Kenny Colston (KPR)

Kentucky lawmakers have returned to the capitol for a special session, and it's not clear how long they'll remain in Frankfort to finish their work.

The House gaveled in at noon today and quickly filed two bills. One measure cracks down on prescription pill abuse and another funds the state road plan.

Neither measure cleared the General Assembly during the regular session this year. And House Speaker Greg Stumbo says his chamber will work quickly to pass the bills.

Kentucky lawmakers are returning to Frankfort today to begin a special session called by Governor Steve Beshear.

Beshear has ordered lawmakers to take up a funding bill for the state's road plan and one addressing prescription pill abuse.

Those were the two major bills that died in the final hours of the 2012 regular session last week.

Beshear says passing those bills should only take lawmakers five days.

Republican Senate President David Williams says Democratic Governor Steve Beshear needs to tone down his rhetoric over the upcoming special session.

The two men butted heads yesterday when the Senate didn't pass two of the session's critical bills. The Senate adjourned, effectively killing a bill that funded the state's road plan and one that would place further limitations on prescription drugs.

In his call for the special session, Beshear personally blamed Williams for blocking the bills, and at other times called him greedy and selfish.

A blame game over important legislation is turning into a full-blown repeat of last year's gubernatorial election.

Democratic Governor Steve Beshear and Republican Senate President David Williams are arguing over who is to blame for lawmakers adjourning their regular session without passing key bills. A bill to crack down on Kentucky's prescription drug abuse died in the final minutes of the session, and even though lawmakers passed a road plan, they neglected to pass the bill that funds the projects.

Governor Steve Beshear says he'll call lawmakers back into a special session Monday to consider a transportation budget that provides needed funding for a 4 and a half billion dollar highway construction plan.  Lawmakers passed the plan late last night, but adjourned without approving funding.  Beshear blames Republican Senate President David Williams for thwarting passage of the transportation budget.  Williams insisted Beshear sign the construction plan into law before the Senate passed the funding measure.  But the governor says he didn't have time to fully review the construction before

Kentucky lawmakers have one more legislative day in their calendar this year, but they likely won’t spend it overriding vetoed bills. Governor Steve Beshear spent most of yesterday signing bills into law. And outside of the almost mandatory line item vetoes every governor has in budget bills, Beshear says he doesn’t expect to use his veto pen. That means dozens of bills passed this session will go onto the books. This includes bills allowing new districts of innovation for local school districts, the elimination of confederate pensions and new restrictions on pseudoephedrine purchases.

Governor Steve Beshear has signed a plan to save employers from federal unemployment insurance tax hikes into law.

At his first ceremonial bill signing of the year, Beshear praised lawmakers and the business and labor communities for reaching a compromise.

House Bill 495 would allow Kentucky to borrow money from a state organization to repay interest on a more than nine hundred million dollar unemployment loan.

And while the bill will still raise taxes for employers in two years, it’s at a lesser rate. Beshear says that’s a fair answer to the problem.

Drivers of slow moving vehicles now have the option of using reflective tape instead of the standard orange triangle while on Kentucky roads.

A commission tasked with coming up with elements of a new tax code for Kentucky held its second meeting in Frankfort today.

The group is chaired by Lieutenant Governor Jerry Abramson and is made up of business leaders from across the state.

During the all-afternoon meeting, the group received overviews of the dozen tax commissions that came before the current one.

And while giving the highlights, Greg Harkenrider, an economist in Governor Steve Beshear’s administration, told members that one change won’t cure all ills.

Governor Steve Beshear has signed more bills that passed the General Assembly this session.

Lawmakers will return to Frankfort Thursday to try and override any potential vetoes, but so far, the governor hasn’t vetoed anything. He has, however, approved more than a dozen bills since lawmakers left Frankfort late last month.