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Reentry program for people incarcerated offers a model for others
“Every time I was incarcerated,” Brittany Herrington said, “every single time, I did not want to do drugs when I left. I wanted to get a job, get a home, get my kid back. Every single time. Nothing was gonna stop me. “But no one sat me down...
Oh looky – Comer’s using his “investigation” to get a book deal
As noted by a story on Axios, there is a page on the Harper-Collins web site (reproduced above) that purports to show an upcoming book by our own Jamie Gomer Comer, who appears to be using his so-called leadership of the “Biden crime family” to get himself a book deal.
Mitch McConnell’s legacy: promoting himself, not Kentucky
So, Senator Mitch McConnell has announced that he will step down as the Republican leader in the Senate later this year, a position he has held for seventeen years. He has not, however, committed to leaving the Senate at the end of his present term in 2026 (more’s the pity).
Did we dodge the HB 509 bullet?
Reporters frantically recapped the last day of the 2024 Regular Session, before the ten-day veto period and final two-day veto override period, as lawmakers scrambled out of legislative chambers just before midnight. It was business as usual for a General Assembly which has, as one reporter noted, a serious time...
KY General Assembly continues to chip away at public’s right to know. What are they hiding?
Irony and absurdity always abound at the Kentucky General Assembly, but Wednesday’s Senate State and Government Committee meeting provided a particularly salient example:. A committee substitute to absolutely gut the public’s right to know was added secretly Tuesday night so the public wouldn’t know it was in the bill.
Kentucky state budget bill clears legislature, heads to Beshear
The Kentucky General Assembly gave final passage Thursday to an executive branch budget bill spending roughly $30 billion over the next two fiscal years from the state’s General Fund. Members of the Republican supermajority touted House Bill 6 as a historic investment in education, though Democrats criticized it for...
The Kentucky General Assembly passes the ‘Safer Kentucky’ Act
The Safer Kentucky Act passed the House on a 75-23 vote. A few Republicans voted against it as did nearly every House Democrat. It now moves to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who will have 10 days to either sign, veto, or allow it to become law without his signature. The...
JCPS busing changes and legislative update
Robert goes solo this week to discuss potential changes to the JCPS busing scheme and gives a few legislative updates in the waning days before the veto period. Robert is a graduate of UK's Martin School for Public Policy. He works as a data scientist in Louisville, where he lives w/ wife Kelsey and their daughter. (Read the rest on the Contributors page.)
Andy makes it rain as KYGA24 brings more pain
This week we continue to keep an eye on the Kentucky legislature – they are in day 57 of the 60 day session, just one more day before they adjourn for a two-week veto break. This is when the bad bills come fast and furious. Aaron, Doug, and Nema get an update from our guest, Chris Hartman, the Executive Director of Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign; then we close out with our housing and homelessness call to action.
KY plastics plant ranks in nation’s top ten emitters of chlorine
A western Kentucky plastics plant is among the top 10 emitters of chlorine air pollution, according to a new report by the Environmental Integrity Project. The Calvert City plant is owned by the Westlake corporation and manufactures ethylene, a primary ingredient used to make plastics, along with polyvinyl chloride. Alexandra...
KY Press Association denounces bill attacking open records
KPA’s attorney, Michael Abate, has also testified against the bill. The Kentucky Press Association (of which Forward Kentucky is a member) issued the following statement on its opposition to HB 509:. Kentucky Press Association Statement in Opposition to HB 509 and Senate Committee Substitute. The Kentucky Press Association remains...
Kid-focused bills advance in Frankfort
A bill to give working foster parents better access to child care subsidies is on its way to the governor’s desk after pushing through the Kentucky House on a bipartisan vote Monday. The Democrat-led legislation in Senate Bill 240 – one of a handful of child-related bills advancing Monday...
Urgent action needed – Attack on open records just got worse
The attacks on Kentucky’s open records laws just keep on coming. And believe it or not, the latest attack just got even worse. HB 509 was filed, according to its sponsor, to force all government personnel (including legislators) to be given a government email address, through which they would be instructed to conduct all their government business. If the bill had stopped there, it actually would have been an improvement.
Bill that would allow armed guards in public schools advances
The Kentucky House Education Committee has voted to allow armed guards to fill in for school resource officers in public schools despite legislative opposition to last-minute changes to the proposal. After more than an hour of debate, the committee voted 14-3 to approve the legislation in Senate Bill 2. All...
KY Senate passes measure to take Horse Racing Commission out of governor's office, create independent body
Kentucky's Senate voted Tuesday evening on a proposal to take the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission out of the governor's office and turn it into an independent body, similar to the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. The details of the proposal were unveiled that morning in Senate Bill 299, which was a "shell...
Black student's statement on anti-DEI legislation misrepresented to Kentucky lawmakers, she says
In the weeks leading up to a committee vote on a bill that would dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public colleges across Kentucky, Michael Frazier went looking for feedback and support from students. Frazier met University of Louisville student Rebekah Flowers on that tour and asked her to...
Republican lawmaker says Kentucky’s newly passed shield bill protects IVF services
Kentucky legislation shielding doctors and other health providers from criminal liability was written broadly enough to apply to in vitro fertilization services, a Republican lawmaker said Friday as the bill won final passage. The measure, which now goes to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, would accomplish what other bills sought to...
‘Momnibus’ bill nears passage
A House-approved bill aimed at reducing maternal-mortality rates in Kentucky was approved without dissent by the Senate Health Services Committee on March 22 and sent to the Senate on the consent calendar, reserved for bills that are passed without debate. “Kentucky has the ranking as second in the nation in...
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