Kenny Colston

Kentucky’s lone independent state senator says his record as budget chairman is the reason he should be the next state Senate president. 

Originally a Democrat, Leeper made the switch to the GOP in 2000, before becoming an Independent later that decade. He may be the one state senator who can say he has literally worked with each side of the aisle in Frankfort.

Now, he’s hoping to convince Senate Republicans to make him the next president of the chamber, because he has been a loyal GOP caucus member and budget chairman.

State employees with higher pensions should pay more to help the underfunded systems recover, Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo said in a recent interview.

One thing Stumbo doesn't want to see is lawmakers floating bonds to help pay for the state’s underfunded pensions.

And that echoes what Republicans want; they're ruling out such a possibility.

As part of his efforts to increase citizen involvement in government, Auditor Adam Edelen's office will soon release a smart phone app to let residents make anonymous requests for investigations. 

Tips have always been taken in person or over the phone, but now, the office is on the verge of allowing tips to come in via smartphone or tablet.

Edelen says moving to smartphone applications will give taxpayers another tool to fight fraud and abuse.

Kentucky's state pension plans have problems, and a bipartisan legislative task force has approved sweeping recommendations to overhaul them -- including putting new employees in a hybrid plans akin to 401Ks.

The task force -- with an 11-1 vote -- is recommending that the General Assembly start fully funding their pension contributions starting with the next budget in 2014. Lawmakers’ inability to do that is part of the pension plans problems. 

There's nothing magical about Kentucky's smurfs, state leaders say.

Gov. Steve Beshear and State Sen. Robert Stivers -- a contender for senate president --  will help unveil an "anti-smurfing" campaign with the CHPA today. The campaign will include signs that pharmacies have the option to display, warning people to not buy pseudeoephedrine products to sell to others who want to make meth.

In drug culture, a "smurf" is someone who buys pseudoephedrine for someone else with the intent it will be used for meth.

To date, the chatter over who'll challenge U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014 has centered around actress/activist Ashley Judd.

And, if not Judd, then Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state.

A top Kentucky Democrat is saying that McConnell's Democratic challenger will be neither of the women.

In a recent interview, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Judd's candidacy would face an obstacle from her position against mountaintop removal coal mining. In fact, he said her name shouldn't even be in discussion.

A new person is joning the Beshear administration to tend to the state's budget, but she's familiar face to Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson in his last government role as mayor of Metro Louisville.

Gov. Steve Beshear has hired a new state budget director with nearly three decades of government service so far.

Jane Driskell has served in various government roles over 27 years, including a stint as chief financial officer for Louisville Metro government.

The Kentucky House speaker said the commission charged with proposing changes to Kentucky's tax code is "backing away" from controversial issues.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo said in a recent interview that the Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform needs to be bolder. He said the appointed commissioners are approaching the tax code issues as if they have political capital to lose, refusing to offer new ideas.

He also encouraged the commission memebers to spend their remaining time productively.

The push for hemp in Kentucky is getting a bump from other states' efforts to legalize the plant's unsavory cousin, a Kentucky official said.

Ashley Judd is the most discussed potential Democratic candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell' for his seat in 2014, but not all Kentucky Democratic statewide officers are supporting the idea.

Auditor Adam Edelen said he'll be encouraging and supporting Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state, for the 2014 senate race -- because of Grimes' focus on state, not national, issues.