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Post by In The News on Apr 13, 2012 17:27:43 GMT -5
courier-journal.com Robert Stivers says House leaders have gone political versus what is right Reporter Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear said early Friday morning that he would call a special legislative session to begin Monday after the Kentucky State Senate failed to pass legislation to fund the state's road plan over the next two years. Beshear blamed Senate President David Williams, who he beat in last year's gubernatorial race, for the impasse, noting that the legislature has repeatedly failed to pass key legislation under Williams' leadership over the last decade. Beshear said he would put two items on the agenda for the session: a bill to fund the road plan and another to crack down on doctors who overprescribe pain medication, an issue that also failed in the waning hours of the 2012 regular session. But Williams blamed Beshear, saying that the Senate would have passed the transportation funding plan had Beshear signed into law the state's road construction plan before the clock on the 2012 session ran out. In response to Beshear's reference to last year's election results, Williams said of Beshear, "He is a very poor winner. He is a small, petty and vindictive individual." Key among the unpassed bills was House Bill 260, the Transportation Cabinet operating budget. That measure must pass in order to fund the road projects approved by lawmakers earlier Thursday in the state road plan. Also not passed when lawmakers adjourned were a priority bill of both chambers to crack down on the overprescription of pain pills and a measure to provide scholarships for students from coal-producing counties. House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, objected to the closed process in which a handful of key members of the House and Senate majorities negotiated the final road plan compromise rather than the formally appointed conference committee. "There were zero meetings of the conference committee," Hoover said. "... About three people have controlled what you see in this road plan." The plan was finally approved by the House on a 77-16 vote, with Wayne and Hoover among those voting no. Late Wednesday, Beshear vetoed 45 phrases or earmarks in the state budget bill passed by the General Assembly in late March. And on Thursday Beshear went before a closed caucus of the House Democratic majority to argue for letting the vetoes stand. House Speaker Greg Stumbo said later that most members of the majority caucus wanted the vetoes to stand. "He's been a good manager," Stumbo said of Beshear. The House decision meant the vetoes would stand because majorities of both the House and Senate must vote to override a veto. Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said he was confused by the House decision because he said House leaders indicated during final negotiations that they were willing to override vetoes. "They apparently have gone the political (route) versus what is right," Stivers said. www.courier-journal.com/article/20120412/NEWS0101/304120049/1008/NEWS01/Kentucky-Governor-Steve-Beshear-call-legislative-special-session
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Post by In The News on Apr 17, 2012 22:26:13 GMT -5
courier-journal.com Kentucky Senate refuses to allow Governor to fund just his selected road projects
FRANKFORT, KY. — The special legislative session to complete the 2012 General Assembly’s unfinished business convened in a sour mood Monday with lawmakers expressing no clear idea of how long the session will last. Both measures on the agenda — the Transportation Cabinet budget and a bill to combat prescription drug abuse — began in the House, which convened at noon. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said the House will act as quickly as the legislative process allows “and we’ll have our business done before noon on Wednesday.” But Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, dug in on the issue of a highway funding bill, saying that the Senate would not pass such a measure until Gov. Steve Beshear signs legislation that sets out the list of road projects the legislature wants built over the next four years. He argued that if the legislature passed the funding plan first, Beshear could veto the road plan and then spend the transportation funds on road plans that he supports. But Beshear did not sign the road plan bill into law. He received the bill earlier Thursday and said he needed more time to review its hundreds of projects. The state constitution gives him 10 days — not including Sundays — to decide whether to sign or veto a bill or to allow it to become law without his signature. Republican Floor Leader Robert Stivers, of Manchester, argued that the House was slow in getting the road plan to the Senate, which led to a breakdown on the 59th day of the legislation session. www.courier-journal.com/article/20120416/NEWS0101/304160050/Kentucky-legislature-starts-special-session-sour-mood?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p
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Post by Press Release on Apr 21, 2012 9:04:26 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – (From left) House budget committee chair Rick Rand, D-Bedford; House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg; and House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, approach the Kentucky House of Representatives after a meeting with the governor.
Prescription-drug monitoring bill sent to governor; special session ends
FRANKFORT -- Legislation addressing prescription-drug abuse in the state was sent to the governor’s desk today after gaining approval from the full General Assembly. House Bill 1, sponsored by House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Rep. John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville, will make registration with and use of the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system (KASPER) mandatory by physicians and pharmacists prescribing or dispensing Schedule II and Schedule III drugs, such as oxycodone or morphine. The bill requires pharmacists to submit data to KASPER within 24 hours of dispensing a narcotic and doctors to check the system prior to initially prescribing the monitored medications to a new patient. Doctors would then only be required to check a KASPER report every three months of a patient’s treatment. The measure further requires that pain management clinics be owned by at least one licensed physician. Clinics already operating in the state but not owned by a physician would be allowed to remain open unless they violate a sanction regarding controlled substances. The bill also mandates various medical licensing boards to set forth prescribing and dispensing guidelines, as well as disciplinary measures for those who inappropriate prescribe narcotics. Under the final version of the bill, the KASPER system will remain under the control of the Cabinet of Health and Family Services, but access will be limited to approved persons who are part of an established investigation of a specific individual. Interstate sharing of data will be allowed. HB 1 provides $4 million of National Mortgage Settlement proceeds for the expansion of KASPER. Supporters of the measure say it will help in fighting prescription drug addiction and overdose in the Commonwealth, something that officials say claims the lives of approximately three Kentuckians every day. Prescription-drug abuse was one of two issues considered by the Kentucky General Assembly in the 1st Extraordinary Session of 2012. Lawmakers also approved a transportation budget before concluding the special session this evening. 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 Apr 21, 2012 9:10:33 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Sen. Vernie McGaha, R-Russell Springs, debates a state road funding bill up for consideration in the Kentucky Senate.
State road funding bill goes to governor
A bill to pay for the $4.5 billion two-year state Road Plan—passed during the recently-concluded 2012 Regular Session—has cleared the Kentucky General Assembly. House Bill 2, sponsored by Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford, and Rep. Sannie Overly, D-Paris, which includes the state Transportation Cabinet’s operating budget for the next two fiscal years, was approved on Friday night on the fifth day of a special legislative session called by Governor Steve Beshear. The bill was given final passage in the Senate—which withdrew earlier changes to the bill—on a 37-1 vote. It had been approved by the House on Wednesday by a vote of 96-2. HB 2 will fund the two-year Road Plan, which is found in House Bill 267 that state lawmakers approved during the recently concluded 2012 Regular Session. That plan contains: over $1 billion for state construction; around $1.4 billion in federal highway construction and maintenance; around $250 million in federal funds for bridge replacement (including bridges on small county roads); around $200 million for improvements to I-65; and funding to complete base realignment and closure (BRAC) bond improvements at Fort Knox, among other provisions. 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 Apr 21, 2012 9:22:35 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Sen. Robert Leeper, I-Paducah, chair of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee, explains an amendment to the state road spending plan being debated in the Kentucky Senate.
This Week in Frankfort
FRANKFORT – The headline this session-weary Friday is: Road Plan funding, ‘pill mill’ controls pass special session in minimum 5 days. Of course, a good newspaper editor would make it punchier and pithier and probably a whole lot snarkier; this has not been a popular special session in the public prints or airwaves, and few if any legislators themselves were happy about having it. That’s a mild description of Frankfort’s mood when Monday rolled around. Instead of being home as expected with their families and livelihoods, lawmakers were back in the Capitol wrestling with two key issues most had thought were as good as wrapped up, even well past suppertime, on the full session’s last day: Transportation funding and pill mills. But the week wore on, back on the job. And by Friday, an honest headline writer would include a sub-head along the lines of: Democracy irritating sometimes, but somehow works. Representative government is almost always a messy business, frequently frustrating and rarely a hundred-percent satisfactory. Someone, somewhere, is unhappy, even deeply so. Often it’s more expensive than we’d like. But the alternative to messiness is despotism, because it would take a despot to run things with the brutal efficiency that’s only possible when free people aren’t involved. We pay the price of freedom every time democracy takes its inefficient turn onstage. It’s a piddling fee, considering. Just quick background on why the Legislature was back in special session this week in the first place: Time ran out on the 2012 regular session (constitutionally limited to 60 days) as the Road Plan itself -- which had passed both chambers earlier in the session’s last day – went unsigned by a governor who said he needed time to review it. Remember, the Plan is just a plan. The budget to pay for it is a separate bill. When midnight came Thursday, the critical funding bill was in the Senate, and the Senate still didn't know for sure what it would end up paying for. The governor could still veto the entire Road Plan (or, he contended, parts of it) after final adjournment. The Legislature would have no chance to override. Senate leaders said funding an unsigned bill that could be vetoed was like writing a $4.5 billion blank check for the governor to spend as he chose. So they held the funding bill, midnight came, and it died with sine die. An unrelated but nonetheless major bill to combat prescription-drug abuse in Kentucky also expired at that constitutionally mandated drop-dead hour. The so-called pill mill bill was a priority of both chambers. But concerns about its regulatory structure and impact on legitimate practitioners lingered to the end, talks continued, and the concerns were never fully resolved. Pill mills quickly joined road funding on the call for an extraordinary session, issued by the governor the next day, to convene Monday. It was a startling turn of events. The regular session’s end was quick, unexpected, and psychologically and politically brutal. A session noted for its lack of strife, bipartisan cooperation and deft handling of the most challenging state budget in years suddenly faced a special session no one expected and no one wanted. Flash forward to that special session, this week: Five days is the minimum time it takes for legislation to go through the process and pass both chambers. The two reborn bills originated in the House, which passed them on schedule and handed them off to the Senate Wednesday. Also Wednesday, the governor acted. He vetoed all or portions of 11 items in the 400-page road-construction plan (passed in regular session, remember) totaling $50 million. All of them are in or near what might be called Ground Zero in this year’s dispute, a district in south-central Kentucky. In taking that action, he cleared the way for final action on the roadbuilding budget. Choosing not to counter those vetoes with specific language in the funding bill (though the Senate made a strong attempt) the Legislature pressed the last piece of the Road Plan puzzle into place by passing its funding mechanism, some $4.5 billion worth. That’s a lot of money, and a lot of blacktop, and Kentuckians can anticipate lots of heavy equipment in their near future – along with construction delays of the welcome kind – as new roads and bridges are built and old ones fixed, widened, extended, or improved. Kentuckians love the smell of asphalt in the morning. It smells like progress. The Road Plan’s ambitious scope reflects the robust condition of the state Road Fund, which is based on the gasoline tax, which in turn is tied to the unholy price of gas. New and better roads are the only happy side effect most Kentuckians will feel as they stand beside their cars and take that bitter medicine at the pump. In fact, Kentuckians may well look back and say this year’s signature legislative accomplishment was roads and bridges, and their long-term impact on economic development, jobs, and simple quality of life in the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, the old House Bill 4, reincarnated in special session as HB 1, brought pill mills back onstage, where they’d lingered much of the winter and now into the spring. Through its many incarnations, the underlying measure has always been designed to get a regulatory handle on the growing and deadly phenomenon of pill mills – the so-called pain clinics that fuel the state’s epidemic of prescription-drug abuse by making powerful pain meds easy for addicts and abusers to get legally. Officials say more Kentuckians die every year from legal-drug overdoses than in highway crashes. The number’s around a thousand, three a day, and growing. The toll is appalling. The bill has been a bipartisan priority, but a tough nut to crack. A key and much-debated provision of the bill involved transferring oversight of the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting program -- KASPER, it’s called -- to the Attorney General's office. Proponents of that move hoped monitoring and enforcement of questionable prescribing trends would be more aggressive there than is currently the case in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, an agency not primarily devoted to law enforcement. But persistent concern was expressed that the bill (especially more-aggressive AG enforcement) might unduly hamstring legitimate practitioners, who are simply prescribing pain meds, in good faith, for real medical need. Late and at length, that concern prevailed, and KASPER will stay put. And Friday afternoon, at last, the pill mill bill ended its final bumpy passage through the Legislature and headed downstairs to the governor’s desk for his expected signature. 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 Apr 24, 2012 20:08:08 GMT -5
courier-journal.com Robert Stivers supports new law in fight against prescription drug abuse Reporter Laura Ungar
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear on Tuesday signed into law a measure cracking down on prescription drug abuse, saying he wants to send a “loud and clear message to the pill pushers in white coats and the pill mills.” House Bill 1, wide-ranging legislation sponsored by House Speaker Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, passed in the waning hours of a General Assembly special session that ended last Friday. State Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said he supports the new law, adding that politics shouldn’t play a part in the fight against prescription drug abuse, which is a pervasive problem that transcends political party. In his district, he said, a local coroner recently told him that toxicology reports in 55 motor vehicle accidents from last year showed prescription drugs in the victims’ bodies. “When you see a problem,” Stivers said, “you need to have a solution.” www.courier-journal.com/article/20120424/NEWS01/304240072/Bill-cracking-down-prescription-drug-abuse-signed-into-law
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Post by Press Release on Jun 2, 2012 7:21:10 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary Co-Chair Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London (left), confers with Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, prior to the start of the committee's June meeting held at the Kentucky State Police Training Academy in Frankfort.
KSP asks lawmakers for tools to crack down child exploitation
“That is the hottest thing on the beach today,” said the voice behind the camera at Cave Run Lake one sunny summer day. On the video was a young girl in a swim suit, maybe 9 years old, running and playing in the sand with other young children. The videographer was a middle-aged registered sex offender from Wisconsin who had moved to Elliott County, Kentucky and found his way to the lake to videotape children, without anyone’s knowledge. Lt. Shane Bates with the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch said the recordings and related commentary would have been criminal in Wisconsin, but not in Kentucky. “There is no law restricting a convicted sex offender from photographing or videoing children (in Kentucky),” Lt. Bates told lawmakers during the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary meeting at the State Police Academy today. “In Wisconsin, his conduct would have been criminal, but in Kentucky it was legal.” More images were shared with lawmakers. There were portraits of happy, smiling children including Adam Walsh, Jessica Lunsford and Polly Klaas, all who were kidnapped and murdered by their abductors. There were also portraits of children like Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted and, miraculously, found alive. Most, if not all, of these victims were sexually assaulted or endured some other kind of torture while abducted, reported Lt. Bates. Children like these are abused or abducted each day—more than 83,800 in 2005 alone, according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System--, and, as Lt. Bates explained, child pornography plays a part in child victimization. Eighty five percent of child pornography offenders in one study cited by Lt. Bates admitted that they had sexually abused children, he said. On average, said Lt. Bates, 13.5 children were victimized by each child pornography offender. Kentucky has the structure in place to deal with these offenders, and help prevent further victimization. The KSP’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Program works daily to investigate complaints and analyze digital evidence that has been seized in ICAC investigations. But more tools are needed, according to KSP legal counsel Morgain Sprague. Sprague asked that the Kentucky General Assembly consider giving the KSP the power to administratively subpoena Internet Service Provider (ISP) subscriber records on a suspect to save time and, possibly, a child’s life. Under current state law, only the Attorney General’s Office is given express power to issue subpoenas for E-files in electronic child exploitation cases, under certain circumstances. “If we can rescue a child, we want that information as quickly as possible. And, in many cases, our ICAC unit has rescued children in the Commonwealth,” said Sprague. The KSP is also asking that lawmakers pass a state law allowing asset forfeiture of property where child sexual offenses take place (there is only a federal law currently), and clarify that images of child exploitation are “contraband” that must stay in law enforcement custody. And, Sprague added, Kentucky needs a law that prohibits convicted sex offenders like the man from Wisconsin from photographing or videotaping children in the Commonwealth without parental consent. “The disturbing videos shown earlier are not criminal (in Kentucky),” said Sprague. 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 Jun 6, 2012 7:12:52 GMT -5
(From left) Rep. Charles Miller, D-Louisville; Rep. Steven Riggs, D-Louisville; and Rep. Terry Mills, D-Lebanon, confer before the start of the June meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation.
Lawmakers briefed on Western Kentucky bridge repair
FRANKFORT – Members of the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation were briefed today on the successful re-opening of the Eggners Ferry Bridge in Western Kentucky just four months after the span was closed for repairs after being struck by a cargo ship. The bridge is located on the US 68 and KY 80 corridor and crosses the Kentucky Lake. It is a vital transportation route for tourists, businesses, and residents in the area. “Even though this bridge is far down in western Kentucky and out of people’s minds, it’s a major structure. It’s a major bridge and it has been in use for 80 years,” said Steve Waddle, Transportation Cabinet State Highway Engineer. A large cargo ship hit the bridge on Jan. 26, taking out a long span and forcing its closure. State engineers were on-site the following day to assess damage, according to Waddle. By the end of February, crews had determined there was no structural damage to the piers of the bridge and the Transportation Cabinet began accepting bids for contracts to complete the repairs, he said. Work on the bridge began in early March. It officially re-opened on May 25, in time to accommodate Memorial Day holiday traffic, and two days ahead of schedule. Residents of the local community celebrated by walking or riding their bikes across the bridge the morning before it opened to traffic. “It was a great day,” Waddle said. Several lawmakers questioned the ship’s liability in the accident. The Transportation Cabinet is currently involved in litigation against the ship to determine liability, Waddle said. The total cost of the repair, $7 million, was paid for through emergency federal funds. 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 Jun 7, 2012 8:15:17 GMT -5
Lawmakers review On-Farm Energy Efficiency grant program
FRANKFORT—A total of $696,288 in grants have been awarded to 81 farm operations so far this year as part of a farm energy savings program, state Agricultural Policy officials told state lawmakers today. The grants, awarded as part of the state’s On-Farm Energy Efficiency and Production Program, are the first to be funded from $2 million in state agricultural development funds set aside for the program in January. Three more rounds of funding are expected, Bill McCloskey of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy told members of the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee. Agricultural development funds are drawn from Kentucky’s share of 14-year-old national tobacco settlement with major tobacco companies. “I think it is really good that we have so much interest in what would be something that pays long-term dividends,” said committee co-chair Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville. Eighty four farm operations had applied for the first round funding, McCloskey said. Successful applicants met program guidelines which require, among other things, a third party evaluation as part of the application process and allowable reimbursement of up to 25 percent of eligible project costs, not to exceed $10,000. Of the three applicants who were not approved for first-round funding, McCloskey said some may wish to reapply later. The deadline for the second round of applications is June 30, with other deadlines set for Sept. 30 and Dec. 31. Poultry farms, dairy farms and herb growers are among the types of farm operations that have been awarded grants through the program, McCloskey said. Federal stimulus dollars were used to offer Kentucky On-Farm Energy Efficiency and Production Program incentives from 2009 to 2011. State officials say more than $1.4 million was invested in 190 on-farm energy projects during the three-year period, resulting in more than $2 million in energy savings per year. 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 Jun 8, 2012 6:12:37 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Rep. Marie Rader, R-McKee (left), speaks with Rep. Jill York, R-Grayson, prior to the start of the June meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.
State legislative panel considers effect of new EPA rule
FRANKFORT-- A new Environmental Protection Agency rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions favors natural gas over coal for electricity generation, a state Air Quality official told state lawmakers. Division of Air Quality Director John Lyons told the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment that the recently proposed and published Greenhouse Gas New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) rule, which was proposed and took effect in April 2012, will not apply to certain natural gas fired turbines but will apply to future small (73 megawatt base load rating) coal-fired plants that were not permitted or built prior to April 13. The emission standard under the rule, Lyons said, limits carbon dioxide to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour gross output annually. “You might ask, ‘What does that mean?’ To give you an idea of what some current facilities emit in terms of CO2, a super critical coal fired generator such as the Trimble 2 unit (in Trimble County, KY) ,which is one of the cleanest units in the nation, puts out about 1,800 pounds of CO2,” he said. Lyons said a simple cycle natural gas fired turbine emits about 1,300 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour gross output a year, while a combined cycle natural gas fired unit emits around 750 pounds per megawatt hour of the greenhouse gas. “The only technology that really falls under 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour is a combined cycle natural-gas fired turbine,” he said. The rule does give some leeway to coal-fired electricity generation at new units that can meet the average 1,000 pound CO2 emission standard over a 30-year period, Lyons explained. Lyons said the 30-year standard is a kind of “out, if you will” for coal-fired power plants, although he said meeting that standard would require reliance on technologies like carbon capture and storage that is not what he called “a proven technology”. Committee Co-Chair Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence, said he recently heard a federal official say natural gas is going to be “the standard” in power generation in the future. “His comments went on to say if you’re wanting to build a coal-fired power plant, you’ve got major problems,” Gooch said. “We’re the ones who are going to pay the consequences for this decision,” Gooch said. When asked by Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty, what the “tipping point” is in deciding to switch from coal to natural gas, Lyons commented that EPA rules like the one published April 13 could play a part. “At this point in time, it’s as cheap to use natural gas as coal because of the price of natural gas. But,… I think it’s driven more by what the rules are and what you’ve got to meet in terms of pollution output, is what really the tipping point is rather than the equipment and whatnot,” said Lyons. “That’s something I can investigate...” Also, Lyons said electric utilities are asking themselves whether it is smarter to retrofit aging coal-fired power plants or build new plants. Utilities are asking “‘does it make sense to retrofit a 60-year old plant, rather than build a new plant which at this point in time is going to be natural gas fired unit with all the factors involved?’” Lyons 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 Jun 15, 2012 11:33:18 GMT -5
Lawmakers learn progress of sorghum-to-ethanol project
CARLISLE, Ky.—Brazil is doing it; so are places in Florida and Texas. And now retired IBM chemical engineer and Southeast Biofuels President Stephen Popyach, of Mt. Sterling, wants Kentucky to invest more in production of ethanol using sorghum as feedstock. “Most foreign countries that want to become energy independent are growing sorghum right now,” Popyach told the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture and Small Business at Blue Licks State Resort Park yesterday. Popyach said 700 gallons of ethanol can be produced with an acre of sweet sorghum, a plant that is similar to corn and grows well, even in poor soil. Southeast Biofuels has finished the first phase of a project that resulted in production of a million gallons of ethanol from 2,000 harvested acres of sweet sorghum, Popyach said. Passed among committee members were a dry, dense sorghum stalk, a glass jar containing juice pressed from sorghum feedstock, and a smaller jar containing ethanol made from the juice. It takes 10 million gallons of the juice to make a million gallons of ethanol, Popyach said. No funding is yet available for the project’s second phase, which Popyach expects to cost around $400,000, he told lawmakers. “Phase II is to actually prove to the farmer that we actually have a working unit sitting on a farm,” Popyach said. “That is what we’re trying to do.” Current plans are for Southeast Biofuels to develop a unit that can fit on one tractor trailer and produce 250 gallons of sorghum ethanol a day—or 90,000 gallons a year—on the farm, he said. Each unit will be modular, mobile, and require 200 acres of sweet sorghum for production, he said. In keeping with the company’s plans to make ethanol production possible “on the farm”, Popyach told lawmakers that producing ethanol from sorghum is not a very complex process. “It’s not hard to do.,” he said. Making it possible for farmers to refine their own fuel on the farm will not only eliminate transportation costs required to moving fuel from Point A to Point B, but Popyach said the cost to make a gallon of ethanol from sorghum on the farm is affordable at around $1.60. The ethanol, which is a fuel additive, can also play a role in Kentucky’s goal of energy independence, Popyach 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 Jun 16, 2012 6:02:47 GMT -5
Lawmakers learn about veteran training program
FRANKFORT – Members of the Interim Joint Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection learned yesterday about a training program for veterans transitioning out of the military. The program, Veterans in Piping (VIP), was created in 2009 by the United Association (UA). It prepares soldiers leaving the military for careers in welding, plumbing and HVAC. Participating veterans complete an 18 to 20 week training course and then are directly placed into an apprenticeship. The program is provided at no cost to participants but has an estimated value of $35,000 per apprentice, according to Bruce Dantley, a UA training specialist. VIP helps the UA address an anticipated labor shortage of skilled craftsmen expected in the next three to five years. “The best place to get the new workforce [we’re looking for is from] the military,” he said. Dantley told lawmakers the UA feels like veterans have earned training opportunities by serving our country. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said. The program partners with contractors across the United States and Canada, including some here in Kentucky, to ensure graduating veterans will have employment after their training is complete, Dantley said. The goal of the program is to provide veterans with an option for a lifelong career, he said. Nationwide, more than 235 veterans have graduated from the program. 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 Jun 26, 2012 15:10:18 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Rep. Jim Stewart, R-Flat Lick, asks a question about black lung benefits during the June meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Labor and Industry.
New laws go into effect July 12
FRANKFORT -- New laws approved during the Kentucky General Assembly's 2012 regular session go into effect on July 12. The new laws mean copper thieves won’t be able to sell stolen materials for quick cash at recycling centers. Passengers in large vans will no longer be exempt from the state’s seat belt law. And meth producers will have a harder time getting large amounts of a key ingredient needed to make their illegal drugs. The Kentucky Constitution states that legislation approved by the General Assembly goes into effect as state law 90 days after a legislative session ends, unless a bill specifies a different effective date or contains an emergency clause that makes it effective as soon as it is signed by the governor. This year’s regular session adjourned on April 12. Among the issues covered by laws that go into effect July 12 are the following:
Blue Alert. Senate Bill 32 will establish a statewide emergency alert system to catch those suspected of injuring a police officer. The “Blue Alert” system, which is modeled after the Amber Alert system, will use law enforcement communication systems, electronic highway signs and media to spread information to catch perpetrators after an officer has been reported wounded or missing.
Coal mine safety. House Bill 385 will enforce new rules for miners who fail drug or alcohol tests. Offenders will be ineligible to hold mining licenses or certificates for three years. Penalties are more severe for repeat offenders.
Coal truck drivers. HB 411 will designate the Monday of the fourth week in August as Coal Truck Driver Appreciation Day.
Concealed deadly weapons. HB 484 will allow Kentuckians to carry concealed weapons without a license on their property or place of business.
Copper theft. HB 390 will help curb theft of copper and other valuable metals by ensuring thieves don’t get immediate cash for the stolen goods at recycling centers. Instead, after showing proof of ownership, a check will be mailed to those selling certain metals to recycling centers. The legislation will also ensure that recycling centers receive reports on recently stolen metal items in the area so they can be on the lookout. The bill does not affect individuals recycling aluminum cans.
Confederate pensions. HB 85 will remove from the law books outdated language regarding pensions for Confederate soldiers.
Consumer protection. HB 421 will protect homeowners from being defrauded by providing a five-day grace period to cancel a signed roofing contract if the homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover the repair work.
Diplomas. SB 43 will provide diplomas to students with disabilities who finish modified high school curriculums. The diploma will replace the certificate of completion the students currently receive.
Emergency room safety. SB 58 will allow officers to make arrests for misdemeanor assault with probable cause if the crime occurs in a hospital emergency room. Under current law, emergency rooms aren’t exempt from the requirement that an officer must witness a misdemeanor assault in order to make an arrest.
Ethics. HB 402 will allow the Executive Branch Ethics Commission to share evidence with the state Personnel Board or the Auditor of Public Accounts if the information is needed for the agencies’ investigations.
For-profit postsecondary schools. HB 308 will establish a new panel to regulate private for-profit colleges and universities in Kentucky. The legislation will replace the Kentucky Board for Proprietary Education with the Kentucky Commission on Proprietary Education and will limit the schools’ membership to four seats. The legislation also calls for the creation of a compensation fund (paid for by the industry) for grievances of eligible Kentucky students and a revised student complaint review process.
Meth labs. SB 3 will boost efforts to stop production of methamphetamines by tightening rules on the purchase of certain cold and allergy medicines that contain an ingredient needed to make meth. The legislation will decrease the current monthly over-the-counter purchase limit of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in pill or tablet forms from 9 grams to 7.2 grams and impose a 24 gram yearly limit. The measure will also replace the paper-tracking system currently in place for the purchase of medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine with a mandatory electronic system that will allow more real-time tracking.
National Guard Assistance Program. HB 224 will make Kentucky National Guard members eligible for financial assistance to help pay child adoption costs.
Personal-care homes. SB 115 will require a medical examination that includes a medical history, physical examination and diagnosis prior to admission to a personal-care home.
POW/MIA flags. HB 121 will require Prisoner of War and Missing in Action flags purchased or displayed by public institutions to be made in the United States.
School facilities. SB 110 will make it easier for school districts to allow community access to school facilities for recreational use during non-school hours by protecting the schools from liability in cases where an injury occurs.
Seat belts. SB 89 will expand Kentucky’s seat belt law to include 15-person passenger vans. The bill was filed in response to a 2010 crash on I-65 near Munfordville that killed 11 people, most of whom weren’t wearing seat belts. Current state law only requires seat belt use in vehicles designed to carry ten or fewer passengers.
Speed limits. HB 439 will allow the Transportation Cabinet to increase the speed limit on I-69 in Western Kentucky to 70 miles per hour.
Veterans’ licenses. HB 221 will allow veterans to have their service designated on driver’s licenses and state identification cards. The designations will make it easier for veterans to show proof of service needed for various discounts and special services available to them.
War memorial. HB 256 will establish a committee responsible for oversight of construction and upkeep of an Iraq/Afghanistan War Memorial.
Wild hogs. HB 344 will impose stiffer penalties on those who release feral hogs into the wild. The state’s growing feral pig population is a threat to farmland, natural habitats and human health, experts say. 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 Jun 29, 2012 6:31:52 GMT -5
Rep. Marie Rader, R-McKee, is a member of the Kentucky Public Pensions Task Force.
Task force to seek ways of improving health of state’s pension funds
FRANKFORT -- A new state task force charged with recommending ways to improve the financial health of the state’s public pension funds will hold its first meeting on July 2nd. The Kentucky Public Pensions Task Force – chaired by Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, and Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton – will hold monthly meetings up until a Dec. 7 deadline for offering recommendations. Members plan to take a wide look at issues surrounding the systems, including benefits, investments, funding and any other matter that impacts the financial stability of the state-administered retirement systems. As of June of last year, the unfunded liability of Kentucky’s state-administered retirement systems exceeded $30 billion. The systems administer retirement and retiree health benefits to more than 475,000 current and former public employees. At the task force’s first meeting, members will be provided with an overview of the administration, benefits, funding, investments, and concerns of the Kentucky Retirement Systems and a national perspective on public pension issues and individual state reactions. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 2, in room 171 of the Capitol Annex. The task force is also tentatively scheduled to meet July 24, August 21, Sept. 18, Oct. 16 and Nov. 20. The next July meeting is expected to focus on input from public policy experts with the Laura and John Arnold foundation and the PEW Center on the States. Employee and employer groups, along with other interested parties, will be heard at the August meeting. A presentation of possible task force recommendations will be discussed in September, with decisions on those recommendations finalized in the October meeting. A presentation of the task force’s draft report is scheduled to be offered in the November meeting. The Kentucky Public Pensions Task Force was created by House Concurrent Resolution 162, sponsored by Rep. Cherry, which lawmakers approved during the 2012 legislative session. In addition to co-chairs Sen. Thayer and Rep. Cherry, task force members include Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville; Sen. Joey Pendleton, D-Hopkinsville; Sen. Dorsey Ridley, D-Henderson; Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon; Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green; Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort; Rep. Keith Hall, D-Pikeville; Rep. Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville; Rep. Marie Rader, R-McKee; and Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville. The chairs of the Senate and House budget committees – Sen. Bob Leeper, I-Paducah, and Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford – will also serve as non-voting ex-officio members. 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 Jun 29, 2012 21:53:02 GMT -5
Sen. Walter Blevins, D-Morehead, asks a question about the state lottery during the June meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on State Government.
Lawmakers hear state lottery annual report
FRANKFORT – The Kentucky Lottery Corporation will be implementing new strategies in an effort to increase sales, profitability, and funds transferred to the Commonwealth, Arch Gleason, President and CEO of the corporation, told lawmakers in a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on State Government. “I think all of you recognize the most important thing is the amount of money we actually return to the Commonwealth for the benefit of its citizens,” he said. According to Gleason, the lottery has seen a decline in sales in recent years. He attributes that decline, in part, to a decrease in the percentage of profits being paid back to winners. Since 2009, the portion of sales revenue being awarded as cash prizes has been below 60 percent. The Kentucky Lottery plans to increase the overall payout to “the industry’s prevailing rate” of 68.8 percent, he said. “It is important that the players feel that the tickets they play give them the best opportunity to win,” Gleason said. The Kentucky Lottery Corporation also plans to implement a rewards program later this year called ‘Points for Prizes.’ The new program will allow players to enter non-winning tickets on the lottery website to accumulate points that can be exchanged for merchandise and prizes. The program is expected to increase sales by 2-4 percent, Gleason said. When asked if removing certain advertising restrictions would also boost sales, Gleason said it would. Currently, lottery proceeds transferred to the state fund the merit-based Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship, as well as the need-based College Access Program and Kentucky Tuition Grant. However, the lottery is prohibited from including that information in advertisements. Gleason said he’d like to see the General Assembly consider eliminating that restriction. 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 Jun 30, 2012 8:13:15 GMT -5
Rep. Ted Edmonds, D-Jackson, asks state officials a question about special taxing districts during the June meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government.
Lawmakers looking at efforts to study state’s special districts
State lawmakers heard about the State Auditor of Public Accounts’ efforts to examine special districts that levy taxes or fees in hopes of boosting the accountability of those entities during a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government. By the end of this year, State Auditor Adam Edelen said his office should have an inventory of just how many special districts there are in the state (he estimates there could be as many as 1,800) and how much tax revenue these special districts—which may provide funding for services like fire protection, public health, library services, flood control, etc.—handle each year. The information will be then placed online to make the districts more accountable to the public, Edelen said. The information gathered by the State Auditor’s office will also be used to make recommendations for possible legislative action during the 2012 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, Edelen said. Interim Joint Committee on Local Government Co-Chair Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said he plans to sponsor legislation concerning special districts for consideration in 2013. Thayer said his committee and the State Auditor’s office are continuing a dialogue that, as Edelen commented, will help “separate the wheat from the chaff” as far as special districts are concerned. “The taxpayers are now focused on this and, first of all, I would say to the employees and board members of the special districts exactly what the Auditor said at the beginning (of this meeting): If you are doing your job appropriately and being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money, you have nothing to fear from the Auditor’s effort, or any legislation that this General Assembly may consider,” Thayer said. It was just a few months ago that the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly passed House Concurrent Resolution 53, sponsored by Rep. Reginald Meeks, D-Louisville, and Interim Joint Committee on Local Government Co-Chair Rep. Steve Riggs, D-Louisville. That legislation directs the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government to study special districts during the 2012 legislative interim, which ends this December. The resolution was adopted following recent government and quasi-governmental agency audits conducted by Edelen’s office. Edelen told the committee that his office thinks Kentucky has between 1,000 and 1,800 special districts with total tax revenue of $500,000 to $1 billion passing through those districts annually. “Based on those assumptions, you’d have $100 million in taxpayer money floating through a system every year in a way in which the taxpayers can’t properly account for (it),” he told lawmakers. Once the inventory is complete, Edelen said state lawmakers and all Kentucky taxpayers will know more about what he called the “most prevalent form of government in Kentucky”, which is what he said special districts are. Rep. Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana, said he appreciates those who serve on special district boards in his area because they volunteer their time to serve. “I’ve got some great special districts and I thank all the people who serve because they serve without pay… To get some kind of benchmark will be your challenge,” he told Edelen. Edelen said he plans to set the bar “very high.” The committee heard from members of some local fire districts and the Kentucky Fire Commission, whose legislative director Michael “Howdy” Kurtsinger said he feels fire taxing districts “are doing what is required” under state law. It also heard from Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) President Elect and Larue County Judge Executive Tommy Turner, who said KACo endorses both Edelen’s initiative and HCR 53 passed during the 2012 Regular Session. “We are hopeful that the majority of (special districts) will be found to be in full compliance, acting in a responsible and efficient manner,” said Turner. KACo is also willing, said Turner, to collaborate with state officials on a local government tax reform package “and would include these districts in that discussion,” 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 Jul 10, 2012 8:47:53 GMT -5
Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, studies an education report during the June meeting of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
Early childhood programs contribute to education success, lawmakers told
FRANKFORT—Early childhood development programs and school readiness screenings deserve credit for at least some of the progress made in public education in Kentucky lately, state officials told a legislative committee today. The screenings, currently given to children entering kindergarten in various Kentucky school districts, are often the first indicator of educational success, state Early Childhood Advisory Council member Brigitte Ramsey told the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee. “That would be the first point in time where we know how many children are coming to school prepared to be successful…and how many are not,” Ramsey said in reply to a question from committee co-chair Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville, who asked about the role tobacco settlement-funded early childhood programs play in later educational success. All school districts in Kentucky will conduct school readiness screenings for children entering kindergarten beginning in the 2013-14 school year, according to the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Executive Director Terry Tolan. The screenings will ultimately help officials determine which children will be reading on grade level by third grade, she said. Those who are reading on level by third grade are most likely to graduate from high school and go on to college and/or career success, she said. “I fully agree that early childhood development is one of the best things we could focus on,” committee co-chair Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, said. “If we don’t catch kids by the time they’re in the third grade anyway, they’re behind in their peer group and it’s tough for them to graduate.” School readiness screening promotion is only part of the state’s investment in early childhood development since early childhood began receiving 25 percent of Kentucky’s share of a 1998 multi-billion-dollar national master tobacco settlement. Other funding areas include, but are not limited to, quality ratings of childcare providers, child care subsidies, immunizations, substance abuse programs for pregnant mothers, in-home visits for young families, and early childhood oral health programs. The HANDS (Health Access Nurturing Development Services) program—the in-home visitation program for new and expectant parents—is considered a national model for support to families with young children, said Tolan, who added that a write-up of the program appeared in Time magazine. The voluntary program is offered during pregnancy or any time before a child reaches three months of age to all first-time mothers and/or fathers living in Kentucky. Scholarships for those who pursue training or college degrees in early childhood development in Kentucky are another investment the state is making, Tolan said. In fiscal year 2012 scholarships for early childhood educators helped 274 educators earn state early childhood credentials and 187 earn national credentials, she said. They also helped 82 students to earn an associate’s degree and eight students earn a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. “You can see from those…surprisingly large numbers that we are really encouraging early childhood educators to get the education they need in order to be effective,” Tolan said. According to Ramsey, the state was able to allocate $25 million of the state’s tobacco settlement dollars to early childhood programs in the last year. 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 Jul 12, 2012 9:34:19 GMT -5
Robert Stivers
courier-journal.comNew Meth law backed by Robert Stivers now in effect in Kentucky
Starting Thursday, it will be easier for Kentuckians to carry a concealed weapon but harder to stock up on allergy medicines that can be used to make methamphetamine. Those are just two of the more than 100 new laws that go into effect Thursday, affecting everything from incentives for Louisville’s Ford auto plants to forbidding the release of wild pigs that could destroy crops. Others crack down on thieves who try to sell stolen recyclable metals such as copper and require seat belts to be worn in 15-passenger vans — a response to a 2010 crash that killed 11 people. The laws take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, and that’s today. The crackdown on methamphetamine manufacturers, which was widely contested during the session, restricts the sale of cold and allergy medications, such as Claritin-D and Sudafed, that contain ephedrine and pseudoephedrine that can be used as active ingredients in making the illegal drug. The law limits their purchase to two packages a month and requires pharmacies and other stores to enter customers’ identities into an electronic, multi-state tracking system when the medication is purchased. Opponents have said the bill targets the wrong people and will prevent customers from getting the medication they need, but the law’s backers argue that it will curtail the production of meth. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, originally wanted medications containing pseudoephedrine to be available by prescription only. Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, has said he is convinced the bill will save lives. www.courier-journal.com/article/20120711/NEWS01/307090113/100-plus-new-laws-take-effect-Kentucky
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Post by Press Release on Jul 14, 2012 6:46:51 GMT -5
Rep. Rick Nelson, D-Middlesboro (right), confers with Rep. Bill Farmer, R-Lexington, prior to the start of the July meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
Lawmakers hear about veteran task force
The number of veterans involved in the criminal justice system has increased significantly in recent years, Justice Will Scott told members of the Interim Joint Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection yesterday. Justice Scott is the chair of the Veterans Issues subcommittee of the Kentucky Access to Justice Commission, a task force focused on identifying veterans in the justice system and then connecting them with appropriate services to address their needs. Until recently, there was no standardized method of determining if a person involved in the court system had veteran status. Work by the task force and others has changed that, Scott said. Pre-trial officers now classify individuals by veteran and combat status as part of the mandated post-arrest interview process. Similar information is now included on the Uniform Citation Report completed by police at every arrest, as well. The information goes into a searchable database and enables court personnel to identify veterans in the system. This allows judges the option of requesting a veterans-only docket, and makes it easier to refer veterans to the programs they qualify for, Scott said. Many veterans coming into the criminal justice system may be suffering from undiagnosed neurological or other combat-related injuries, Scott said. Veterans Justice Outreach Officers (VJOs) can assist qualified veterans by helping to divert their arrest with mental health of substance abuse treatment, he said. A part of the Veterans Administration, VJOs offer assessment and case management to veterans involved in the justice system. VJOs are also working to educate and train judges and others in the criminal justice system about the programs available to veterans involved in criminal and civil matters, Scott said. Many veterans programs aren’t utilized because people don’t know about 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 In The News on Jul 16, 2012 15:00:10 GMT -5
FRANKFORT – Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington, discusses the sale of alcoholic beverages on election day during the July meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing and Occupations. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
Push on to legalize liquor sales on Election Day
Some lawmakers are pressing again to overturn what they call an archaic law banning the sale of liquor during voting hours on Election Day. Democratic state Rep. Arnold Simpson of Covington and other supports of the move are citing the economic factors. Simpson told a legislative committee Friday that the ban is costing the state better than $600,000 a year in lost tax revenue. Kentucky is one of the few remaining states that doesn't allow Election Day alcohol sales. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States lists South Carolina as the only other state to have such a ban. Groups representing the state's liquor industry have been urging lawmakers to lift the ban for years. Read more here: www.kentucky.com/2012/07/15/2259169/push-on-to-legalize-liquor-sales.html
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Post by Press Release on Jul 19, 2012 6:43:15 GMT -5
Senate Majority Caucus Chair Dan Seum, R-Louisville, speaks during the July meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing and Occupations. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
Lawmakers briefed on new farm vehicle regulations
Overweight and large farm vehicles now have their own regulation separate from the overweight commercial truck regulation, lawmakers were told yesterday in a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation. The division was made to simplify farm vehicle requirements and make them easier to understand, Ann D’Angelo, of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said. Minor changes were also made to the regulation to comply with laws passed during the most recent legislative session, she said. House Bill 518, passed during the 2012 legislative session, requires only one escort vehicle when transporting farm vehicles more than 12 feet wide. The law specifies only a lead vehicle must be present on two-lane highways. Only a trail vehicle is required on four-lane roads. Previously two escort vehicles were needed anytime an overdimensional vehicle was on the road. Other changes to the regulation affect farm vehicle lighting and signage, Rick Taylor, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Deputy Commissioner, said. The changes are more lenient and flexible for farmers, but still maintain highway safety, he said. According to Tom Zawacki, commissioner of the state’s Department of Vehicle Regulation, the change in regulation came after months of work by many different parties. It’s a great example of teamwork and a win-win for everyone, 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 Aug 14, 2012 20:56:22 GMT -5
Math and science initiatives prove successful, lawmakers told
Programs serving Kentucky’s brightest math and science students were showcased yesterday at a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Education. One featured program, the Gatton Academy, was recently recognized by Newsweek as America’s Best High School. “The Gatton Academy is the best example I know of what happens when you remove the learning ceiling and let students learn what they’re able to learn,” said Dr. Julia Roberts, Executive Director of the Center on Gifted Studies. The academy, located in Bowling Green, is a public residential two-year high school open to students across the state. It offers an advanced math and science curriculum, allowing students to complete their high school diploma while earning 60 hours of college credit. Students from 107 counties have attended the program since it began in 2008. According to Tim Gott, Director of the school, most students also complete research in their field of interest, providing them with scholarship opportunities typically available only to college students. All of the school’s graduates have gone on to enroll in a four-year university, he said. Lawmakers also heard about another program helping Kentucky students get a jump start on college. Advance Kentucky, a partnership between the National Math and Science Initiative, the Kentucky Department of Education and several other public and private agencies, aims to increase students’ participation and success in advanced placement (AP) classes. AP teachers told lawmakers the program is helping them reach more students than they could have otherwise. “More than a quarter of our student body can read and write at the college level as juniors in high school. They’ve been there the whole time. We’ve just been reaching them for the last five years,” said Stephanie Carter, AP English teacher at Lone Oak High School. According to Joanne Lang, Executive Director of Advance Kentucky, similar results are seen in the other 78 schools involved in the program. The number of students enrolled in AP Math, Science and English courses has quadrupled since the start of the program five years ago. The number of AP exam scores qualifying for college credit has more than doubled, she said. “The talent base in this state is unbeatable. We just have to mine it,” Lang 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 Aug 16, 2012 17:00:21 GMT -5
HB 1 committee hears concerns with new law
Physicians and others in the state’s health care community told a legislative oversight committee yesterday that the “pill mill bill” passed this year could unintentionally hurt patient care. “I don’t come before you today to criticize House Bill 1,” Lexington Clinic physician Dr. Robert Bratton, MD, told the 2012 Special Session HB 1 Implementation and Oversight Committee of the legislation, which establishes prescribing and dispensing standards for controlled substances and sets new licensing standards for pain clinics. “Rather I am here to offer suggestions on how we can improve the existing legislation and its associated regulations to better protect patients and provide reasonable...guidelines for physicians.” The system, called KASPER (Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting), has been in place for years, but its use has not been widespread. Under HB 1, practitioners and pharmacists must use the system to check the medical history of patients before prescribing controlled substances containing hydrocodone and to report dispensing of most controlled substances. Bratton said he and other physicians at Lexington Clinic would like clarification on under what circumstances HB 1’s new rules will apply and how noncompliance will be “effectively and fairly enforced.” Among other things, he said physicians need to know which medications will be monitored under HB 1, and whether a requirement in the law that requires physicians to perform a complete history and physical on a patient receiving such drugs applies to specialists that typically don’t do physicals. “An eye doctor who performs a procedure probably has not used a stethoscope since they left residency,” said Bratton. Dr. Michael Harned, MD, a pain specialist at the clinic and consultant on severe pain to the state Board of Medical Licensure, said HB 1 could leave patients in legitimate pain without treatment. “I’m here not to dispute the necessity of this important legislation… Frankly, I’m already doing what HB 1 and the Kentucky Board are now requiring. My concern with HB 1 is that it will likely limit access to care.” Harned said the law is sending to his practice many patients with “relatively low and stable doses of opiod pain medications (like hydrocodone). … The referral of this patient to my takes up another slot on my schedule that should be reserved for a patient who truly needs specialized care.” HB 1, as passed, is also forcing physicians to view some patients with suspicion, said Harned. “HB 1 and its accompanying regulations are causing primary care physicians to become too wary of legal liability to continue prescribing these medications,” he told the committee. Other professionals testifying before the committee included Dr. Shawn Jones, MD, the president of the Kentucky Medical Association. Jones said the KMA has received some reports of physicians finding it difficult to prescribe not only pain medicine, but drugs for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), testosterone medication for a variety of conditions and even medications administered following surgery. “Because of its licensing structure, the bill has gone a long way toward shutting many illegitimate pain clinics—something the medical community has long supported,” said Jones, who said KMA also supported upgrades to KASPER in the HB 1 and other parts of the bill. But Jones expressed concern with the many steps a physician must take before prescribing controlled substances. He said missing one step opens a physician up to criminal activity. “I believe this is having an impact on good patient care,” he said. He asked the committee to consider working with the medical community to amend and simplify regulations of concerns in HB 1. Others scheduled to speak before the committee included representatives of the Kentucky Hospital Association, Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives, Kentucky Pharmacists Association among others. The committee is monitoring the implementation of HB 1 throughout the 2012 legislative interim. 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 Aug 24, 2012 17:53:56 GMT -5
Rep. Tim Couch, R-Hyden (right), speaks with Rep. Lonnie Napier, R-Lancaster, during the August meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on State Government. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
New law is making a dent in tax filing burden, lawmakers told
Efforts are underway to create a standard occupational license tax form for Kentucky businesses and place current forms used by those businesses in one online location as mandated by the 2012 General Assembly, a state legislative committee heard. House Bill 277, sponsored by Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, and Interim Joint Committee on Local Government Co-Chair Rep. Steve Riggs, D-Louisville, mandates that a standard occupational license tax return form for use by all local taxing districts in Kentucky be in place by mid 2017. The form will replace dozens of forms currently used by local taxing districts across the state, according to Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, whose office is responsible for implementing HB 277. Until the standard form is in use, Grimes said businesses will be able to find their taxing district’s current occupational license tax forms on the Secretary of State’s One Stop Business Portal. The Secretary of State’s Office is asking that all local taxing districts in Kentucky send in their current forms by Nov. 1, 2012, along with instructions, to be posted on the web portal at onestop.ky.gov. “We are getting tremendous feedback,” Grimes said. “We are getting these forms into our office on a timely basis.” She said she hopes to have received 100 percent of the forms from all taxing districts by January. Creation of a standard form is now being worked out by the Secretary of State and several entities including the Kentucky League of Cities, Kentucky Association of Counties, small business associations and Kentucky Society of CPAS, Grimes said. Grimes said Kentucky has over 200 taxing jurisdictions, and that HB 277 will reduce the time businesses have to spend communicating with state government. Riggs, who chaired Wednesday’s meeting, said the need to address the occupational license tax form issue was raised by a fellow lawmaker who pushed to get the issue addressed for more than a year. “That is how ideas are born: Just from practical living experience,” Riggs said. The One Stop Business Portal was created with the passage of 2011 Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, and Sen. John Schickel, R-Union. Today, Grimes said, Kentucky has over 10,000 businesses that have registered to operate in the Commonwealth using the web portal. She said her office is now working to streamline the portal to benefit all citizens and not just businesses. “We appreciate you giving us the ability to do what there is in the statute. We are working our hardest to stretch every dollar you provided for us,” Grimes said.
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Post by Press Release on Aug 30, 2012 17:02:21 GMT -5
Rep. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville (left), confers with Senate Majority Caucus Chair Dan Seum, R-Fairdale (center) and Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
New report offers framework for Kentucky pension reform
A new report that offers a framework for reform of Kentucky’s public employee pension systems was released by the co-chairs of the Kentucky Public Pensions Task Force. The report was authored by the Pew Center on the States and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Both groups have been helping the Kentucky Public Pensions Task Force with its deliberations as it works toward a Dec. 7 deadline for offering its own recommendations on improving the stability of state-administered retirement systems. “This report lays out the case for comprehensive reform of Kentucky’s pension system,” said a joint statement from Sen. Damon Thayer and Rep. Mike Cherry, co-chairs of the Kentucky Public Pensions Task Force. “As the report states, real change requires hard choices, good information, and thoughtful analysis. We intend to live up to this charge as the Task Force moves forward.” The report, entitled Kentucky’s Pension Challenges: Opportunities for Real Reform, states that Kentucky faces a $23.6 billion shortfall between what should have been set aside to pay future pension benefits and what has already been set aside. Still, sound policy options exist to restore stability to Kentucky’s retirement systems, according to the report. “Debates over retirement benefits can easily turn contentious and unproductive,” the report states. “However, it is important to remember that pension problems, such as those in Kentucky, are rooted in simple math rather than in political ideology. Solving these problems requires recognition by all parties that the state must fix them through sound policy, and that the state cannot rely on the stock market to wipe away its pension debt.” A full copy of Kentucky’s Pension Challenges: Opportunities for Real Reform can be viewed online at: www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2012/Pew_Kentucky_Pension_Challenges.pdfThe Pew Center on the States is a non-profit organization that works to identify and advance effective solutions to critical issues facing states. The Laura and John Arnold foundation is a private foundation with the goal of producing widespread and lasting reforms that maximize opportunities and reduce injustice in society. 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 6, 2012 4:55:49 GMT -5
Rep. Addia Wuchner, R-Burlington (left), confers with Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, during the September meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
Calendar set for General Assembly’s 2013 session
The 2013 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly is scheduled to begin on Jan. 8 and will last 30 legislative days. As usual during an odd-numbered year, in which sessions are half as long as in even-numbered years, the session will have two parts. The first four days of the session – Jan. 8 to Jan. 11 – will focus on organizational work, such as electing legislative leaders, adopting rules of procedure and organizing committees. The introduction and consideration of legislation can also begin during this time. The second part of the session begins on Feb. 5, with final adjournment scheduled for March 26. Legislators will not meet in session on Feb. 18 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 vetoes – begins on March 12. Lawmakers will return to the Capitol on March 25 and 26 for the final two days of the session. The 2013 session calendar can be viewed online at: www.lrc.ky.gov/sch_vist/13RS_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 7, 2012 5:10:25 GMT -5
Lawmakers question drop in coal severance tax revenues
A decrease in the state’s coal severance tax revenues this fiscal year will likely require prioritization of some coal severance projects funded in the 2013-2014 state budget, a state legislative committee heard today. The state’s single county coal project fund will feel the biggest impact, according to Department for Local Government Commissioner Tony Wilder, whose agency administers coal severance project funds for Kentucky’s single and multi county coal projects. Wilder said 27 of the 35 coal counties eligible for coal severance project funding are expected to be short the money needed to fund single county coal projects approved for their county in the current state budget. “It’s going to be an exercise in prioritizing,” Wilder told the committee. Projected coal severance tax revenues for fiscal year 2013 are expected to be reduced by $88.3 million due to a slowdown in Kentucky’s coal markets, state budget and other officials told the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Environment. That will impact resources available for single- and multi-county coal projects by $20.7 million and $10.3 million respectively, said Deputy State Budget Director John Hicks. While the total amount of approved single county coal projects for fiscal year 2013 is $64.3 million, state officials said funding available to move the projects forward will be affected by new fiscal projections indicating resources will be $20.7 million less than the $79.3 million in single county resources enacted by the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly. As for multi-county project funds, Hicks said there is an estimated $23.1 million available in fiscal year 2013 for those projects and around $22 million obligated. “So we’ll watch that very closely,” he told lawmakers. Lawmakers expressed concern about the difference between funding that was allocated for the projects and the new projections. Some asked state budget officials to explain why the official revenue estimates on which the 2013-2014 biennial budget was based were inaccurate. “We want to answer the big question: How were the numbers so wrong?” said committee co-chair Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard. “We thought we had this money coming in, and we didn’t.” “We want you to help us navigate our way out of this,” he said. Greg Harkenrider with the State Budget Office said four of the past five years have logged “all- time records” for coal severance tax revenue in Kentucky. But the revenue forecast logged in Dec. 2011 by the state’s revenue forecasting panel, the Consensus Forecasting Group, for coal severance tax receipts did not hold after a strong first half of fiscal year 2012, he said. “We knew that the long-term trend had to flatten,” said Harkenrider. “We’re hoping that coal prices inch up…” 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 11, 2012 19:47:53 GMT -5
Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, speaks during the August meeting of the Task Force on Student Access to Technology. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
Comprehensive education policy data available to lawmakers
Kentucky lawmakers have a new tool to use when considering education policy, members of the Interim Joint Education Committee were told. According to Charles McGrew, Executive Director of the Kentucky P-20 Data Collaborative, the new data warehouse is an efficient and secure way to link information from early childhood through postsecondary education and beyond to provide a comprehensive picture of conditions in the state. “We’re here to help policy makers and administrators understand how things are going,” he said. The initiative is a partnership between the Kentucky Department of Education, Educational Professional Standards Board, Council on Postsecondary Education and Cabinet of Education and Workforce Development. It merges data from a variety of state and national sources. Data from the repository can be used to evaluate policies, analyze educational systems, answer information requests and create reports, McGrew said. The collaborative has connected high school and college data to employment information in an effort to track what happens to students after they leave educational institutions. That data was used to produce a profile on education, employment and earnings for every county and Area Development District in the state as well as a feedback report for every Kentucky high school, he said. McGrew told lawmakers the collaborative was also able to link high school students’ college readiness to their teachers and to the programs that prepared their teachers. A feedback report on teacher preparation will be released in the coming months, he said. He is working to expand the repository to include even more data sources and longitudinal information. “There are lots of connections that can be drawn to provide information out,” 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 Sept 15, 2012 6:11:40 GMT -5
Kentucky agriculture doing better than expected
You might not think that the U.S. would post near record net farm income this year given widespread drought and poor crop conditions, but think again. The USDA is projecting that inflation-adjusted national net farm income for 2012 will reach its highest level in 42 years, according to the USDA Economic Research Service. University of Kentucky Agriculture Economist Will Snell told the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture at UK’s E.S. Good Barn today that while record low commodities were once considered likely, results are now estimated to be much better than expected. A rise in commodity prices, increasing indemnity payments, and less detrimental than expected effect from low crop yields are all considered factors in the rise in net income, reports the USDA. As for Kentucky, Snell said the state’s net farm income is typically $1 billion a year, but that the Commonwealth will be “challenged” to continue meeting that figure as buyout and direct payments to farmers wind down. Snell said both the local food movement—which offers direct funding to farmers—and the strengthening of the dollar internationally should help move the state forward. As for agricultural cash receipts, Snell said Kentucky is not expected to reach a hoped-for $5 billion in total receipts for 2012. But, he said, the Commonwealth should be over the $4 billion mark “when it’s all said and done.” “It won’t be as bad as some have anticipated,” Snell said. According to the USDA, Kentucky has logged $2.8 billion in agricultural cash receipts for the first seven months of this year. That is a slight increase from the first seven months of 2011, Snell said. Kentucky’s 2011 agriculture cash receipts totaled $4.9 billion—less than the more than $5 billion forecasted, Snell said. UK will release its forecast for the state’s 2012 agricultural cash receipts late this year. The committee also received a report from University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto on the state of the university. Capilouto told lawmakers that UK not only has a record number of admission applications this semester, but that is has a record number of distinguished “Singletary” scholars and more than double the number of National Merit Finalists than last year. UK has 71 National Merit Finalists this year, compared to 30 in 2011. That puts UK in the company of such well-respected universities as Duke, Cornell, Dartmouth, Ohio State, and Berkley, Capilouto 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 3, 2012 20:14:19 GMT -5
Rep. Royce Adams, D-Dry Ridge, poses a question during the October meeting of the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee. (Photo courtesy of Mike Sunseri, Photography Director, Legislative Research Commission)
Kentucky in compliance with federal anti-teen smoking mandate
Kentucky’s compliance with a federal law requiring states to both pass laws prohibiting the sale and distribution of tobacco products to persons under age 18 and enforce those laws has been among the nation’s best in recent years. That was the word on Oct. 3 to the legislative Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee from Steve Cambron, the state’s federal Synar Amendment coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Behavioral Health, Development and Intellectual Disabilities. The federal amendment, passed in 1992, mandates that states enact and enforce laws aimed at decreasing youth access to tobacco products. In 2009, the state’s rate—also known as its “Synar rate”— for noncompliance with the mandate was 3.5 percent, the third lowest rate in the nation, Cambron said. Since 2004, Kentucky’s noncompliance rate has been around 5.6 percent, meaning around 5.6 percent of stores inspected under the amendment’s protocols sold tobacco products to underage youth, he said. Noncompliance must not exceed 20 percent under the mandate, according to Cambron. Exceeding a noncompliance rate of 20 percent could result in a state losing up to 40 percent of its federal block grant funding, he said. Even though its Synar rate is relatively low nationally, Cambron told the committee that Kentucky does have the highest youth smoking rate in the country. “We know that these youth are getting cigarettes from somewhere. We know that a large part of that probably comes from social access, and there probably still are stores that unwittingly sell to minors, probably because the clerks are not properly trained,” Cambron said. Results from a school survey, called the Kentucky Incentive for Prevention Survey, last administered by the state in 2010 among students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 show that obtaining cigarettes as an underage youth in Kentucky is not really difficult. The results were gleaned from student responses to a survey question that asked “How easy would it be for you to get some cigarettes?” “What those youth tell us is that for some of those grades, it’s still quite easy (to obtain cigarettes),” Cambron said. Sen. Joey Pendleton, D-Hopkinsville, said that he believes in most cases it is an adult who is purchasing for underage youth. And that, he explained, is not always easily remedied. “We cannot resolve the fact that they are getting them from a parent or a grandparent, or older sibling, that is giving them to them,” he said. Pendleton said he believes the school survey question should instead be “Where and how are you obtaining the cigarettes?” Aside from the Synar program, the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) inspects for tobacco sales to underage youth. For those inspections, an investigative aide of age 16 or 17 will go into a store and attempt to purchase tobacco products, according to the ABC’s Josh Crain. If he or she is successful, a citation is issued against the seller. Crain said 3,280 state inspections were conducted last year, resulting in 120 violations. Federal inspections are conducted separately by the Food and Drug Administration. Committee co-chair Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville, asked if the young investigative aides in state inspections have someone monitoring them on-site, and Crain said they do. He said an investigator follows the aide for his or her safety. “I think there are at least two reasons to do that,” said Stone. “Certainly the first one is the safety of that young person who’s doing a service for all of us, and the second is to make sure the results we get are verifiable.” Pendleton said some of the investigative aides’ ages are difficult to gauge by their looks. Crain said the state’s protocol is to use aides who look age-appropriate. If they don’t, he said steps are taken to remove them from the program. “The intent of the program is to check for compliance. That’s our goal,” 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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