http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com Covering Kentucky politics and government Tue, 22 May 2012 21:44:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/07/12/ethics-panel-holds-closed-door-hearing-regarding-rep-keith-hall/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/07/12/ethics-panel-holds-closed-door-hearing-regarding-rep-keith-hall/#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:24:26 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=18413 By John Cheves - jcheves@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — The Legislative Ethics Commission held a closed-door hearing Tuesday to review a complaint about state Rep. Keith Hall, D-Phelps, and more than $171,000 one of his companies collected through utility contracts that avoided competitive bidding and public discussion. The commission heard testimony from several witnesses, including an auditor for state Auditor Crit Luallen, who issued a report about Hall's contracts in January and referred it to the ethics commission. "Today they requested testimony from one of our auditors who worked on that report," said Luallen, who did not attend the hearing. "It certainly is gratifying to see the process moving forward." George Troutman, the commission's chairman, declined to discuss the day's proceedings or publicly identify the subject of the complaint. The panel plans to meet again Aug. 16 to resume its work on the case, Troutman said.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/07/12/ethics-panel-holds-closed-door-hearing-regarding-rep-keith-hall/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/04/21/former-legislator-and-prosecutor-faces-three-year-bar-suspension/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/04/21/former-legislator-and-prosecutor-faces-three-year-bar-suspension/#comments Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:03:09 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=17709 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/04/21/former-legislator-and-prosecutor-faces-three-year-bar-suspension/feed/ 28 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/04/06/senate-convenes-stein-calls-it-political-theater/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/04/06/senate-convenes-stein-calls-it-political-theater/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:42:04 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=17527 By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT -- The state Senate convened Wednesday and appears posed to pass a series of resolutions to override some of Gov. Steve Beshear's vetos of a budget fix designed to shore up Medicaid. Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, told the Senate Wednesday that it would recess so the Republicans and Democrats could caucus. When the Senate returns later Wednesday afternoon, it will consider resolutions that would override some language that Beshear vetoed in House Bill 1, which was passed by the House on March 24 and vetoed by Beshear on March 25. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/04/06/senate-convenes-stein-calls-it-political-theater/feed/ 44 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/23/senate-panel-grills-cabinet-secretary-about-savings/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/23/senate-panel-grills-cabinet-secretary-about-savings/#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:04:11 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=17370 By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT -- Members of the Senate budget committee grilled Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller Wednesday on how the state would document planned savings in the $6.5 billion Medicaid program. Miller told the Senate panel that when the cabinet enters into contracts with managed care programs sometime after July 1, the cabinet will be able to tell how much it will pay per Medicaid patient. Under the current system -- which pays fees based on services provided -- the costs are not known. Many managed care programs are paid a set rate per patient, regardless of how many health care services the patient uses. "I am confident that we will be able to generate the savings," Miller said, after repeated questions by many Senate Republicans on how much savings the managed care programs will generate. How the new managed care programs will generate savings is key to a compromise budget passed by the House on Monday. Under House Bill 1, if the state can not demonstrate that it has generated more than $116 million in savings through managed care and other efficiencies by Aug. 15, there will be across-the-board cuts in most areas of state government by Oct. 1. Education would be exempt from most of those cuts.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/23/senate-panel-grills-cabinet-secretary-about-savings/feed/ 65 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/07/house-and-senate-leaders-agree-to-some-cost-targets/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/07/house-and-senate-leaders-agree-to-some-cost-targets/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:24:33 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=17022 By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT -- State House leaders have proposed using a host of one-time money and cost-saving measures to plug a hole in the state Medicaid budget. House Speaker Greg Stumbo said the House's counter-proposal to a Senate plan that would cut education spending includes nearly $100 million in savings in the Medicaid program. It also relies on one-time money that the Senate used in its budget bill to plug a $166.5 million hole in the Medicaid budget. Republican Senate leaders are considering the proposal by House Democrats and are expected to return to the negotiating table later Monday night. The House proposal came during the third round of budget negotiations on Monday as the two sides try to hammer out an agreement on a possible fix for the state's Medicaid budget.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/07/house-and-senate-leaders-agree-to-some-cost-targets/feed/ 16 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/03/senate-panel-poised-to-approve-bath-salts-bill/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/03/senate-panel-poised-to-approve-bath-salts-bill/#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:34:48 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=16887 UPDATED AT 4:46 P.M. By John Cheves -- jcheves@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT -- A Senate committee on Thursday approved a bill banning synthetic drugs commonly sold as "bath salts" while more horror stories emerged about their use. House Bill 121 would ban the possession, trafficking or making of several related combinations of chemicals that go by street names such as "Hurricane Charlie" and "Red Dove." The drugs are sold on the Internet and at gas stations and other stores as small plastic bags of white powder, misleadingly labeled as bath salts, plant food or insect repellent. The drugs cause hallucinations and sometimes violent or suicidal behavior, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville. They can be snorted, smoked or consumed with food or drink, Tilley said. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the drugs often contain amphetamine-like chemicals, such as methylenedioxypyrovalerone, mephedrone and pyrovalerone, which can stimulate the brain and lead to addiction much as cocaine does. "It produces a bad trip," Tilley told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "And it's toxic, it's a poison. It's not a naturally occurring substance."]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/03/senate-panel-poised-to-approve-bath-salts-bill/feed/ 13 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/23/rand-paul-dishes-about-mcconnell-2010-campaign-in-new-book/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/23/rand-paul-dishes-about-mcconnell-2010-campaign-in-new-book/#comments Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:25:14 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=16706 By Jack Brammer - jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — In his new book, “The Tea Party Goes to Washington,” U.S. Sen. Rand Paul recounts his tense meeting last year with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in a Louisville airport hangar with Secret Service surrounding them. McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, was raising campaign money for Paul’s opponent, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, in the Republican primary election for the U.S. Senate. Paul, a Bowling Green eye surgeon who rode a wave of support from the Tea Party movement to win his first race for public office, said he tried “to keep the conversation light.” “As our meeting continued,” Paul said, “Senator McConnell reiterated that he didn’t want to get involved in the primary. I thought to myself, ‘Not get involved — I wonder what it would mean if he did get involved.” Paul writes of his historic 2010 campaign and his eventual working relationship with McConnell in his 249-page book now on sale for $21.99. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/23/rand-paul-dishes-about-mcconnell-2010-campaign-in-new-book/feed/ 10 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/17/house-panel-approves-bill-to-ban-placement-agents/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/17/house-panel-approves-bill-to-ban-placement-agents/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:59:41 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=16573 FRANKFORT – A House committee unanimously approved a bill Thursday that bans state governments’ pension funds from paying middlemen known as “placement agents.” But the sponsor of House Bill 480, House State Government chairman Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, removed from the measure term limits for members on the boards overseeing billions of dollars held by the Kentucky Retirement Systems, the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System and the Judicial Form Retirement System. He also deleted from the bill a requirement that the state auditor review the retirement systems every five years. Cherry said he made the deletions because he wants to see what recommendations state Auditor Crit Luallen may have after she is finished with her review of the Kentucky Retirement Systems. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/17/house-panel-approves-bill-to-ban-placement-agents/feed/ 15 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/09/interstate-racing-compact-passes-senate-panel/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/09/interstate-racing-compact-passes-senate-panel/#comments Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:57:44 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=16299 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/09/interstate-racing-compact-passes-senate-panel/feed/ 7 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/01/28/whitley-county-judge-charged-with-misconduct-over-campaign-donations/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/01/28/whitley-county-judge-charged-with-misconduct-over-campaign-donations/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:07:17 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=16026 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/01/28/whitley-county-judge-charged-with-misconduct-over-campaign-donations/feed/ 17