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For-profit college bill passes House, heads to Senate

By Beth Musgrave

bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A bill that would create a new board to oversee for-profit colleges and universities passed the House 91-5.

Many who voted against House Bill 308 said the bill did not go far enough to protect students from what many say are predatory practices of some for-profit colleges. House Bill 308 abolishes the current Kentucky Board of Proprietary Education, which licenses for-profit schools that offer associate degrees and certificates in career programs. HB 308 would create a new agency, the Kentucky Commission on Proprietary Education. The industry would only hold four of 11 seats instead of the six it currently occupies on the 11-member board. The chairman can never be a member of the for-profit industry. The commission would also hire a staff person paid for by fees and dues from the for-profit industry.

A much tougher bill that would impose even more restrictions and more oversight on for-profit colleges passed the House last year but failed in the Senate after of aggressive lobbying by the for-profit industry. Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, one of the sponsors of the bill, told House members Tuesday that the bill was a good start and brings more oversight to the industry. Although many wanted more teeth in the bill, the bill will likely pass both chambers, Rollins said.

But Rep. Reginald Meeks, D-Louisville, said that that the legislature needed to do more to protect students and that the bill makes the industry as transparent as a “Fort Knox safe.” Meeks has pushed for more oversight of the industry in past years in light of a state audit that showed that the current board was an inattentive watchdog that fails to protect the interest of students. Meanwhile, lawsuits and investigations in Kentucky and elsewhere have raised questions about deceptive marketing and the quality of educations sold by the schools.

Medicaid asks for additional funding for substance abuse treatment

By Beth Musgrave

bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — If approved by the legislature, almost 6,000 additional people could be treated for substance abuse under the state-federal program for the poor and disabled.

Kentucky is one of seven states that does not offer substance abuse treatment in its Medicaid program.

With the number of Kentuckians with substance abuse on the rise, treating more people with addiction will not only improve health outcomes but will improve the state’s bottom line, said Stephen Hall, the commissioner of the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities.

The average cost of intensive outpatient drug addiction services is about $2,500. Adults who are not treated costs the taxpayers more than $23,000, some of those costs would include the cost of incarceration as well as other public benefits such as food stamps.

Moreover, studies of Kentucky drug treatment programs show dramatic increases in the level of employment of people who successfully complete drug treatment, Hall said.

Hall testified Monday before a House budget subcommittee on health and human services. The expansion of the state’s drug addiction services in the Medicaid program is one of several new spending items Gov. Steve Beshear has proposed in his two-year budget. Beshear has said that expanding drug treatment is key to tackling the state’s drug epidemic.

Abandoned mine director named Commissioner of Natural Resources

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The director of the state’s abandoned mine program has been named the commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources, a key environmental position in state government.

Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Len Peters announced Thursday that Steve Hohmann, who has served as director of the abandoned mine lands program since 1995, has been tapped for the position. He will begin on Jan. 16.

Hohmann replaces Carl Campbell, a non-merit or political appointee, who was abruptly fired from his position in December. It’s still not clear why Campbell was let go. Campbell’s termination letter only said that he was dismissed “without cause.”

Beshear orders review of University of Pikeville proposal to join state university system

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – Gov. Steve Beshear ordered a study Tuesday of the proposal to add the University of Pikeville to the state’s university system.

Beshear said in a news release that his office will issue a request for proposals this week to hire a consultant to conduct the study.

It is expected to take six to eight weeks, he said.

That timeframe means the 2012 General Assembly will still be in session if it wants to address the issue. The legislative session begins Jan. 3 and runs through mid-April.

Bill filed to create alert system for missing disabled people

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A bill has been filed that would create an alert for people who have developmental disabilities who are missing.

Rep. Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville, said he filed legislation Thursday that would create the new alert after hearing concerns from Rob and Debi McMurray who have a 22-year-old autistic son named Chase. The McMurrays contacted Montell after 7-year-old Randell Chesser, an autistic central Kentucky boy, went missing for 45 hours this summer but was later found.

Personnel board to decide Ag department investigation in January

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Personnel Board will hear a report in January on whether agriculture department officials violated state personnel laws when two merit positions were created and given to political appointees.

Mark Sipek, the executive director of the panel, told the board at its meeting on Friday that staff had not yet finished it report on its investigation into alleged improprieties at the Department of Agriculture and recommended that the board take up the issue at its January meeting.

November state general fund receipts down

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — State general fund receipts were down 2.8 percent from the previous November, state budget officials announced Friday.

Total revenues for November were $728.7 million, down from $749. 5 million the previous year. However, state revenues need only to increase by a total of .7 percent in the remaining seven months of the fiscal year in order to achieve the official revenue estimate of $8.8 million set by the Consensus Forecasting Group, a group of independent economists who predict how much revenue the state will generate.

Ag department director charged with ethics violation

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A division director in the Department of Agriculture has been charged with violating the state’s ethics rules after she allegedly created a merit-based position for herself to protect her job.

Danita Fentress-Laird was one of at least two political appointees who were awarded merit positions in the Department of Agriculture last year. According to charges released Friday by the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, Fentress-Laird used her position to create a merit position and then made sure that she was hired into that job.

Fentress-Laird was appointed as a director of the Division of Personnel and Budget by Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, who is leaving office this January. Political appointees serve at the will of the commissioner. But the merit system protects employees from being dismissed without cause.

State shows drop in child abuse deaths, state report late to legislature

By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com Frankfort – State data shows the number of children who have died as a result of abuse and neglect dropped from the previous year. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services released its annual child fatality and near-fatality report late Thursday, nearly three months after it was required to be sent [...]

Rep. Cherry decides not to seek re-election

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The chairman of the powerful House State Government committee will not seek re-election next year.

Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, announced Thursday that he would not seek another term. Cherry, who was first elected in 1999, said in a statement that he and his wife Gale, the mayor of Princeton, decided that now was the time for him to leave public service.

“There is no single reason behind this hard decision, but I will be almost 70 at the end of this term, and I feel the job requires an energy and enthusiasm more often found in one younger,” Cherry said in a written statement. “I will still look for, and hope to find, opportunities to be of service to my community and state.”