All Entries in the "State Government" Category

State government’s revenue up 8.6 percent in January

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — State revenues continued to climb in January.

General Fund receipts for January rose 8.6 percent compared to January 2011, an increase of $63.8 million.

Total revenues were $808.2 million, compared to $744.4 million in January 2011, according to the Office of State Budget Director.

State Budget Director Mary Lassiter said the financial results are in line with the official revenue estimate if 2.8 percent growth for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Revenues need to grow about 1.4 percent for the last five months of year to meet that estimate.

Receipts for the Road Fund, which is used for transportation projects, rose 10 percent in January compared to the previous year. Overall, the Road Fund has grown 7.8 percent from the previous year.

Japan gives Kentucky 20 cherry blossom trees

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki announced Friday the donation of 20 cherry blossom trees to Kentucky.

Fujisaki, in a Capitol news conference on Friday, said the trees were meant as an expression of friendship and gratitude to the people of Kentucky, who were generous to Japan after the tsunami and earthquake last year.

The gift also commemorates the 100th anniversary of the gift of 3,000 cherry blossom trees from Japan to the United States in 1912. The trees dot Washington D.C.’s River Basin and are frequently photographed in the Spring.

Meanwhile, the Japan/American Society of Kentucky announced it will have its first Cherry Blossom Festival in downtown Lexington in May 2012, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

Legislative leaders decide to appeal judge’s ruling on state legislative boundaries

By Jack Brammer and Janet Patton
jbrammer@herald-leader.com
jpatton1@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – The Legislative Research Commission, made up of House and Senate leaders, decided Thursday to appeal Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd’s ruling that Kentucky’s newly drawn legislative districts are unconstitutional.

In a release, the LRC said it plans “to take the defense of the constitutionality of House Bill 1” directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court, bypassing the Kentucky Court of Appeals, to get a quicker resolution.

It said it will ask the state’s highest court to dissolve the injunction Shepherd issued and to order that legislative districts created this year under HB 1 and signed into law by Gov. Steve Beshear be used for 2012 elections.

House panel calls for registration of agents who lobby state pension systems

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Middlemen known as “placement agents” who do business with the Kentucky Retirement Systems would have to register as lobbyists and follow state ethics laws under a bill a House panel unanimously approved Thursday.

House Bill 300, sponsored by Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, also would limit trustees of the KRS to three four-year terms, place the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System board under the state ethics code, and require the state auditor to audit the Judicial Form Retirement System for judges and legislators at least once every five years.

Cherry said the bill is designed to address concerns raised in an audit of the state pension system last year by former state Auditor Crit Luallen.

Luallen told the committee last year that she identified no misuse of KRS money related to placement agents, who help private investment companies sell their products. But Luallen said one agent in particular, Glen Sergeon of New York, enjoyed close access to KRS and made nearly $6 million in fees through his relationship with Adam Tosh, then chief investment officer for KRS.

Beshear names 22 to tax reform commission

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear named 22 people, including former University of Kentucky President Lee Todd and Fayette County School superintendent Stu Silberman, to a commission that will draft a proposal to overhaul Kentucky’s tax code.

The commission must have its recommendations finished by Nov. 15, giving lawmakers time to review them before the 2013 General Assembly begins in January.

Beshear, speaking at a press Capitol conference on Thursday, said commission members come from diverse geographic areas and backgrounds. Lt. Gov Jerry Abramson will chair the commission.

The state has slashed more than $1 billion in planned spending over the past four years and Beshear’s proposed budget for the next two fiscal years would cut an additional $286 million. Some of those cuts have impacted core services, such as education.

Sen. Damon Thayer releases his client list

UPDATED AT 5:40 P.M.

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A Kentucky lawmaker who is expected to sponsor a constitutional amendment to allow casinos at horse racetracks has identified the clients of his private consulting firm, two of which have benefitted from his legislative work.

State Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, on Thursday said he provides marketing and public relations services to Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Millennium Farms in Lexington, Wintergreen Stallion Station in Midway and Whispering Oaks Farm in Carencro, La.

Kentucky Speedway received a $20.5 million state tax break for which Thayer was a vocal advocate in the legislature’s 2009 special session. Six months after lawmakers voted for the tax break, Kentucky Speedway put Thayer on retainer, although Thayer and Speedway officials say the job was not related.

“No. Absolutely not,” Thayer said in a short interview Wednesday outside the Senate chamber..

Health care providers say Medicaid managed care riddled with problems

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The baby was coming, no matter what a managed care company had to say.

A pregnant woman came to one of Appalachian Regional Healthcare’s eight Kentucky hospitals already in labor before Christmas. But the hospital was told by one of three managed care companies that now run Medicaid in much of Kentucky that it must get pre-authorization to deliver the baby in order to get paid.

Fourteen days after the woman and baby went home, the hospital was still waiting for approval to deliver the baby, said Joe Grossman, vice president and chief financial officer of Appalachian Regional Healthcare.

Grossman was just one of several people to testify Wednesday before a Senate panel about problems with private companies that are now managing Medicaid care in Kentucky.

House panel reverses itself, approves ‘Cooper’s Law’

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A House committee reversed itself on Wednesday and approved “Cooper’s Law,” which would nullify deed restrictions on small outdoor structures deemed medically necessary for children 12 and younger.

“We have a long journey ahead of us, but it was a positive move forward for special-needs children,” said the bill’s tearful sponsor, Rep. Richard Henderson, D-Jeffersonville.

House Bill 160, which proceeds to the full House, is named for a young Lexington boy whose parents are feuding with the Andover Forest homeowners association. Cooper Veloudis uses an outdoor playhouse to help with his cerebral palsy. Neighbors say the playhouse violates a deed restriction on the family’s home.

The House Local Government Committee rejected the bill on Feb. 1, with lawmakers arguing against state involvement in a local property dispute that likely will play out in court.

Beshear: ‘Plenty of time’ left to consider expanded gambling

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear said Wednesday he will wait “a few more days” to unveil his long-anticipated constitutional amendment to expand gambling because of the uncertainty of legislative redistricting.

“I think we still have plenty of time to address that issue after redistricting is settled,” Beshear said to reporters after a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to honor Black History Month.

Beshear said last December that he will present in the 2012 General Assembly a constitutional amendment to expand gambling. Wednesday is the 24th day of the 60-day session that must end by April 15.

Redistricting, or the redrawing of boundaries for legislative and congressional districts, has largely paralyzed the law-making session. Lawmakers generally don’t like to act on controversial issues until they know who their opponents will be.

Republican wins special House election in south-central Kentucky

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – Republican Bart Rowland of Monroe County won a special election Tuesday to fill the unexpired term of former state Rep. James Comer, who was elected state agriculture commissioner last November.

Kentucky Republican Party Chairman Steve Robertson said Rowland unofficially captured more than 62 percent of the vote in the 53rd House District. It includes Cumberland, Green, Metcalfe and Monroe counties.

The Democratic candidate in the race was Barry Dean Steele of Metcalfe County.

Rowland will serve the remainder of Comer’s term, which runs to the end of this year.