Tagged: Kentucky

Members of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth are preparing for next week's I Love Mountains Day rally in Frankfort.

Several members performed a skit in the Capitol Rotunda today depicting fake legislators and coal operators trading cash while the sick and needy looked on. KFTC member Chris Schimmoeller says the point of the skit was to show the cozy relationship coal companies have with lawmakers.

“Big coal has big money running the state and it’s holding our state back from so many things we need to be doing,”  she says.

The Kentucky Department of Education announced today the state will receive a waiver from some parts of the No Child Left Behind Law. State Education Commissioner Terry Holliday says this means the state can use its newly developed accountability model to report progress to the US government. Federal legislators are attempting to rework the controversial law, but President Obama bypassed Congress, allowing states to apply for the waivers.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has scheduled a news conference for this afternoon at the Capitol to make what they call a major announcement regarding support for a proposed constitutional legalized gambling amendment. The event is set for noon Central. Governor Steve Beshear says he's expecting a proposal to amend the state Constitution to allow casino-style gambling to be filed soon. He also says lawmakers still have plenty of time remaining in the legislative session to get it passed. The legislative session is scheduled to run into April.

A judge has ruled that Kentucky lawmakers can't implement newly redrawn legislative districts. Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled this afternoon on the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of newly redrawn district boundaries. House Republicans unhappy with the outcome of the legislative redistricting battle filed the lawsuit in January claiming the new boundaries favor Democrats. The lawsuit contends the legislative districts could have been better balanced by population and could have been drawn in a way that required fewer splits in counties and precincts.