Latest news with #KentuckyGeneralAssembly
The Hill
31-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Long-time Kentucky Democrat switching parties
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — A long-time member of the Kentucky General Assembly said she's switching political parties. State Senator Robin Webb of Grayson in Carter County is now a registered has served in the legislature since 1999 and has been in the Senate since 2009 — all as a Democrat. But she told FOX 56 News on Friday that she's been considering changing parties for the last couple of years. 'I just want people to know where I stand. I know who I am — that's not changing. I'm not changing my priorities. I'm not changing my advocacy positions. And my votes will remain the same on subject matter. I think everyone knows that,' Webb said. 'We've got to think of the people of Kentucky. Sometimes we get into this, you know, 'I'm on this team' or 'that team,' and I understand that — that's our system, and I respect that. But at the end of the day, we've got to do what's right,' state Sen. Gerald Neal, a Democrat, said. This marks the largest-ever Republican supermajority in the Senate — 32 of the Senate's 38 members are Republicans.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Long-time Kentucky Democrat switching parties
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — A long-time member of the Kentucky General Assembly said she's switching political parties. State Senator Robin Webb of Grayson in Carter County is now a registered has served in the legislature since 1999 and has been in the Senate since 2009 — all as a Democrat. Kentucky leaders deny not upholding federal immigration laws Long-time Kentucky Democrat switching parties ACLU of Kentucky dismisses lawsuit challenging Kentucky abortion laws But she told FOX 56 News on Friday that she's been considering changing parties for the last couple of years. 'I just want people to know where I stand. I know who I am — that's not changing. I'm not changing my priorities. I'm not changing my advocacy positions. And my votes will remain the same on subject matter. I think everyone knows that,' Sen. Robin Webb said. 'We've got to think of the people of Kentucky. Sometimes we get into this, you know, 'I'm on this team' or 'that team,' and I understand that — that's our system, and I respect that. But at the end of the day, we've got to do what's right,' Sen. Gerald Neal said. Kentucky's most misspelled word, according to study Drug overdoses see major decline: How Kentucky measures up UFO sightings in Kentucky: A look back on past 30 years This marks the largest-ever Republican supermajority in the Senate—32 of the Senate's 38 members are Republicans. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kentucky lawmakers announce five legislative task forces for the 2025 interim session
The Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort, Feb. 27, 2024. Photo by Arden Barnes Kentucky General Assembly leaders have announced five task forces that will meet ahead of the 2026 legislative session to discuss possible policy proposals. Some of the task forces, like the Artificial Intelligence Task Force, are a continuation of study by previous groups. Others, such as the Disaster Prevention and Resiliency Task Force, are new to this interim session. Republicans Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker David Osborne released the list of members and chairs they appointed to the task forces in press releases Tuesday. Like interim joint committees, task forces have both representatives and senators as members and two co-chairs, one from each chamber. Task forces are typically formed by a resolution of the House or Senate and make recommendations about legislation to consider the following year. Osborne said in a statement that lawmakers will 'continue to use our interim to address the challenges facing our Commonwealth.' 'Whether through interim committees or formal task forces, we are positioning ourselves to create policies that help Kentucky and Kentuckians succeed,' Osborne said. 'The groundwork we lay now allows for more efficient and productive debate once the session is underway, reducing rushed decisions and increasing the likelihood of passing meaningful, effective legislation.' A meeting schedule for the task forces has not been released yet. The interim legislative task forces are: The chairs, Sen. Shelley Funke-Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, and Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, were the sponsors of resolutions to establish the group. The task force will explore ways to implement directives from the Trump administration's 'Make America Healthy Again,' or MAHA, policies. During a committee hearing on her resolution, Funke-Frommeyer said 'this is our starting point' to start addressing Kentucky's dismal health statistics. The commonwealth has high rates of diabetes and cancer deaths, maternal mortality and more. This task force is the only one of the five with bipartisan co-chairs, Rep. Chris Freeland, R-Benton, and Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson. While Webb sponsored the Senate resolution for the task force, Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, introduced the House resolution. Webb said during the floor debate on her resolution that she had been working on the idea of the task force for some time, but the Senate considered the resolution on the heels of statewide floods and winter storms in February. Kentucky has faced more weather-related challenges, such as tornadoes and flooding, since lawmakers adjourned the 2025 session. Both Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, R-Lexington, and Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, chaired the AI task force in 2024 but saw more policy areas to explore when it comes to possible state legislation on AI. This year, the General Assembly passed initial legislation to regulate AI in state government carried by Bledsoe. The co-chairs were part of an April panel on AI and discussed ways the technology could be used in health care, energy, education and more. States' AI laws may be impacted by actions at the federal level. The budget bill passed by the House last week includes a 10-year moratorium on enforcement of state AI laws as a way to a patchwork of different policies nationwide. Last year, lawmakers on the Housing Task Force compiled information to better understand the state's housing needs. The task force is continuing this year under co-chairs, Senate Republican Caucus Chair Robby Mills, of Henderson, and Rep. Susan Tyler Witten, R-Louisville. In a final report released ahead of the 2025 legislative session, the task force found that local elected officials are confronting a problem exacerbated by a boom of jobs in some communities and natural disasters in others. This year, the task force will review issues around housing availability, affordability and development statewide this interim session. The chairs of this task force are Rep. Stephanie Dietz, R-Edgewood, and Sen. Brandon Storm, R-London. Frommeyer introduced the legislation to create the panel. In an earlier press release, she said Kentucky has 'an opportunity to further cement our leadership in this sector and create high-quality jobs' in the aviation industry. The task force will review steps other states are taking in the industry and what policies Kentucky could implement to further support the industry at large and regional airports statewide.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP threatens Beshear's power as governor pushes back against new laws
The 2025 legislative session just ended, but questions over funding for several bills passed by lawmakers in recent weeks is setting the table for the first conflict of the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly. On one side is Gov. Andy Beshear, a term-limited Democrat in office through 2027 who says his office will be unable to enforce 11 bills approved by the legislature because they did not have budget appropriations attached. On the other side is the Republican-dominated legislature, whose majority leaders say they plan to use the next legislative session — which will be centered around building the state's next two-year budget — to hit back at the governor if he won't carry out the new laws. "We're going to take all doubt out of what he doesn't have the ability to spend money on going forward," House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, said Friday on the last day of the 2025 session. "It will be a different-looking budget next time." In a letter sent to state legislators Thursday, Beshear said some of the bills in question "represent good public policy and programs" and cited only financial implications as the barrier for implementation. But the 11 pieces of legislation in his letter include several of the more controversial bills passed this year, including some his office spoke out against. House Bill 495, which reverses Beshear's 2024 executive order banning conversion therapy while also banning Medicaid from covering some medical treatments for transgender residents, is among them. So is Senate Bill 89, which loosens pollution restrictions for many Kentucky waterways and had drawn "grave concerns" from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, as well as House Bill 695, which adds work requirements for able-bodied adults who receive Medicaid coverage in the state. Beshear has estimated implementation costs of each bill would rise into the millions. "These holdings are simple: if the legislature creates a policy or program but does not provide funding, it does not intend for the executive branch to perform those services over the biennium," his letter stated. "... Thesebills are lacking the appropriations necessary to implement these legislative acts." The governor announced earlier this year his office would publish projected fiscal impacts of bills in the legislature through a state website, also prompting pushback from some GOP legislators. In a statement Monday evening, Beshear spokesperson Crystal Staley said the governor asked the General Assembly, "which claims it's fiscally conservative, to be fiscally responsible." "The General Assembly's response was anger over the publication of the fiscal notes and it now threatens to punish the Governor if he cannot run the new, expensive programs without any funding," Staley said. "Our families have to budget, and so should the General Assembly." Republican legislators who took issue with Beshear's claims argued the governor has at times implemented policies that support his own priorities without concern over their impact on state spending. House Speaker Pro Tempore David Meade, R-Stanford, said last year the governor "used $50 million to expand Medicaid, to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates in certain areas," evidence Beshear "doesn't even follow his own guidance." Meade, who's been in office for a dozen years, ended his comments on the House floor Thursday with a warning for Beshear about the next legislative session, when lawmakers will spend 60 days hammering out the next two-year state budget. "Don't worry, governor — because next year when we do the budget, we are going to make it abundantly clear what you can and cannot spend money on," Meade said, to applause from other GOP legislators. In comments to Louisville Public Media, Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, was more pointed. Beshear, the only official in a statewide elected office who is not a Republican, has been a popular speaker on the national circuit in recent months as a Democrat who won reelection in a solidly red state. He spoke last year during the election cycle at Democratic events in Iowa and Georgia, as he was vetted as a potential running mate for Kamala Harris, and touted Kentucky in a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Discretionary money used by the governor to fund trips, though, could be at risk if the legislature's bills aren't put in place, Stivers said. 'He won't hire anybody, he won't travel. He won't do anything unless he gets authority from the legislature,' he told LPM. 'Because everybody knows, by the Constitution the power of the purse is ours.' Other bills cited in Beshear's letter include: Senate Bill 4, which creates state standards for use of artificial intelligence. Senate Bill 27, which establishes committees and additional research concerning Parkinson's disease. Senate Bill 43, which changes regulations around drivers with physical or mental disabilities. Senate Bill 63, which allows "special purpose vehicles" on highways in some instances. House Bill 346, which alters payments on emissions fees from generators. House Bill 390, which changes state laws surrounding vehicle insurance and online insurance verification. House Bill 398, which loosens state workplace health and safety regulations. House Bill 775, which was expanded late in the session to alter taxes on several products and projects in Kentucky. When Osborne adjourned Friday's House session, he said the chamber would gavel back in to begin next year's 60-day General Assembly on Jan. 6, 2025 — "in the parking lot," he joked, a reference to temporary chambers currently under construction while the state Capitol begins a years-long renovation. If Beshear's office does not implement new laws passed this year, he said, that won't be forgotten when lawmakers return to Frankfort. "He continues to cite feeble legal salutations on why he doesn't have to follow the law. Even as governor, he still has to follow the law," Osborne said. "By and large, I think that you're going to see us move to remedy a lot of that." Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@ This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Beshear, Kentucky Republicans clash over funding for new 2025 laws
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kentucky General Assembly overrides Beshear's veto of tolls on new I-69 bridge
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) — Drivers can likely expect to pay a toll on a the new I-69 bridge between Indiana and Kentucky, after the Kentucky General Assembly overrode Governor Andy Beshear's veto of the toll. Governor Beshear vetoed portions of House Bill 546 that required drivers to pay a toll when crossing the Brent Spence Bridge. 'I think we have the finances to build it without tolling it, and IU don't think we should toll our people when we have such a large budget reserve trust fund, that's when we should do big projects, we are going to build a bridge in northern Kentucky and it won't have a toll, I think the people of western Kentucky deserve the same,' said Beshear. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
