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House passes $3.5 billion two-year road plan

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The House on Friday passed a two-year road plan that includes money for the extension of Newtown Pike and the widening of Leestown Road in Lexington.

The two-year $3.5 billion plan also includes authorization for two new Louisville bridges and includes planning money for a new bridge in Northern Kentucky.

Public financing of judicial elections passes House panel

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A bill that would create public financing for judicial campaigns cleared a key hurdle on Wednesday. The House Judiciary Committee narrowly passed House Bill 230 9-6.

House Bill 230 would make it voluntary for judicial candidates to seek public financing. People could donate to the judicial campaign finance fund through income tax check-offs or through other donations. The Kentucky Bar Association could also collect fees from attorneys for the fund.

Adult abuse registry bill heads to Senate

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The House unanimously passed a measure Tuesday that would create an “adult abuse registry” of employees who have had substantiated cases of abuse or neglect.

House Bill 259 would allow the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to develop a registry of employees who have had substantiated cases of abuse and neglect of an adult. A similar registry exists for child care workers. The registry would allow potential employers to check to see if a job candidate has had previous substantiated cases of abuse before the person is hired.

House passes unemployment insurance fix

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The House unanimously passed a measure Wednesday that would help repay the interest on a $948 million federal loan that paid for unemployment insurance benefits.

House Bill 495 would allow the state to borrow about $79 million over the next three years to repay the interest on the federal loan the state used to pay unemployment insurance benefits when the fund went broke two years ago. The state’s businesses would eventually repay that loan through a special assessment beginning in 2014.

House raises more than $20,000 for storm victims

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky House has raised more than $20,000 to aid families affected by last weekend’s tornadoes and storms.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo announced Friday that the 100-member House had doubled its goal of raising $10,000. Members of the House and staff have contributed to the drive.

Medical review panel bill to get further study

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A controversial proposal that would require lawsuits against nursing homes to go before a medical review panel before being filed in court will not be voted on this legislative session.

House Health and Welfare Chairman Rep. Tom Burch said Thursday that House Bill 361 will need further study and work before it could be voted on.

House passes two adult protection bills

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The House approved a measure Tuesday that would allow long-term care facilities to complete finger-print checks on potential employees.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services has received a $3 million grant from the federal government to start the finger-print background check, which would search national records. The state will kick in $1 million in matching funds.

House panel passes $19.5 billion budget, 26-2

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky House will likely vote Wednesday on a two-year, $19.5 billion state budget that calls for 8.4 percent cuts to some parts of government and very little new borrowing for capital projects.

The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee voted 26-2 on Tuesday to approve House Bill 265, the executive branch budget. The House made some modest tweaks to Gov. Steve Beshear’s proposed budget, which was introduced in January.

The latest proposal scrapped more than $450 million in bonds for universities over concerns about the state’s rising debt. The House budget also nixed a 1.5 percent cost-of-living increase for state retirees, which could save the ailing pension fund about $400 million, state officials said Tuesday.

Beshear said he was reviewing the House’s changes.

“As we said in January, this is a very difficult budget,” Beshear said. “It appears the House budget will not vary significantly from the budget I introduced. We will review the proposed changes carefully, and will work with both the House and Senate as the budget moves through the process.”

Resolution to study middle school sports passes House

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The House unanimously voted Thursday to create a task force to study middle school sports and make possible recommendations.

House Concurrent Resolution 155 would create a task force to examine middle school sports — which is currently not regulated by a central state-wide organization. Middle school sports are largely regulated by individual schools or districts. That means there are different rules and safety standards for middle school sports across the state.

Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, and sponsor of the resolution, said Thursday that many in middle school sports do not want to become a subsidiary of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, which oversees high school sports.

Bill to open some family courts; tax online horse wagers passes House

By Beth Musgrave

bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A measure that would allow for a pilot project to open some family courts passed the House unanimously Friday.

House Bill 239 would allow for the creation of pilot projects to open family courts, which hear child abuse, neglect and dependency cases. The pilot projects, to be started on a voluntary basis by family court judges, would run for four years and would set limits on what information can be released from the hearings. The measure passed the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week 12-0. It had no opposing votes Friday. A similar measure passed the House in 2010 but was not heard in the Senate.