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Utilities that opposed Kentucky’s new energy planning commission are now part of it
Gov. Andy Beshear has filled two seats on a new energy planning commission with utility executives who, like Beshear, opposed the commission’s creation. Kentucky lawmakers earlier this year created the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission (EPIC) to slow the retirement of power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Investor-owned utilities and environmentalists opposed the […]
Trees are ‘medicine,’ UofL research finds
LOUISVILLE — A research project years in the making through the University of Louisville, The Nature Conservancy and other partners has found planting thousands of trees and shrubs in a south Louisville neighborhood has improved the health of hundreds of residents. The University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute launched the Green Heart Louisville […]
Nuclear industry eyes Kentucky but don’t expect nuclear power plants anytime soon
FRANKFORT — The director of an energy research center at the University of Kentucky told state lawmakers Friday it’s not likely a nuclear power plant will be built in Kentucky over the next 10 years, though some nuclear energy companies are interested in moving to the state. A new state law passed by the GOP-dominated […]
KY housing shortage will worsen without action, low-income renters most vulnerable, says study
LOUISVILLE — A leader of a national real estate research firm says if no action is taken over the next five years on Kentucky’s housing shortage, more Kentuckians could be forced to live in substandard housing, live with family or friends in crowded spaces, deal with severe housing costs or become homeless. Patrick Bowen, the […]
Fiscal path clear for another cut in Kentucky’s income tax, lawmakers hear
Kentucky’s state budget director told lawmakers Wednesday that fiscal thresholds established by the GOP-dominated legislature before the state income tax can be lowered have been met at the end of this fiscal year. That means Kentucky lawmakers are likely to vote to reduce the state’s income tax rate by another half-percentage point to 3.5% during […]
Some of the poorest Kentuckians pay the highest power bills because their houses leak energy
Investor-owned Kentucky Power faced strong criticism last year when it asked to increase its electricity rates in response to “historic” economic decline among the 20 Eastern Kentucky counties it serves. The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) ultimately slashed the proposed rate hike by over two-thirds, approving a 5.66% increase in residential bills. But as part […]
Kentucky is an outlier with costly single-bid road paving contracts, new findings show
New findings from Kentucky legislative researchers show the state awards significantly more road paving contracts to a single bidder than other nearby states, generally driving up the overall costs of the contracts. Legislative Research Commission staff presented the new findings to a committee of lawmakers Aug. 15 as a part of releasing an LRC report. […]
U.S. Supreme Court won’t stop states from blocking Title IX changes
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected efforts by the Biden administration to temporarily put on hold a federal court’s decision that blocks a central part of new Title IX rules for schools from going into effect. The order by the justices allows a decision made by Chief Judge Danny Reeves of the U.S. District […]
Kentucky’s housing shortages receive legislative scrutiny
Kentucky doesn’t have enough housing. On that even the state’s lawmakers can agree. But the reasons for the shortages differ from community to community, exacerbated by natural disasters in some counties and a booming economy in others. A task force, established by the GOP-dominated legislature earlier this year to better understand the state’s housing needs, […]
Bipartisan bill aims to expand free school meals with more Kentucky-sourced food
Kentucky lawmakers from both parties are hoping to lessen childhood hunger while also supporting farmers with new legislation set to be introduced in next year’s legislative session. The pre-filed legislation from Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, and Reps. Chad Aull, D-Lexington, and Scott McPherson, R-Scottsville, would establish the “Kentucky Proud School Match Program.” In a […]
In West Kentucky, people like their schools, ponder ‘choice’ amendment’s implications
GRAVES COUNTY — Al Chandler, superintendent of Northside Baptist Christian School, the only private school in Graves County, plans to vote for Amendment 2 — but not because he thinks his local public schools are failing students or families. “We really have wonderful, wonderful schools. Mayfield and Graves (County) both in our county, are just […]
McConnell blasts Harris-Walz ticket as ‘far left,’ says Democrats have ‘abandoned’ rural America
LOUISVILLE — U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell branded Vice President Kamala Harris’ new running mate as “far left” and said Democrats have “abandoned” rural America in a speech Wednesday before Republican state lawmakers from around the country. The day after Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential choice, McConnell, speaking to […]