Government

The Kentucky Senate Health and Welfare Committee has unanimously approved a bill to help 18-year-olds transition from foster care to independent living. Senator Ken Winters of Murray sponsored the bill. He says it would allow youths to consult with state personnel six months before they turn 18 about whether they want to remain in foster care.

A proposal for a Kentucky statewide smoking ban has cleared its first hurdle. The House Health and Welfare committee passed the bill today.

The bill was expected to pass easily, but a few Republicans did vote against the measure because of concern for individual property rights.

Lexington doctor Sylvia Cerel-Suhl supports the ban. She says it's her right to go out in public and not be subjected to second-hand smoke.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is opposing budget cuts to a health care program for the blind. The House budget committee proposed to cut the state’s current 28 million dollar program and replace it with a new 6 million dollar program. The proposed cuts are expected to go in front of the entire House next week. Nixon is urging representatives to support the current program which covers healthcare costs like prescriptions and doctor visits and serves over 2,000 blind Missourians.

A bill that would allow slow-moving vehicles to use reflective tape instead of an orange triangle is moving through the House. The triangles have become an issue in Kentucky’s Amish community, where the symbol and loud color run counter to religious beliefs. Some Amish men have been arrested for refusing to use the triangles on their buggies. Both the House and the Senate passed separate bills addressing the issue. But the Senate proposal has fewer requirements, and the House decided to take up the Senate’s version.

A compromise to help employers avoid high federal unemployment insurance taxes has easily cleared a House committee.

The proposal would allow Kentucky to borrow money from a bank or other organization to repay federal loans. Kentucky borrowed nearly one billion dollars from the federal government to pay for unemployment insurance during the recession.

Up until now, the state had no plan on how to keep up with interest payments on that loan. If the state is late on payments, the federal government can put a higher tax on employers to recoup the funds.