Tagged: Kentucky General Assembly

With no deal and time running out, a special session is becoming more likely for Kentucky lawmakers to reform the underfunded pension programs for state employees, Gov. Steve Beshear said on Tuesday.

It's unlikely that the General Assembly will address pension reform before legislators leave Frankfort after Tuesday for a brief period called the veto break, Beshear said. Legislators have 

Kentucky lawmakers reached a deal Monday in a conference committee on legislation addressing issues with special taxing districts.

The committee adopted a new proposal that would require special districts to present their annual budgets or any new fee increases to their local fiscal court. But the compromise on House Bill 1 does not allow the fiscal court veto or approval powers of the special district's actions, as Senate Republicans had recently suggested.

A bill designed  to allow Kentuckians in the military deployed overseas vote electronically has cleared the House, after amendments returned Senate Bill 1 to a full electronic system.

Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is the main promoter of the bill and urged House lawmakers to return to full electronic provisions after the Senate did not include the electronic return of a ballot.

Freshman State Sen. Morgan McGarvey is built like his predecessor, Tim Shaughnessy.

He's slight, lean, with a legislator's firm handshake and a clean-shaven face. His frame is a little more wiry, though. The more noticeable difference is when he stands to speak on the Senate floor.

For 24 years, Shaughnessy, a Louisville Democrat, took command of his desk in such a way that made it seem to disappear to on-lookers, his voice was a familiar rallying beacon for other Democrats in the chamber.