Government
Criminal immunity for Kentucky medical providers who make mistakes wins unanimous OK
A bill giving Kentucky’s health care providers criminal immunity for medical mistakes — which one lawmaker thinks will enshrine protections for in vitro fertilization by default — is on its way to Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk. House Bill 159, which would decriminalize medical mistakes made by health care providers, passed the House in February unanimously. […]
Kentucky’s new juvenile justice chief is veteran of managing adult corrections
A? longtime adult corrections official will head the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday.? The new commissioner, Randy White, worked in the Kentucky prison system for 27 years in multiple roles, including correctional officer, warden and most recently more than five years as deputy corrections commissioner, according to a release from […]
Taxpayers were overcharged for patient meds. Then came the lawyers.
Shalina Chatlani examined the health care system in Mississippi as a part of The New York Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship. This story cannot be republished. In 2018, when Mike DeWine was Ohio’s attorney general, he began investigating an obscure corner of the health care industry. He believed that insurers were inflating prescription drug prices through […]
Bill would guarantee parents access to minors’ medical records with exceptions for abuse, neglect
FRANKFORT — Members of the Kentucky Senate Health Services committee passed — along party lines — a bill to ensure parents and guardians have access to medical records of the minors in their care unless those records are protected because of abuse or neglect.? House Bill 174 passed the House in early March. Now that […]
$1.3 billion investment to turn Eastern Kentucky coal mine into hydropower ‘battery’
FRANKFORT — An Eastern Kentucky coal mining site set to become a giant hydropower battery is getting a significant boost from the federal government.? Florida-based Rye Development is in line for an $81 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for its Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project.? The funding is provided through the Bipartisan […]
Kentucky’s ‘Momnibus’ bill advances in legislature?
FRANKFORT — Members of the Senate Health Services Committee voted unanimously Thursday to advance the maternal health bill which supporters call “Momnibus.”? Momnibus — or House Bill 10 — came out of a bipartisan summer working group of female lawmakers who looked into Kentucky’s dismal maternal mortality and how to address it. Male lawmakers have […]
Bill seeking a change in certificate of need law fails in House committee
FRANKFORT — A bill that opponents said would effectively repeal Kentucky’s certificate of need law failed in a bipartisan vote of the House Health Services Committee Thursday. House Bill 204 would have blocked the ability of a dominant provider to sue a certificate of need (CON) applicant during the process. It failed as 13 committee […]
Beshear’s In This Together PAC brings in almost $100,000 in latest report
FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s parents and several longtime donors to his political committees gave to his new political action committee in February. The new Beshear PAC is called In This Together, and it raised nearly $100,000 in contributions last month, according to a report it filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. Beshear […]
Lawrence superintendent chosen as Kentucky education commissioner. Next stop state Senate.
FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Board of Education has named Lawrence County Schools Superintendent Robbie Fletcher as the next state commissioner of education.? The announcement was made during a special meeting of the board Thursday afternoon.? However, Fletcher still must be confirmed by the Senate, according to a new law passed last year. Pending his confirmation, […]
Cursive writing would become a ‘course of study’ in Kentucky public schools under Tichenor’s bill
FRANKFORT — A Republican senator wants to ensure that students become proficient in cursive handwriting in Kentucky’s public elementary schools.? Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, of Smithfield, presented Senate Bill 167, which would require cursive writing to be taught “as a course of study” in elementary schools, to the House Education Committee Tuesday. The Senate has already […]
As legislature heads into home stretch, here’s some of what remains to be done
FRANKFORT — With eight days left in this session and a slew of decisions pending, the Kentucky House and Senate reconvene Thursday afternoon after a three-day break. High on lawmakers’ to-do list will be finalizing the next two-year state budget. The Senate also must consider changes to the tax code approved with little public notice […]
Fed declines to cut interest rates, saying it’s not clear inflation has slowed enough yet
The Federal Reserve declined Wednesday to cut interest rates, saying it remains uncertain inflation is slowing enough, but some economists warned the financial regulators risk waiting too long to make cuts. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed has a lack of sufficient data that inflation is slowing enough to justify taking the pressure off […]