Kentucky Politics Distilled: Protests And Pensions
This week in Kentucky politics, students marched on the state Capitol to call for lawmakers to come up with solutions to school shootings; during a radio interview, Gov. Matt Bevin lashed out at...
View ArticleOpioid Tax Won’t Pass Kentucky Senate, Leader Says
The Kentucky Senate will reject a proposed first-in-the-nation tax on prescription opioids, with the chamber’s top Republican leader saying the idea has too many legal problems for it to be in the...
View ArticleLocal Governments Face Big Pension Increases If Relief Bill Fails
Local officials and advocates say that rising pension contributions will cripple city, county and school district budgets if the General Assembly doesn’t pass a bill providing some relief this year....
View ArticleKentucky Lawmakers Resurrect Pension Bill
Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have resurrected a bill to overhaul one of the nation's worst-funded pension systems. The 291-page proposal was approved Thursday by a legislative committee moments...
View ArticleUpdate: Kentucky Lawmakers Pass Last-Minute Pension Overhaul
After weeks of saying that a proposal to fix retirement benefits for state workers was likely dead, on Thursday Republican leaders of the Kentucky legislature quickly passed a bill overhauling the...
View ArticleKentucky Districts Call Off Classes Due to Teacher Absences
Schools in several of Kentucky's largest counties were forced to close Friday when teachers angered by the abrupt passage of a pension overhaul refused to go to work. The state's two largest districts...
View ArticleKentucky Teachers Storm Capitol To Protest Passage Of Pension Bill
Teachers from around Kentucky descended on Frankfort Friday morning to protest a surprise pension bill that was rushed through the state legislature the day before . At least 500 people — most of them...
View ArticleKentucky AG Beshear Says He’ll Sue Over Pension Bill
Kentucky’s Democratic attorney general says he’ll go to court to challenge the pension overhaul bill passed by lawmakers in the Republican-controlled General Assembly Thursday night. In a video, Andy...
View ArticleKentucky Teachers Back at State Capitol Monday Over State Budget, Pension...
Thousands of Kentucky teachers filled the streets near the state Capitol in Frankfurt on Monday to rally for education funding. Teachers and other school employees gathered outside the Kentucky...
View ArticleTeachers Descend On Kentucky Capitol To Protest Pension Changes
Thousands of teachers have packed into the State Capitol building in Frankfort to protest the Republican-led legislature’s passage of a bill overhauling the state’s pension systems last week and other...
View ArticleWarren County Teacher: Budget Concessions Too Little, Too Late
Thousands of teachers gathered in Frankfort on Monday to turn up the political heat on Kentucky lawmakers. An estimated 8,000 educators from Paducah to Paintsville rallied at the Capitol, pressuring...
View ArticleAmid Kentucky Teacher Protests, Worries About State Pensions And Priorities
Dan Brennan has a hunch why some public service workers — like public school teachers — aren’t paid well. “People could call it a calling and say ‘because it’s a calling, we don’t have to pay you that...
View ArticleKentucky Governor Vetoes Bill To Help Agencies Leave Pension System
Alarmed at the potential cost to taxpayers, Republican governor Matt Bevin vetoed legislation Thursday that would make it easier for agencies like rape crisis centers and mental health facilities to...
View ArticleLouisville Teachers Union Calls For Protests — This Time Against Bevin Vetoes
Gov. Matt Bevin says it would be “irresponsible” for teachers in Kentucky to strike a week after thousands of educators descended on Frankfort to protest pension and education cuts. Though state law...
View ArticleAmid Teacher Protests, Kentucky Governor Signs Pension Bill
Defying the vocal objections of teachers, Kentucky's Republican governor signed a bill into law Tuesday that makes changes to the state's troubled public pension systems. Gov. Matt Bevin announced the...
View ArticleKentucky Teachers Plan Another Rally for Education Funding
Kentucky teachers who rallied last week at the state Capitol to support education funding plan to be there again Friday when state lawmakers reconvene to consider overriding the Republican governor's...
View ArticleWalkouts And Teacher Pay: How Did We Get Here?
Teachers in Arizona are staging what they're calling a walk- in today . They're asking lawmakers for a 20 percent pay raise and for school funding to return to pre-recession levels. This comes as...
View ArticleBeshear, Teachers, Police Sue Bevin Over Changes To Public Pensions
A day after Gov. Matt Bevin signed a bill overhauling retirement benefits for public workers, Attorney General Andy Beshear has filed a lawsuit to try and block it. The statewide unions for public...
View ArticleKentucky School Districts Sending Teacher Delegations or Closing in Support...
Teachers from across Kentucky are planning to travel to Frankfort on Friday to rally for better funding for schools. Educators are protesting Governor Matt Bevin’s vetoes of bills that impact schools...
View ArticleWarren County Teacher: Public Education on 'Shakiest Sand Ever'
A Warren County teacher is joining thousands of her colleagues from across Kentucky at the state Capitol Friday. Busloads of educators arrived in Frankfort to continue their activism, exercised many...
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