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/2012/02/07/no-compromise-on-congressional-redistricting-issue-will-likely-end-up-in-courts/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/07/no-compromise-on-congressional-redistricting-issue-will-likely-end-up-in-courts/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:19:21 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20424 By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT -- State lawmakers failed to redraw the boundaries of Kentucky's six congressional districts before Tuesday's candidate filing deadline, which means the issue probably will end up in court. House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, told House members about 20 minutes after the 4 p.m. filing deadline that a compromise agreement between the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate could not be reached. The House and Senate had delayed the original deadline from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7 to give the two sides more time to reach an agreement. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, had worked with members of congress on a possible compromise that late last week looked promising, House leaders said. But Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers said Tuesday afternoon that the two sides appeared to "agree to disagree." Stumbo said congressional candidates will run in the state's existing districts. That means someone -- either a candidate or a national political party -- will probably challenge the constitutionality of Kentucky's districts. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/07/no-compromise-on-congressional-redistricting-issue-will-likely-end-up-in-courts/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/01/18/house-and-senate-prepare-to-fight-over-kentuckys-congressional-map/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/01/18/house-and-senate-prepare-to-fight-over-kentuckys-congressional-map/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:58:26 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20190 By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — The Republican-led state Senate approved its plan to redraw the boundaries of Kentucky’s six congressional districts late Wednesday, setting up a fight with the Democratic-led House in coming days over the contentious political issue. House Speaker Greg Stumbo said the House will not accept the Senate’s plan, which means leaders from both chambers will have to hash out their differences in a conference committee. Stumbo said he is hopeful the two sides can strike a deal on House Bill 2, which includes the congressional map, by the end of Friday. Time is running out to reach an agreement. The filing deadline for candidates to seek state and federal offices is Jan. 31. If an agreement is not worked out by the end of this week, the legislature may have to push back the filing deadline. Republican Sen. Damon Thayer of Georgetown, chairman of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, said the Senate’s congressional map does not differ greatly from the current congressional map. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/01/18/house-and-senate-prepare-to-fight-over-kentuckys-congressional-map/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/01/05/plan-would-put-hal-rogers%e2%80%99-home-county-in-two-congressional-districts/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/01/05/plan-would-put-hal-rogers%e2%80%99-home-county-in-two-congressional-districts/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:42:31 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20032 PDF: House plan for congressional districts By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — A state House committee voted along party lines Thursday to split the home county of Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers of Somerset into two congressional districts as it redraws the boundaries of Kentucky’s six districts. The plan contained in House Bill 2 also moves Boyle, Garrard and part of Jessamine counties from Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District to south-central Kentucky’s 2nd District. It also makes Northern Kentucky’s 4th District a more urban district and moves Daviess County from the 2nd District to the 1st District. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, acknowledged after the House State Government Committee approved the bill that it is likely to change before becoming law. “I assume it will go through some vigorous debate and likely transformation,” he said.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/01/05/plan-would-put-hal-rogers%e2%80%99-home-county-in-two-congressional-districts/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/11/15/stumbo-wants-special-session-on-redistricting/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/11/15/stumbo-wants-special-session-on-redistricting/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:30:50 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=19744 By Beth Musgrave and Jack Brammer bmusgrave@herald-leader.com PDF: View the proposals FRANKFORT — Two new proposals to redraw the boundaries of Kentucky’s six congressional districts could mean major changes for Central Kentucky voters. Both plans appear to benefit Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, who represents Lexington and many surrounding counties in the 6th Congressional District. The proposals — one pushed by the Democratic-controlled House and another by unnamed members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation — would move Republican-leaning Jessamine and Garrard counties out of Chandler’s district, replacing them with counties that lean more Democratic. Republican Andy Barr, a Lexington lawyer who narrowly lost to Chandler in 2010 and plans to challenge him again in 2012, said Tuesday that the emerging plans amount to “incumbent-protection gerrymandering for a weak incumbent.”]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/11/15/stumbo-wants-special-session-on-redistricting/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/07/22/feds-deny-request-to-delay-new-insurance-rules-to-2014/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/07/22/feds-deny-request-to-delay-new-insurance-rules-to-2014/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:31:50 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=18492 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/07/22/feds-deny-request-to-delay-new-insurance-rules-to-2014/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/18/census-a-lot-of-kentuckians-will-get-a-new-congressman/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/18/census-a-lot-of-kentuckians-will-get-a-new-congressman/#comments Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:36:53 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=17311 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/03/18/census-a-lot-of-kentuckians-will-get-a-new-congressman/feed/ 47 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/2011/02/03/congressman-rogers-testifies-before-senate-committee/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/03/congressman-rogers-testifies-before-senate-committee/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:16:16 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=16182 By Beth Musgrave - bmusgrave@herald-leader.com By Beth Musgrave FRANKFORT — In a rare Frankfort appearance, long-time U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers urged legislators to pass a controversial bill that would require a prescription to buy cold medicines that contain ingredients used in the manufacturing of meth. The Republican Congressman, who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, spoke before both the state House and Senate Judiciary committees and later at a packed rally in the state Capitol rotunda on behalf of House Bill 281 and Senate Bill 45. The push from Rogers was enough to get Senate Bill 45 out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a narrow 6-4 vote but the bill was not taken up by the full Senate later in the day, as had been expected. The battle over whether to require a prescription for pseudoephedrine is shaping up as one of the biggest and costliest of the legislative session, which resumed on Tuesday. And unlike most Frankfort tussles, it’s a battle with no clear political or geographic lines.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2011/02/03/congressman-rogers-testifies-before-senate-committee/feed/ 8 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/10/02/election-preview-kentuckys-4th-congressional-district/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/10/02/election-preview-kentuckys-4th-congressional-district/#comments Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:48:43 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=14422 By Halimah Abdullah - habdulla@mcclatchydc.com WASHINGTON — The contest in Northern Kentucky's 4th Congressional District pits a well-funded, conservative incumbent against a little-known, considerably more progressive Iraq War veteran. U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Hebron, seems to be sailing toward a fourth term with $1.1 million raised as of the June campaign finance filing deadline. Much of that money was donated by health professionals and the insurance industry. Meanwhile, Democratic challenger John Waltz, a political newcomer from Florence, raised roughly $250,000 during the same period. Waltz was inspired to run for the congressional seat, he said, after he received no help from Davis' office in seeking veteran's health benefits.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/10/02/election-preview-kentuckys-4th-congressional-district/feed/ 29 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/05/16/kentucky-tsks-but-takes-federal-funds/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/05/16/kentucky-tsks-but-takes-federal-funds/#comments Sun, 16 May 2010 12:35:33 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=12391 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/05/16/kentucky-tsks-but-takes-federal-funds/feed/ 8