All Entries in the "State Budget" 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.

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.

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.

Budget cuts will delay implementation of new core education standards

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The state’s top education leaders told a legislative panel Wednesday that proposed budget cuts to the Department of Education will delay implementation of new standards called for in a 2009 overhaul of Kentucky’s education system.

Terry Holliday, commissioner of the Department of Education, told a House budget subcommittee that cuts proposed under Gov. Steve Besehar’s two-year budget will also mean less money for teacher professional development and less money for technology assistance for local school districts. There also will be no new state money to help some schools that have been deemed low-performing schools.

Beshear’s proposed budget does not include cuts to the main funding formula for Kentucky schools, commonly called SEEK, or Support Educational Excellence in Kentucky. However, other parts of the education budget would be cut, including an 8.4 percent cut to administration and technology and a 4.5 percent cut to instruction, assessment and curriculum programs and to the Kentucky School for the Blind and the Kentucky School for the Deaf.

Prosecutors warn of layoffs, furloughs if budgets are cut again

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The state’s prosecutors warned lawmakers Tuesday that they will have to layoff or furlough workers under Gov. Steve Beshear’s proposed two-year state budget.

“We’ve got two options — layoffs or furloughs,” said Chris Cohron, the Commonwealth Attorney for Warren County and legislative chair for the state’s commonwealth attorney association.

Beshear has proposed a cut of 2.2 percent to the state’s commonwealth and county attorneys. That’s less than the 8.4 percent cut he has proposed for most state agencies for the first year of the two-year budget. Under Beshear’s proposal, the agencies would generally receive the same amount in the second year of the budget.

Cohron and John Estill, the Mason County attorney, told a House budget review subcommittee on Tuesday that more than 95 percent of their budgets are spent on workers. Any cuts will mean a reduction in hours for current employees through furloughs or layoffs.

Providers say Medicaid managed care payments late

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@hearld-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Home health agency officials told a legislative panel Thursday that Kentucky’s new managed care system for Medicaid is three months behind in its payments to them.

Jeannie Lemaster, chief compliance officer of Nurses Registry and Home Health, based in Lexington, told the House Health and Welfare Committee that the agency has outstanding claims of between $300,000 and $400,000 that have not yet been paid.

Kip Bowmar, executive director of the Kentucky Home Health Association, said that only 8 percent of the claims from the approximately 150 home health agencies have been paid since the switch to managed care on Nov. 1.

“If these problems don’t get corrected, there is a likelihood that some agencies could go out of business,” Bowmar said. “We are hopeful and optimistic that it will get better.”

House panel unanimously approves adult abuse registry

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The House Health and Welfare Committee on Thursday unanimously passed House Bill 259, which would establish a registry of adult protection workers who have had substantiated cases of abuse and neglect.

Gov. Steve Beshear has included $2 million in his proposed two-year state budget to establish the registry that supporters say will protect seniors and adults with disabilities.

Currently, if someone who works with vulnerable adults has a substantiated case of abuse and neglect against them, a potential employer has no way of knowing the worker’s past history. The $2 million would help provide technical support to create the registry and for administrative overhead for an appeals process, said Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, D-Lexington, the sponsor of HB 259.

It is now headed to the full House, where it is expected to be approved. A similar bill passed the Democratic-led House last year but stalled in the Senate because health care providers were asked to foot the bill for the registry. With Beshear agreeing to include $2 million for the registry in his proposed two-year budget, hopefully those concerns will be alleviated, Palumbo said.

Kentucky Horse Park needs millions from state to balance budget

By Linda B. Blackford and Beth Musgave
lblackford@herald-leader.com

As most state agencies brace for dramatic budget cuts, the Kentucky Horse Park could be getting millions of additional dollars.

In Gov. Steve Beshear’s recommended budget, the Horse Park faces no budget cuts, and instead would receive an additional $3.5 million increase this fiscal year, plus another $1.6 million each year of the next two-year budget.

State officials told lawmakers on Tuesday that the funds are needed to cover operational shortfalls that stem from utility costs for roughly 264,000 square feet of new facilities built at the park in anticipation of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Lawmakers said they want to hear more before agreeing to increase the park’s funding.

‘Comment’ will discuss state budget, redistricting

This weekend’s “Comment on Kentucky,” a public affairs show of the Kentucky Educational Television network, will discuss Gov. Steve Beshear’s proposed two-year state budget and the redrawing of state legislative and congressional district boundaries.

Joining host Ferrell Wellman will be three journalists — Greg Stotelmyer, political reporter for WTVQ-TV in Lexington; Joe Gerth, political writer for The Courier-Journal; and Jack Brammer, political writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The show airs live at 8 p.m. ET on KET1.

On Monday’s edition of “Kentucky Tonight” at 8 p.m. ET on KET and at www.ket.org/live, host Bill Goodman and guests will discuss the state budget.

Beshear proposes more money for child protection and substance abuse treatment

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FULL TEXT OF GOV. BESHEAR’S BUDGET SPEECH

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear proposed Tuesday spending an additional $21 million to decrease case loads for frontline social workers and asked for additional money for substance abuse treatment for adults and adolescents.

Beshear’s two-year, $19.4 billion budget proposal also spares several social services programs from cuts, including Medicaid, the state’s community mental health centers, behavioral health, child protection and other keys areas of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

However, most other programs in the cabinet — public health departments, nursing home inspectors and a commission that oversees treatment for children with chronic health care needs — will receive an 8.4 percent cut, Beshear said Tuesday. The Department of Aging and Independent Services, which runs programs for seniors, would be cut 6.4 percent.

It’s not clear how the cabinet will implement those cuts and what services will be effected. Those details are likely to be released when Beshear’s budget bill is filed in the next few days.