Poverty task force created

FRANKFORT — State legislative leaders have created a task force aimed at reducing poverty in Kentucky, state leaders announced on Friday.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg

The announcement comes one day after the release of U.S. Census bureau data that showed that Kentucky ranks fifth in the number of people who live in poverty. The new 25-member House and Senate Poverty Task Force will hold its first meeting Sept. 21.

The task force will review some of the state’s anti-poverty programs such as job training, community economic development, infrastructure development, food bank assistance and child care subsidies. The task force will make recommendations for possible changes to those programs or other legislative measures for the 2010 legislative session, which begins in January.

The task force will be co-chaired by House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard. Officials with the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research will give a presentation on the state’s poverty numbers at the first hearing in September.

“I look forward to hearing testimony on the efficacy of the programs and seeing how they build on education and transportation systems, known building blocks to better jobs,” Smith said.

Other legislators who have been appointed to the task force are:
Rep. Linda Belcher, D-Shepherdsville
Rep. Dwight Butler, R-Harned
Rep. Leslie Combs, D-Pikeville
Rep. C.B. Embry, R-Morgantown
Rep. Kelly Flood, D-Lexington
Rep. Jim Glenn, D-Owensboro
Rep. Keith Hall, D-Phelps
Rep. Richard Henderson, D-Mt. Sterling
Rep. Melvin Henley, D-Murray
Rep. Martha Jane King, D-Lewisburg
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville
Rep. Reginald Meeks, D-Louisville
Rep. Fred Nesler, D-Mayfield
Rep. Kevin Sinnette, D-Ashland
Rep. Kent Stevens, D-Lawrenceburg
Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello
Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington, R-Ft. Wright
Rep. Addia Wuchner, R-Burlington
Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville
Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville
Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester
Sen. Elizabeth Tori, R-Elizabethtown
Sen. Johnny Ray Turner, D-Drift.

– Beth Musgrave