Latest news with #KentuckySenate
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kentucky GOP state senators call for extension of REAL ID deadline next month
Not everyone in Kentucky needs a REAL ID, above, says Sen. Jimmy Higdon, who is calling for an extension of the May 7 deadline. ( photo) Republicans in the Kentucky Senate are calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to extend a federal deadline set for next month for travelers to have a REAL ID to board domestic flights and access other federal facilities. A REAL ID is a type of identification card, including driver's licenses, with enhanced security protections issued by states following Congress' passage of the REAL ID Act in 2005. After years of delays in requiring usage of these enhanced IDs, Kentuckians and people in other states have until May 7 before a REAL ID is needed to enter federal facilities, such as military bases or to get through airport security checkpoints to board domestic flights. Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebonan, in a letter co-signed by other Republican state senators called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to extend the deadline because Kentuckians need more time to obtain REAL IDs. 'While the intent behind the implementation of REAL ID is understandable, we believe the practical impact on Kentuckians must also be considered,' Higdon wrote in his April 17 letter. 'Despite significant progress, Kentucky is simply not fully prepared for complete implementation.' Higdon also asked for 'more time to help Kentuckians understand that they may not need a REAL ID.' Standard driver's licenses will still be valid for daily use within the state, he stressed. He encouraged people to review their options and choose the form of identification that best fits their circumstances. Higdon, the chair of the Kentucky Senate Transportation Committee, in a column posted to the social media platform X wrote many people have contacted him 'about the inconvenience of renewing a driver's license these days' including long wait times at regional driver's licensing state offices and a new requirement of a vision test to renew a driver's license. A recent report by CBS News found many states are lagging in the percentage of citizens who have a REAL ID. According to data compiled by CBS News from state motor vehicle departments, in 30 states fewer than 70% of IDs are compliant with REAL ID standards. New Jersey had the lowest compliance rate at 17%, while Kentucky had a compliance rate of about 36%. Higdon in his column wrote that other forms of federal identification, such as passports and passport cards, can be used as an alternative to a REAL ID to get through airport security. An emailed request for comment sent to a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesperson asking about the letter from state senators was not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kentucky Senate president hopeful Trump executive orders will launch ‘coal comeback'
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — New moves by the Trump Administration to energize a 'coal comeback' have some Kentucky leaders feeling hopeful. Kentucky uses coal to power the state's energy needs at the third-highest rate in the nation, supplying 68% of the state's energy needs, behind only West Virginia and Wyoming, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Kentucky weather tomorrow: More sunshine, less wind Kentucky Senate president hopeful Trump executive orders will launch 'coal comeback' Buffalo Trace Distillery announces modified visitor experience after Kentucky floods: What has changed Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers was in attendance on his first-ever trip to the White House when President Trump signed the orders last week. 'We're slashing unnecessary regulations that targeted the beautiful clean coal,' Trump said. The series of orders will incentivize and reduce regulations around permitting and leasing to mine federal land and redirect pots of money the Biden administration spent on renewable energy to upgrade carbon-based coal-fired power stations. 'To help upgrade them, make them more efficient, more environmentally friendly,' Sen. Stivers said Tuesday morning, speaking to reporters. 'To basically invest in them instead of shutting them down when they still have five, 10, 15 years of useful life,' Stivers said. As demand for energy grows thanks to needs from the tech industry, Stivers, a native of eastern Kentucky coal country, is hopeful the move could not only prime the state to be an attractive place for locating high-energy-demanding data centers but also revitalize the region. 'When things went down in the coal industry, we saw an outmigration of almost 40,000 people, and when that happened, that hurts the school system. It hurts your property taxes, it hurts your businesses, and it's hard to come back,' Stivers said. Study: Kentucky is the toughest state to own an EV in Study: It costs over $200K to raise a child over 18 years in Kentucky These Kentucky small towns make USA Today's '10 Best' The US Energy Information Administration reports one out of five US-operating coal mines is located in Kentucky and is second only to West Virginia in the number of mines located in the state. Environmental group The Sierra Club argued that extending the life of some plants could impact public health and raise energy costs. 'Again and again, politicians fly through coal country with false promises about revitalizing industry, when what they mean is milking the last bit of profits out of Appalachia for the benefit of executives and shareholders. Standards that keep our air, water, and working conditions safe: gutted. Cheaper alternatives to producing electricity: boxed out of the market. Unions to defend good-paying jobs: undermined at every turn. 'Reviving coal' has always been about coal executives, not coal country,' Kentucky Senior Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer Elisa Owen said in a statement after the orders were issued. Stivers believes the state needs an 'all of the above' approach. RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz launch 'Make America Healthy Again' initiative Kentucky Senate president hopeful Trump executive orders will launch 'coal comeback' Former Texas lawmaker hospitalized after launching congressional bid 'You know, there's no doubt that we're going to have to change in this nation some of our thought processes about energy production and dispatchability and reliability. But for now, this is the cheapest, most reliable, affordable, dispatchable energy source we have. Along with developing more resources and assets in the nuclear realm,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Beshear appointee bumped from Public Service Commission after Senate takes no action to confirm him
From left, Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester; Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights,and Senate Majority Floor Leader Max Wise, R-Campbellsville; confer on the Senate floor as proceedings headed into the evening on March 14, the last day before the 10-day veto recess began. (LRC Public Information) FRANKFORT — A former Democratic state lawmaker is no longer sitting on a powerful commission regulating utilities in Kentucky after the GOP-controlled Kentucky Senate took no action to confirm him before the 2025 regular session ended Friday. Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in September appointed John Will Stacy of West Liberty, a state representative from 1993 to 2015 who later served as the Morgan County judge-executive, to the three-member Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC). Stacy sat on the commission and heard requests from utilities in the months after his appointment but needed confirmation by the Kentucky Senate to continue serving through the end of his term in 2028. No resolution to confirm Stacy had been introduced, confirmation hearing scheduled or vote taken on his appointment by the time lawmakers adjourned Friday. Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Mancester, told reporters Friday the reasons for not confirming Stacy included that the former lawmaker was drawing a pension from his previous time in government on top of a six-figure salary PSC commissioners make. Stivers also said he knew of Stacy's business interests and local and government experience, but he considered Stacy to be unqualified for the role given the complexity of topics dealt with by the PSC. 'What is his background in energy?' Stivers said. 'This is a highly technical field.' The Republican Senate leader said he hoped Beshear would appoint a new PSC member who has experience in a range of utilities from electricity to drinking water given the technical nature of overseeing the 'delivery of cheap, dispatchable energy to the consumer.' But the Senate is making it harder to recruit PSC candidates, Beshear spokesperson Crystal Staley told the Lantern on Monday. 'This is now the third Public Service Commissioner that the General Assembly has not confirmed. Each has been qualified, and the failure to confirm them has drastically reduced interest in the positions. The Senate continues to create new structures or take actions to pressure the commission on the outcome of or the reopening of cases.' The PSC regulates the rates and services of more than 1,100 utilities, from large investor-owned electric providers such as Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities to small water districts providing drinking water to rural communities. The legislature last year created an 18-member commission, separate from the PSC, charged with examining and making recommendations on requests from utilities to retire fossil fuel-fired power plants. In 2023, the legislature passed a law making it harder for utilities to retire coal-fired power plants. Stacy's removal leaves two commissioners on the three-member board, PSC chair Angie Hatton and Mary Pat Regan. Stivers had introduced a bill in this year's regular session to expand the membership of the PSC from three commissioners to five but ultimately tabled the legislation.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KY Senate approves bill to weaken open records law for police, other public agencies
The Kentucky Senate on Friday easily passed a bill to make it easier for police departments to withhold law enforcement records from the public under the Kentucky Open Records Act. The bill returned to the House, which must concur with the Senate's actions and give it final passage. House Bill 520 makes crucial changes to the state's open records law by lowering the government's burden of proof when it wants to withhold crime incident reports, 911 tapes, investigative files and other related documents. Instead of having to provide specific evidence of how releasing a record to the public would imperil an ongoing investigation, as is currently required, police only would have to say that disclosure could 'pose an articulable risk of harm' to them or their pending casework. 'This change makes the burden more reasonable for law enforcement agencies to comply with and protects public safety by ensuring that protected information related to investigations is not prematurely released while law enforcement actions and investigations are ongoing,' said state Sen. Danny Carroll, a former assistant police chief in Paducah, arguing for the bill on the Senate floor. Apart from local and state police, the bill also covers records held by public agencies that conduct administrative investigations into alleged wrongdoing, such as the state's inspectors general and regulatory and licensing boards. Before the Senate floor vote, Carroll, R-Paducah, withdrew a Senate committee substitute, adopted on Thursday, that contained even broader language. The substitute would have allowed police to withhold records if they were willing to say that disclosure 'could pose a risk of harm.' That version barely survived the Senate committee vote. The Senate voted 25-to-12 in favor of the bill, with most of the chamber's Democratic minority joined by several libertarian-leaning Republicans who appeared wary of promoting government secrecy. 'It looks like a really simple change — it's changing a 'would' to a 'could,'' said state Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, explaining her opposition to the bill. 'But 'could' is very subjective,' Tichenor said. 'And making such a significant yet minor change really changes our Open Records Act, which potentially closes off transparency. This 'would' has been in place for 49 years and has served its purpose well.' Kentuckians have a legitimate right to know what's happening with criminal cases, especially if they're the ones who were personally affected, Tichenor said. Advocates of open government protested Friday that the bill is an attack on years of court rulings in open records appeals in which police have been told either to release records to the public or be more specific in explaining why requested records should be withheld. Most recently, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled last year for the Courier Journal in its fight for 911 tapes and other records related to a deadly high-speed car crash involving police in the city of Shively in Jefferson County. Unable to prevail at the courthouse, police have asked the General Assembly to rewrite the open records law in their favor, said Amye Bensenhaver, a former assistant attorney general and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. 'It was, and still is, so clearly a legislative reversal of the Shively opinion and a decade plus of thoughtful judicial analysis. It has the attorney general's fingerprints all over it, and is obviously driven by law enforcement,' Bensenhaver told the Herald-Leader. 'In my view, the proposed Senate bar for justifying denial is the lowest ever: an agency statement 'that the disclosure of the information could pose a risk of harm to the agency or its investigation,'' Bensenhaver said. 'We are so screwed if this passes.' The bill is publicly endorsed by the Kentucky League of Cities, the Kentucky Police Chiefs Association and the Kentucky Sheriffs Association. A note prepared for and attached to the bill by legislative staffers suggests that by making it easier to deny requests, the bill likely would 'reduce the administrative burden on local law enforcement agencies by limiting the volume of records they must review and redact before responding to open records requests.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KY Senate Democratic leader falls short of changing GOP higher ed bills in committee
Kentucky Senate Democratic Leader Gerald Neal of Louisville presents alternatives to Republican-sponsored anti-DEI legislation and a bill that faculty say will erode tenure rights. He was speaking to the Senate Education Committee, March 10, 2025. (LRC Public Information) FRANKFORT — Backed by United Campus Workers of Kentucky, Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald Neal attempted to get the Senate Education Committee to adopt substitute versions of two Republican higher education bills Monday afternoon. The Louisville Democrat wasn't successful in either case. The Senate Education Committee forwarded both House Bill 424, which Kentucky professors have warned would erode academic tenure at the state's public universities, and House Bill 4, which would eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in public universities. Neal's changes to HB 424 would have ensured that faculty would be evaluated on criteria related to their academic discipline. His proposed changes to the anti-DEI bill were more substantial; he said they would address 'unintended consequences' of the bill, should it become law. He presented his proposals with Ray Horton, a professor at Murray State University and member of United Campus Workers (UCW). The Republican sponsors of both bills, Rep. James Tipton, of Taylorsville, for HB 424 and Rep. Jennifer Decker, of Waddy, for HB 4, said Neal's committee substitutes would 'weaken' their legislation. Both committee substitutes failed in voice votes. 'We're saying a whole lot about ourselves here,' Neal said while voting no on House Bill 4. 'I'm hoping we can reclaim ourselves, because I know there are good people here, and I will continue to reach out to you.' Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas of Lexington also spoke and voted against the anti-DEI bill, noting that until less than 80 years ago Black Kentuckians were barred by law from most of the state's public universities. He said HB 4 would turn back the clock. 'Today, we seek to reverse history and go back to our ugly past. Let's make no doubt about it, this bill is about race and about its intention to really change the course of history,' Thomas said. 'We want to put on the front door of these public universities, 'You are not welcome. Application denied.'' Neal and Thomas are the only Black members of the committee. Paper copies of Neal's proposals were given to members of the committee and the bill sponsors during the meeting. During debate on Tipton's bill, Senate President Pro Tem David Givens, of Greensburg, repeated something he said he's heard from Democrats upon seeing committee substitutes for the first time during a meeting. 'To use a phrase that we often hear around this place, this is sure at the last second; if we could have seen this sooner, we could have had time to chew on this and think about this,' Givens said. 'This would have been really good for us to have seen sooner than this. But I've never had the chance to use that phrase before, so I get the chance to use it now.' 'I think you have a good point, but you know how it is up here,' Neal said in response. 'Things evolve, things come to your attention, and we are here and we do have the ability to make this happen. I think if we slow down just a moment and deliberate on exactly what's been presented here, we have an opportunity. So that's why I came forward.' The committee also heard from about 10 speakers who opposed HB 4, the anti-DEI bill. They argued it could undermine resources on Kentucky campuses that protect diversity among students and faculty. After the meeting adjourned, advocates with UCW continued sharing their concerns with the legislation in a livestream outside of the Capitol Annex. 'House Bill 4 is far too imprecise, self-contradictory and frankly dangerous to become law in this commonwealth,' said Savannah Dowell, a student from the University of Louisville. In order to protect both bills from Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's veto, Senate Republicans must pass them by the end of this week. The legislature recesses Friday, giving Beshear almost two weeks to consider possible vetoes. Lawmakers return March 27 for the final two days of this session, when they can easily override any vetoes. Republicans hold a veto-proof supermajority in the House and Senate. HB 4 has two readings in the Senate, making it eligible for a floor vote as early as Tuesday. Neal has filed 15 floor amendments to the bill. Sen. Keturah Herron, D-Louisville, has filed her own amendment as well. HB 424 has no floor readings in the Senate and no new amendments filed. Neal substitute for House Bill 4 HB 4 – PSS 4 Neal substitute for House Bill 424 25RS HB 424 PSS 1
