All Entries in the "State Government" Category

Kentucky will get about $4.6 million from settlement with drug company

FRANKFORT — Kentucky will get about $4.62 million in a settlement with Abbott Laboratories involving civil and criminal allegations that the drug company illegally marketed the drug Depakote.

Attorney General Jack Conway announced Monday that Abbott has settled with 49 states, including Kentucky, the District of Columbia and the federal government in reaching two independent settlements totaling $1.6 billion.

Economic impact of Kentucky tourism up slightly in 2011

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Tourism had a nearly $11.7 billion impact on Kentucky’s economy last year, an increase of 3 percent from 2010, state officials said Monday.

“Despite a tough economy, the Kentucky tourism industry continues to shine,” Gov. Steve Beshear said in a statement.

An annual survey showed that tourism was responsible for 169,932 jobs in Kentucky in 2011, up slightly from the previous year. Those jobs generated more than $2.6 billion in wages for Kentucky workers, an increase of $76 million from the previous year.

Tourism generated $1.22 billion in tax revenues for local and state governments in 2011, an increase from $1.19 billion in 2010, the survey found.

‘Comment’ will discuss Farmer audit, judicial budget cuts

The audit of former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer’s administration and cuts in the state judicial budget will be topics on this weekend’s “Comment on Kentucky.”

The public affairs show on the Kentucky Educational Television network will air live Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

Beshear waiting on court ruling before ordering state health insurance exchange

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – Gov. Steve Beshear will wait until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act before issuing an executive order to set up a Kentucky health benefit exchange.

The exchange is envisioned as an online marketplace where consumers can shop for competing health insurance plans. It is intended to reduce coverage costs for individuals, small businesses and local governments, and would operate like Travelocity or Orbitz.

Each state must have an exchange by 2014 under the federal health reform act enacted by Congress.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide in late June on the constitutionality of the federal act.

If it is upheld, the state will have until the end of this year to demonstrate its readiness to run a health insurance exchange or the federal government will take responsibility for it.

Kentucky courthouses will close for three days in 2012 to cut costs

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – Kentucky court workers will be furloughed three days this year, closing courthouses statewide on Aug. 6, Sept. 4 and Oct. 15, Chief Justice John D. Minton said Wednesday.

The cost-cutting move is the result of cuts the Kentucky General Assembly made to the court system’s budget, Minton said.

This is the first time since Kentucky’s modern court system was formed in 1976 that the judicial branch must close courthouse doors to balance its budget, he added.

Court spokeswoman Leigh Anne Hiatt said the furloughs will affect all judicial branch employees except elected officials. The state court system has about 3,300 employees and 404 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks, she said.

Furloughs are one of several measures included in the judicial branch’s budget reduction plan for fiscal year 2013, which begins July 1.

Beshear will talk with Conway before deciding whether to move KASPER

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday he will meet with Attorney General Jack Conway before deciding whether to move by executive order the state’s electronic monitoring system for prescription to his office.

The system, known as KASPER, is now in the Cabinet for Families and Health Services. Some legislators this year wanted to move it to Conway’s office to make it a law-enforcement tool but that provision was not included in a final bill to curb prescription drug abuse.

“The thing that the attorney general stresses, which I agree with him on, is his need for access so his investigators can proceed when they need to pursue these doctors who are pushing drugs,” Beshear said.

Beshear noted that the new law does not take effect until mid-July. He said he will be discussing it with Conway before then.

–Jack Brammer

Prescription drug drop off slated for Saturday

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Prescription drug abuse starts at home.

That’s why state and federal leaders want people to empty their medicine cabinets of unused drugs — particularly prescription pain relievers — and bring them Saturday to one of 75 drop off sites around Kentucky.

The drop off program is part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, officials said Monday at a press conference at the Franklin Public Health Department. Locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

In Lexington, there will be four drop off sites: Kentucky American Water Company, 2300 Richmond Road; The Walmart parking lot, 2350 Grey Lag Way; Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, 1600 Man O’War Blvd.; and Lexington Police at 1165 Centre Parkway.

To find other drop-off locations in Kentucky, visit: http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html.

A recent survey showed that 70 percent of teens acquired a prescription drug through a relative or friend, compared to five percent who said they received prescription drugs from a drug dealer, said Secretary for Justice and Public Safety J. Michael Brown.

‘Comment’ will discuss special legislative session

Friday’s end of the five-day special legislative session will be a key topic of discussion on this weekend’s “Comment on Kentucky,” a public affairs show of the Kentucky Educational Television network.

Joining host Ferrell Wellman on the show will be three reporters — Linda Blackford of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Jim Williams of Louisville’s WHAS Radio and Mike Wynn of the Courier-Journal Frankfort bureau.

The show will air live at 8 p.m. EDT Friday on KET.

–Jack Brammer