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Kentuckians would vote on putting public money into private schools under bill that moved from committee
FRANKFORT — Kentuckians could decide in November to let public money be spent on private schools — although the language put to voters wouldn’t be quite that straightforward — under a bill approved by a House committee Tuesday. The House Committee on Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs voted 11-4 to send House Bill 2 […]
Gaming their own law: Will Senate Republicans follow House lead on trail of another income tax cut?
FRANKFORT — Remember when Republican lawmakers —? spurred on by the Chamber of Commerce — put Kentucky on the sober, responsible path to ending the state income tax? We were assured this route would protect Kentucky from becoming another Kansas. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s “pro-growth” tax cuts had put the Sunflower State into an economic […]
Senate should save Kentucky from another incarceration binge
FRANKFORT — A couple of demented provisions in House Republicans’ sweeping rewrite of Kentucky’s criminal code — jailing the homeless and unleashing vigilante justice on suspected shoplifters — are bad enough in themselves. They also seem to be the shiny new objects distracting from other, far-reaching questions about House Bill 5. Kentuckians deserve answers, but […]
Decrying ‘pick-a-side politics,’ Beshear responds to GOP calls for him to support Texas governor’s border stand
FRANKFORT — Responding to Republican calls for him to support Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration crackdown, Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday praised the 850 Kentucky National Guard members who have served at the southern border, saying they?“answered the call of our country, not the clamor of the latest political outrage.”? Declaring Kentuckians “exhausted with this […]
‘Moment of silence’ would be mandatory in Kentucky public schools under bill moved by House committee
Kentucky public schools would be required to begin each day with a moment of silence or reflection under a bill that was advanced Tuesday by the House Education Committee. Rep. Tina Bojanowski, a Louisville Democrat and public school teacher, opposed House Bill 96, saying it “reads as a bill that requires prayer during the school […]
OMG not DEI
Listen up, people. It’s time to get woke to the real victims. Untold Kentuckians are suffering from exposure to “concepts.” Not just any concepts. DIVISIVE concepts. Ideas that cause discomfort, guilt, anguish, psychological distress, deep dark depression, excessive misery and possibly premature hair loss in white males. What’s inflicting these horrors? DEI.? No, not do […]
Kentucky has the money for once. Will the legislature have the vision?
Kentucky’s new Attorney General Russell Coleman is right when he says prevention is the weak link in the long-running war on drugs. Turning the tide will take a lot more than retreading D.A.R.E. or Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign, though. If we’re serious about prevention, we’ll work to help more Kentuckians grow up in […]
UAW President Shawn Fain touts solidarity as Kentucky AFL-CIO prepares to choose a new leader
LEXINGTON —? United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain told Kentucky union members Monday night that the working class is fed up with “being left behind” and called on labor to challenge massive income disparity and “the billionaire class.” “The one equalizer in all this is organized labor, and we have an obligation to humanity to […]
Remember learning ‘how a bill becomes law’? Well, forget it in the Kentucky legislature.
A million thanks to the League of Women Voters of Kentucky for running the numbers on the opaque and, oh, so arrogant way the General Assembly conducts what we still quaintly call the “people’s business.” “None of the people’s business” is more like it, considering how frequently the legislature chooses to shut out the public. […]
Kentucky appeals court upholds governor’s ability to take legislature to court
Kentucky’s legislature acted unconstitutionally in 2022 by prohibiting Gov. Andy Beshear from spending public funds to challenge its actions, the state Court of Appeals ruled Friday in a unanimous decision. The appeals judges upheld an earlier ruling by Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate that had struck down the legislature’s attempt to block the governor from […]
Beshear chides ‘shouting’ in Congress. Was he talking about Comer?
Without naming names, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday appeared to criticize Republican U.S. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky for getting into a shouting match earlier this week with a Democratic congressman from Florida. Beshear was responding to a reporter’s question about whether he had met with state legislators since his reelection last week. The […]
AG-elect Coleman plans to target public corruption, drugs, violent crime, child exploitation
FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s next attorney general, Republican Russell Coleman, said Tuesday that combating public corruption will be one of his priorities but declined to speak specifically about London Mayor Randall Weddle’s use of “straw donors” to make excessive contributions to Gov. Andy Beshear’s campaign and the Kentucky Democratic Party. Flanked by his transition team and […]