Tagged: Governor Steve Beshear

Despite progress toward building a state-run health insurance exchange in Kentucky, Governor Steve Beshear will likely have to re-issue an executive order to keep it alive. Beshear issued an order creating the exchange earlier this year, after the Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act was constitutional. And it’s a goal of state health officials to get the exchange protected under a law, rather than an executive order. Republican State Senator Tom Buford says his colleagues aren’t likely to support an exchange law.

A newly created data center will link education and workforce data in Kentucky to try to improve training for students at all levels. Gov. Steve Beshear issued an executive order earlier this month creating the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics. He says data from individual agencies only gives one part of the picture and that policymakers, parents, students and educators will all benefit from the combined information.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is urging U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell to sponsor and pass legislation that would force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release water from the Missouri River to raise levels on the Mississippi.  Drought conditions there could soon halt barge traffic. Beshear sent a letter to McConnell and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul Wednesday asking them to take action quickly. If the Mississippi continues to drop there could be negative economic consequences.

Activists with the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty have sent Governor Steve Beshear more than 1,500 postcards asking him to sign no more death warrants and get rid of the punishment. Each card calls the death penalty “a risky, arbitrary, unfair, ineffective and costly distraction from justice.”

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform meets today to share its recommendations with Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. Beshear appointed the commission earlier this year to suggest ways to simplify the tax code and generate enough revenue to meet state needs and carry Kentuckians through the recession.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has ruled himself out as a potential challenger to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014. Beshear says he has no interest in running against McConnell but he expects a credible Democratic challenger will step forward.