Government
Under threat from industry ‘middlemen,’ independent pharmacies gain allies in D.C., Frankfort
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear joined a White House roundtable discussion Monday on prescription drug costs that also featured U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, pharmacy entrepreneur Mark Cuban and several community pharmacists from around the country. The main topic was insurance industry middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, and panelists were […]
10,000 Kentuckians marched to demand racial equality. My grandmother was one of them.
I never got a chance to ask my grandmother about what March 5, 1964 was like for her. What she heard from speakers on the steps of the Kentucky Capitol. If she saw Martin Luther King Jr. or Jackie Robinson. What she felt standing with thousands of others from across Kentucky. She didn’t speak much […]
In bipartisan vote, House passes bill changing how Kentucky fills vacant U.S. Senate seats
With bipartisan support, a GOP-backed bill that would end the governor’s power to fill vacant U.S. Senate seats passed the House Monday.? Instead, voters in a special election would select a successor, if the bill becomes law.? Kentucky House Republican Floor Leader Steven Rudy, of Paducah, has previously said House Bill 622 is aimed at […]
Appeals court sides with GOP constitutional officers on ethics commission power
Republican constitutional officers celebrated a Friday ruling from the Kentucky Court of Appeals that upheld a law allowing them to each appoint a member of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.? Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who’s office has said it will ask the Kentucky Supreme Court to hear the case, filed a lawsuit in 2022 to […]
Partisan games or power to the people? Kentucky’s GOP legislature clips governor’s wings
FRANKFORT — Republican lawmakers say a flurry of bills to limit the governor’s authority would give more power to Kentuckians. However, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear chalks up the trend to partisan “games.” While the power struggle between Kentucky’s legislative and executive branches is nothing new, it’s become a recurring theme since voters elected a Democratic […]
School ‘guardians’ bill advances despite GOP lawmaker’s call for more input from law enforcement
FRANKFORT — A Republican bill aimed at increasing school security by enlisting armed “guardians” was approved by a Senate committee Thursday, despite concerns raised by Republican Sen. Danny Carroll, a former police officer, who called for more input from law enforcement. Kentucky senator wants to expand school safety law with ‘guardians’ and mental health reports […]
Small Kentucky farms are again exempt from hunting, fishing license requirements
FRANKFORT — One of the first bills to become law in this year’s legislative session clarifies that Kentuckians who own farms of five acres or smaller can fish or hunt on their own property without purchasing a hunting or fishing license.? Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona, signed into law Thursday by […]
Beshear blames ‘extremism’ for threats to reproductive options in Kentucky, Alabama
FRANKFORT — Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday called out Kentucky lawmakers for wasting time on “culture war type issues” and denounced “extremism” that he said is limiting reproductive options. The Democratic governor said he is “100% for” protecting access to in vitro fertilization and called an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children […]
If Kentucky had an empty U.S. Senate seat, voters not governor should fill it, House panel says
FRANKFORT — The day after Mitch McConnell announced he is stepping down as the U.S. Senate’s Republican leader, Republican lawmakers in his home state were working to trim the Kentucky governor’s role in filling future U.S. Senate vacancies. A state House committee on Thursday approved a bill that would require the governor to call a […]
Thayer seeks to end Kentucky’s limits on political giving, require more frequent reporting instead
FRANKFORT — Senate Republican Floor Leader Damon Thayer is seeking to eliminate state limits on donations to political campaigns and committees while increasing the frequency of campaign finance reports to every two weeks.? Thayer, of Georgetown, told the Kentucky Lantern after filing Senate Bill 100 that he is “making a few statements on my way […]
‘This year’s anti-drag bill’ on its way to full Senate
FRANKFORT — A Senate committee on Thursday approved new restrictions on “adult-oriented businesses” that opponents describe as “this year’s anti-drag bill.”? Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, filed Senate Bill 147 in late January, saying it was “not intended to impede on any First Amendment rights of free speech, nor to impose limitations on reasonable access to […]
Ban on child sex dolls, using AI to make child porn clears hurdle
FRANKFORT — A House bill that would make it a felony to knowingly own a child sex doll in Kentucky passed the Senate Judiciary committee unanimously Thursday morning. House Bill 207 passed the House in early February and is making its way through the Senate. It can now go to the floor for consideration. Should […]