Here’s what Kentucky lawmakers did—and did not—get done this session

A lawmaking session that started with a sexual harassment scandal and featured a monthslong fight over pension reform ended Saturday, leaving behind raw feelings after a public showdown between Kentucky teachers and their elected officials. Here’s what happened with the key issues and controversial proposals the legislature debated during the 2018 session. Pension reform Republican…

Read more

Beshear to Bevin: Release your tax returns. I do.

FRANKFORT– Attorney General Andy Beshear released his 2017 income tax returns Monday and urged every office holder, including Gov. Matt Bevin, “to embrace transparency and release their returns.” Beshear, a Democrat, also said he filed his annual financial disclosure statement with the Executive Branch Ethics Commission on April 9. Beshear’s chief political opponent, Bevin, has declined…

Read more

Heiner resigns as Sec. of Education and Workforce Development, accepts appointment to Board of Education

Gov. Matt Bevin’s one-time political rival Hal Heiner, resigned Monday as the cabinet Secretary of Education and Workforce Development, and has accepted the governor’s appointment to the Kentucky Board of Education. “I am grateful for Sec. Heiner’s skilled and selfless leadership of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet over these past two and a half…

Read more

Ky. Department of Education ‘very close’ to releasing JCPS audit, commissioner says

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) – The long-awaited state audit of Jefferson County Public Schools will be released soon, Kentucky Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt said Wednesday. But exactly when the Kentucky Department of Education’s extensive examination of the state’s largestschool district will be made public remains unclear. “We are very close to release,” Pruitt said in response…

Read more

Kentucky House and Senate leadership call Gov. Bevin ‘misguided’ after veto announcement

  FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Republican leaders in the Kentucky House and Senate are critical of Gov. Matt Bevin’s plan to veto the revenue and budget bills passed one week ago. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and House Speaker Pro Tempore David Osborne, R-Prospect, issued a joint statement hours after Bevin’s announcement responding to the vetos,…

Read more

Gov. Bevin: Kentucky Opportunity Zone Initiative holds promise for economic growth for local communities

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 9, 2018) – Gov. Bevin announced today the U.S. Department of the Treasury certified 144 Opportunity Zones in 84 Kentucky counties under a program in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that aims to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The designation offers significant federal tax breaks and…

Read more