucky redistricting 2012.’ A lawsuit challenging the recent state legislative reapportionment has not only been filed, but resulted in a Franklin Circuit Court judge ordering the filing deadline for this year’s House and Senate primary elections be moved back at least a week, to Feb. 7, as he reviews the facts of the case. For the average citizen, the every-decade drama over redistricting may be slightly mystifying. It sounds like the sort of inside baseball politicians play that doesn’t really affect them. Why should they care? Because redistricting determines representation, which is what American democracy is based upon. The end goal is to draw cohesive and population-balanced districts so every Kentuckian has an equal voice in Frankfort and in Washington. To ensure what the courts have called ‘one person/one vote,’ state and federal law requires legislative district lines to be redrawn every 10 years, after the U.S. Census has been taken and reported. Legal requirements are stiff. Redistricting (not just here, but nationwide, everywhere) has historically been the most highly politicized and deeply personal work any legislative body, at any level, undertakes. Parties hang their hopes and fears for future majority or minority status on it. That’s pretty political. Individual legislators’ careers can be extended or abruptly ended by it. That’s pretty personal. For citizens, it could also mean an old, trusted voice they’ve counted on to speak for them for years is shifted away from them. That’s pretty personal too. Communities, counties, or regions can see their influence ebb and flow with each ten years’ realignment. Ethnic or majority-minority districts can wax or wane in influence. It all depends on how populations of common interest are concentrated or dispersed when lines are drawn. Redistricting’s central role in making representative government good government is one reason the courts have taken such a keen interest in it, and laid down so many rules for what’s permissible and what isn’t. For example, splitting counties (which obviously is sometimes necessary) is, still, almost always a bone of contention. That’s one of the central complaints in the pending court challenge, which was initially brought by House Republicans, although others have joined the lawsuit and the Senate plan is part of the case too. But the impact of the controversy is more than just long-term and philosophical. As a practical matter, any even-year Legislature rarely takes up divisive or difficult issues until the filing deadline passes and potential electoral opposition (or lack thereof) is known. With this year’s redistricting delay, and resultant uncertainty, that effect is multiplied. A number of this winter’s marquee items probably won’t be addressed at least until the court speaks next week. That includes most notably the long-awaited casino-gambling bill, said to be written and ready, yet still cloaked. Its presumed sponsor in the Senate said as much Wednesday, and the governor confirmed it Thursday: Redistricting first, then we see the bill. In fact, the General Assembly didn’t meet at all Friday, to avoid losing a precious (and constitutionally limited) legislative workday from the 60-day session, while things were largely in what one top leader called ‘limbo.’ Meanwhile, another redistricting matter clogged the pipes too this week. Lawmakers themselves voted to extend by one week this year’s campaign-filing deadline for Kentucky’s six congressional seats, as work continues to resolve a House-Senate impasse on a plan to redraw those electoral districts. Extension of the congressional filing deadline from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7 was inserted into a stripped-down version of this session’s initial congressional redistricting bill, House Bill 2, which in its original form ran aground when the Senate substituted its own substantially different plan that the House found wanting . The bill went to conference committee where the two chambers couldn’t agree on a compromise before the filing deadline. The version of HB 2 that emerged from the conference committee and passed now contains no actual congressional redistricting. It only affects this year’s filing deadline for those federal races. To begin moving the hoped-for congressional plan through the legislative process again, the House placed its original blueprint in HB 302, and sent it to the Senate so negotiations could resume. Good progress has been hinted at. The House and Senate hope to reach agreement on a final bill before the extended congressional-filing deadline Tuesday afternoon. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Kentucky News on Feb 6, 2012 21:50:09 GMT -5
Legislative Leadership to Support Wide-ranging Prescription Drug Abuse Bills Commonwealth News Center press release
Governor Steve Beshear today joined Attorney General Jack Conway, House Speaker Greg Stumbo, Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, Sen. Jimmy Higdon and other legislators to highlight broad prescription drug legislation designed to reduce the destructive impact of prescription drug abuse on Kentucky families. Multiple legislators have joined the effort by sponsoring legislation, all of which is targeted to help fight prescription drug abuse. The leaders emphasized that in spite of a heavy legislative agenda, the issue of prescription drug abuse is a high priority. Gov. Beshear explained that the many efforts underway to fight the abuse of controlled substances should not be overlooked in this session. "Battling the scourge of prescription drug abuse requires dynamic, nimble policies and coordination of efforts, from law enforcement to recovery centers, from computer assisted investigations to citizen tipsters," said Gov. Beshear. "The legislation under consideration in the General Assembly will allow us to better coordinate our efforts for a safer Kentucky." "Our office has been on the front lines of this issue. I've launched investigations into overprescribing doctors and prescription pill traffickers, and travelled the Commonwealth educating Kentucky kids about the dangers of prescription pill abuse. Legislation has been filed that would allow our office and other law enforcement agencies to have increased access to KASPER data that will allow us to spot trends and make our investigations more targeted and efficient," General Conway said. "This is an issue that affects every community and family in Kentucky, and I am confident these bills will receive bipartisan support because we must act now." House Bill 4, sponsored by Speaker Stumbo, would significantly expand the reach of the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) by requiring all prescription providers to register and use the system. The bill also creates new standards for information sharing among licensure boards and investigators, and requires regular data review of KASPER reports to root out unusually high prescribing rates for further investigation. "Prescription drug abuse has long been a problem here in Kentucky, but in recent years it has reached epidemic proportions. House Bill 4 goes to the heart of the epidemic by giving law enforcement more tools to pinpoint the sources of the illegal drugs and stop them," said Speaker Stumbo. "It also calls on the medical licensure boards to do their part to make sure that doctors abusing their privileges are stopped as well. This legislation provides a multi-pronged approach across all three branches of government, and it transcends politics. It is the most important thing we can do to protect Kentucky families." Senate Bill 42, sponsored by Sen. Jimmy Higdon, focuses on pain management clinics. The bill would require that these facilities be owned by a physician and properly licensed. SB 42 also creates new rules for who can work at pain management clinics and offers clear regulations related to quality management and inspection. "The epidemic that is prescription drug abuse in Kentucky is not just an addiction problem, it is a systemic problem that jeopardizes economic stability, destroys families, and ruins lives," said Sen. Robert Stivers. "It is incumbent that we, as lawmakers, ensure any dangerous controlled substances are administered for legitimate purposes and in reasonable amounts." Other legislation may still be introduced, and leaders encouraged that every bill be carefully considered.
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Post by Kentucky News on Feb 7, 2012 19:15:56 GMT -5
Filing Deadline for Candidates for State Senator and State Representative Extended to February 10, 2012, at 4 p.m.
Tuesday the Franklin Circuit Court, Hon. Phillip Shepherd, entered a temporary injunction enjoining the Secretary of State from implementing the districts for the Kentucky Senate and Kentucky House of Representatives set forth in House Bill 1, enacted by the 2012 General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Beshear on January 20, 2012. Judge Shepherd ordered that elections for state Senator and state Representative be conducted according to the legislative boundaries that were in effect immediately prior to the enactment of House Bill 1. Judge Shepherd extended the filing deadline for candidates for state Senator and state Representative until Friday, February 10, 2012, at 4 p.m. The preceding was a press release from Commonwealth News Center. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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Post by Press Release on Feb 9, 2012 21:13:46 GMT -5
LRC to appeal redistricting ruling, will defend constitutionality of HB 1
FRANKFORT -- The Legislative Research Commission (LRC) will appeal a circuit judge’s ruling on the constitutionality of the state legislative redistricting plan contained in House Bill 1. The LRC plans to take the defense of the constitutionality of HB 1 directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeals, in order to get a quicker resolution of the issue. The Supreme Court will be asked to dissolve the injunction of the Franklin Circuit Court and to order that legislative districts created by House Bill 1 be used for 2012 elections. HB 1 was approved by both chambers of the General Assembly last month and signed into law by Gov. Steve Beshear on January 20. The preceding was a press release from LRC eNews. For more information on items before the Kentucky Legislature contact your local senator Robert Stivers (left) and/or representative Tim Couch (right).
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