>> Every option is reasonable until it's not agree.

>> What to expect from the Kentucky General Assembly and regular session as lawmakers gavel in for the 2026 session.

>> There is no source of power that can do that, like coal.

>> A Kentucky U.S.

Senate candidate says he's the Pro-coal candidate.

>> Adults can cough so hard they break ribs.

>> And Kentucky is dealing with the worst surge of whooping cough in more than ten years.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition for this Tuesday, January the 6th, I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you for spending some of your Tuesday evening with us.

>> Welcome back.

>> Next order of business is established.

>> The first day of the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly and regular session is in the books.

Today.

Lawmakers convened in Frankfort for the start of a 60 day lawmaking session.

As we mentioned yesterday, this is the first session in recent history that lawmakers are not convening in the state Capitol, and that's because of a major renovation project.

Instead, each chamber met today in a new temporary structure.

And with the new building comes some new rules regarding access to it that were announced by House leadership today.

One of those rules is that members of the public may not meet in the temporary structure.

House leadership clarified that demonstrators may gather in the rose garden outside the building.

Some Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about transparency and public access.

>> I do think that we need to be very mindful as we go forward in a space that doesn't allow the public to be present, of what steps we can take to ensure that they're fully informed about the work we're doing, and the changes in the rules have resulted in less notice to the public, less transparency and less opportunity for the citizens of this state to engage.

>> The new rules for the session were adopted.

So what are state lawmakers priorities for the 2026 session?

We talked to some of them last night on Ket's Kentucky tonight.

>> When you look at what what our priorities are, we talk about the budget being one of those because really, what we end up doing, and we've discovered over time is that the place we spend the taxpayers hard earned money is where we tend to put the focus, and we can have lots of great ideas.

We can file lots of pieces of legislation about things that we'd like to see happen, but what do we actually spend money on?

And so the budget amplifies and magnifies those things.

So when we say the budget, we're going to be spending money on education.

When we think about the role of state government, education, transportation, Medicaid, incarceration, sadly.

But that covers a lot of what we're going to be spending money on.

Almost half of our state budget.

General fund revenues go for education purposes, and that's the charge of almost every state.

>> The people of Kentucky want a government that provides for the basics food, clothing, shelter and health care.

You can't have a thriving family without those things.

So our job is to create an environment where people can work 40 hours a week and take care of their families to provide an environment where there is access to housing.

So our platform is going to focus on working families that do the work, but the check is not enough to make sure that the basic human needs are covered.

>> When State Representative David Mead, a Republican from Stanford, the speaker pro tem, talked about his priorities, he mentioned Kentucky's housing needs.

>> Well, of course, the budget has taken up most of the time for us because it has to start in the House and all revenue measures start over there as well.

And so that's what we've been focusing on the most.

But in just really getting to roll into other priorities here recently.

But housing is one of those roads and infrastructure of course will be another one.

I think child care will be another one for us.

But as you did mention the housing task force, it did meet.

It's met the past couple of years.

We did a few things last year in legislation with that.

But this year they concluded in November and sent their recommendations to us there in the House.

And based on those recommendations, I think we'll you'll see ways of we'll start investing in local areas to try to invest in infrastructure and try to help with those things, getting it out of the way and preparing land to be able to be built on.

There's other things that we could do, like updating building codes.

As the task force said, we've got some antiquated building codes that are just very costly when it comes to building, streamlining, streamlining, permits.

That's one of the things that we hear most often from builders is talking about how slow it is to get permits and inspections, and maybe we need to put in timelines for the government on on honoring those permits.

And if they don't, maybe we we give automatic permits on certain things like electric and plumbing and those type of things.

There are land use policies that we can work with at the local level, as far as lot sizes and parking availability and setbacks for boundaries on building some of those things.

And I hope that our local leaders will partner with us in that.

>> You can see more of last night's conversation about the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly session, online on demand at KET Laura Rogers KY.

Tonight, Kentucky Senate Democrats gathered in Frankfort today to announce their agenda for the legislative session.

Many of the priorities remain the same as last year, but they say the pressure to pass them now is higher because of changes from the Trump administration.

Our Mackenzie Spink tells us more as we begin tonight's legislative update.

>> 2026 is a budget year for the General Assembly, and the Democratic caucus is asking for fiscal transparency to keep Kentuckians in the loop on how the state will handle the impact of federal cuts made to critical safety net programs.

>> Broad federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, public health and rural health supports do not make costs disappear.

They shift those costs onto Kentucky taxpayers, county governments, and local service providers.

That is not fiscal conservatism.

That is passing the bill of the buck.

I should say, down the line.

>> The main issues on the Democratic agenda are the same as last year.

But they say raising minimum wage will improve other economic burdens on the budget.

>> When wages are too low, the burden does not disappear.

It shifts to Medicaid, Snap and housing assistance.

That means taxpayers are subsidizing employers who refuse to pay a living wage.

>> Universal pre-K and policies like the child care tax credit are also a priority.

These are measures that Democrats say will also positively affect the economy.

>> Universal pre-K and expanded child care are not social programs.

They are economic infrastructure.

>> Minority floor leader Senator Gerald Neal was a member of the Housing Task force over the interim.

He says he's on board for reducing the red tape for housing permitting, but that local control is key.

>> One size fits all mandates from Frankfort won't solve a local housing shortage.

Our caucus believes housing reform must be built on local control, transparency and accountability.

If permitting or zoning is streamlined, local governments must be full partners in those decisions.

>> Senator Neal also emphasized transparency in the lawmaking process.

This session, he predicts over 1000 bills will be filed this year for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Thank you.

Mackenzie.

State Senator Reggie Thomas will again sponsor the minimum wage bill in the Senate this session.

He says the goal is to raise it to $10 an hour this year and eventually raise it to $15.

As you just saw, a new face is joining Kentucky House or Kentucky Democrats in the statehouse.

Gary Clemons won a special election in December to represent parts of south Louisville as its state senator.

Clemons is a local union president who says he's ready to represent working class people in Frankfort.

Our June Leffler has a profile of the only freshman member of the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly.

>> I graduated high school.

College wasn't for me.

I joined the Army, you know, the reserves.

I did a little bit of G.I.

Bill.

It just wasn't for me.

I want to go to work, and I've done that my whole life.

>> Clemons has proudly worked at a factory producing tires and other goods.

>> And in 1996, I started American Synthetic Rubber Company in Rubbertown.

30 years ago this year, which sounds crazy now it's been 30 years.

I started getting more involved in union.

I was a steward for nine years, and then some of the older people came to me and said, it's time to move up the ladder.

>> Clemons is now the longest serving union president at his plant.

>> They joined the union on September 11th of 1954, so it's been around a long, long time.

>> He also serves as the local president, representing 700 workers at other companies, including the one that makes the Louisville Slugger.

>> So from Bourbon, copper, chemical, aluminum, you name it, we have it.

No steel, zero steel.

As a steelworker.

>> Clemons is ready to fight for the people of his district like he has for his workers.

>> They want they want to go to work.

They want to work safe.

They want a decent wage, and they want to be able to retire with dignity and have health insurance.

And that is everybody in my district wants the same thing because my district is working people.

And that's why I'm glad, as a union, working class person, to be able to be the voice for them in Frankfort.

>> Clemons Springs negotiating experience to Frankfort he set across from corporate lawyers to demand worker benefits.

>> Companies don't give you anything.

They won't act like they do, but they don't.

We bargain those issues.

>> He's done so even in dire times.

He's seen industries move out and union participation slow.

He became president just as right to work took effect in Kentucky, which allowed workers to opt out of paying union dues.

>> The companies went after us real hard at that time.

They thought that was when they was going to divide us and they did not.

I'm still proud to say, here we are almost ten years later and I'm still 100% in my plant.

Not one person has ever opted out.

>> Clemons is joining the minority party in Frankfort.

He says he's used to being the underdog.

>> I'm outnumbered.

Every time I go into negotiations, you know, I sit down and negotiate with multi-million multi-billion dollar corporations.

We're outnumbered when we go to the table.

But some are, like me that I have to make sure when I go to the bargaining table and I'm negotiating a contract, I understand that the company has to be profitable.

The companies have to be successful because without the company being successful, there is no union, there is no members, there is no employees.

So that's where I'm hoping to be somebody different that I can actually work across the aisle.

I've already talked to a couple people on the other side, and there is some issues that they think we can work together on.

>> That you will support the Constitution.

>> Like his campaign slogan said, from the shop floor to the Senate floor, Clemons was sworn in today to serve a four year term as a freshman Kentucky State senator for Kentucky Edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you so much.

June Clemons replaces Democrat David Yates, who stepped down last year to become the county clerk in Jefferson County.

A number of bills have already been filed to kick off the new legislative session.

That includes a bill that seeks to expand Kentucky's ban on texting while driving.

Senate Bill 28 is sponsored by State Senator Jimmy Higdon, who announced last year that this will be his last term in Frankfort.

The bill would prohibit nearly all hand-held use of cell phones while driving, while carving out some exemptions for GPS and law enforcement.

Senator Higdon says most states have adopted similar legislation, including all seven states surrounding Kentucky.

The demand for data centers is expected to double or even triple in the next two years, according to the U.S.

Department of Energy.

U.S.

Senate candidate Andy Barr says coal needs to be the energy that fuels the AI boom and the subsequent technology race with China.

Congressman Barr says coal not only has the rare earth elements essential to AI development, but that it's the only existing power source that will allow the U.S.

to keep pace with advancing technology around the world.

>> There is there is no source of power that can do that.

Like coal, there is no source of power.

Nuclear is in the future, perhaps, but we are decades away from permitting nuclear power plants.

We have the existing infrastructure here.

We have the miners here, we have the energy here, we have the dispatchable capacity here to actually do the job before nuclear power could ever do what coal can do.

Right now.

>> Congressman Barr is in a competitive GOP primary to replace retiring U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell.

He says he's the only Republican candidate who is truly pro-coal and claims two of his opponents, Daniel Cameron and Nate Morse, are part of the problem.

>> One of my opponents was part of the effort to prematurely retire these coal fired power plants.

When he was attorney general, he supported the premature retirement of the Mitchell plant in West Virginia.

He refused to defend the existing coal generation capacity.

And then my other opponent was full throated, embracing of the radical climate agenda with signing the ESG CEO pledge, embracing the Paris climate accord.

He's worse than the Democrats.

So when it comes to who is going to actually stand for coal, there's only one candidate for United States Senate who has a plan.

>> Some of the policies in Barr's plan include investing in coal fired power plants by expediting permitting processes and permanently restoring the National Coal Council.

Details tonight on the fallout from a school gymnasium roof collapse, and a county is getting ready for a federal prison.

Even though that prison isn't a done deal, our Toby Gibbs has more in this.

Look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> A partial roof collapse means a longer than expected holiday break for students at Latonia Elementary School in Covington.

Students were supposed to return today, the Enquirer says the Gymnasium's roof partially collapsed on New Year's Day.

Students returned to class Tuesday at all the other schools in Covington Independent School System, but they will all switch to nontraditional instruction days from Wednesday through Friday.

While the school system decides what to do with Latonia students if the roof is still a problem next week.

It's still not clear if Letcher County will be getting a federal prison, but if it does, the necessary water lines are 74% complete, according to the Mountain Eagle, Congress okayed $510 million for the proposed prison in 2016, but President Donald Trump canceled the project in his first term and is trying to cut the funding in his second term.

But the Letcher County Water and Sewer District continues to build infrastructure that can be used whether or not the prison is built.

No reports of damage or injuries after a mild earthquake.

December 28th in Garrard County, the Advocate Messenger says the 3.2 magnitude quake hit around 1247 local time.

It was centered near the Garrard Madison County line and could be felt in several surrounding counties.

Brescia University in Owensboro has some new graduate student housing, thanks to a donation from Steve and Sandi Hayden, the Owensboro Times reports.

The Hayden's donated seven downtown brownstones worth almost $2 million.

The homes at the corner of Locust and West Fifth streets will be known as Hayden Commons at Brescia University.

Four of the homes are expected to be used starting this fall, with the others opening as demand increases.

With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> The US has taken the unprecedented step of dropping the number of vaccines it recommends for every child, leaving other immunizations, such as flu shots, open to families to choose.

But without clear guidance, officials say the overhaul to the federal vaccine schedule won't result in any families losing access or insurance coverage for vaccines.

But medical experts are slamming the move, saying it could lead to reduced uptake of vaccines and increased disease, and more about that.

In tonight's medical news, the state is warning Kentuckians about possible measles exposure in northern Kentucky.

The Northern Kentucky Tribune says someone unvaccinated from out of state visited the Ark Encounter in Williamstown on December 29th and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Dry Ridge between December 28th and 30th.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health wants people who might have been exposed to monitor themselves for symptoms for 21 days.

Those symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash.

Kentucky is experiencing the largest surge of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, since 2012.

The case numbers continue to rise following three infant deaths from pertussis in 2025, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

Our Christie Dutton spoke to a pediatric infectious diseases physician to find out more how to protect those most at risk.

>> Doctor Kris Bryant is here from Norton Children's.

So Doctor Bryant, first of all, tell us what is whooping cough?

>> Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a very contagious bacterial infection that causes uncontrollable coughing fits.

So early symptoms start out like a cold.

But after several days of illness, people begin to cough uncontrollably.

Anybody of any age can get pertussis.

Adults can cough so hard they break ribs in young babies.

This is the group in which pertussis, or whooping cough is most dangerous.

Young infants with pertussis can stop breathing.

>> Oh wow.

So there is a vaccine for pertussis whooping cough.

Is it effective?

When is it given?

How long does it last?

>> Yes.

The good news is pertussis is a vaccine preventable disease.

And it's recommended that all babies get immunized to protect them against pertussis.

The first shots are given at two, four and six months of age.

Babies get another dose after their first birthday and then another dose of a combination vaccine protecting against pertussis when they go off to kindergarten.

Now, people who get that series of shots, children who get that series of shots have a strong degree of protection against pertussis, particularly severe pertussis.

We do get boosters against pertussis throughout our lifetime because immunity does wane over time.

I should point out that there are some additional things we do to protect young infants.

For example, a pertussis shot is recommended for pregnant women because they'll make antibodies.

Those will cross the placenta and protect the baby.

Pertussis vaccine is also recommended for people who are going to be around young infants, like grandparents or other caregivers, so they don't bring pertussis into the house.

>> Okay, so for, let's say, the kindergartner going in to get to get the shot, is it called Tdap, DTaP.

>> At kindergarten, it's called DTaP.

>> Okay.

>> Kids, get another dose of a similar vaccine called Tdap when they're 11.

And that's the shot we give to older teenagers and adults too.

>> Okay.

So that's what we'll look out for okay.

Thank you so much for your time today and for walking us through this whooping cough and what all we need to watch out for.

>> Thank you.

>> The increase in whooping cough has health officials in one Kentucky county warning about broader community exposure and infection.

The Floyd County Health Department reports 21 cases.

The county has issued a number of public notifications warning of the outbreak.

Sticking with Medical news, a faith led nonprofit in Lexington is celebrating 20 years of providing health care services to adults who don't have health insurance.

Mission Health Lexington has been changing lives with the help of volunteer medical professionals.

>> The goal is to provide comprehensive services and make things more accessible for people.

People who are coming here are living paycheck to paycheck, don't know where their next meal is going to come from, may have difficulty accessing transportation to get here.

So we want to make health care accessible for people who need us the most.

Calvary Baptist Church is across the street from our clinic.

They went on a mission trip to Arlington, Texas, and there they volunteered at an organization called Mission Arlington, and that inspired them to come back and really dig deep and see what this community needed.

And from that, they found that dental care was a huge need.

Dental care is incredibly expensive.

A lot of times, if you're choosing between medical care and dental care, you're going to choose medical over dental.

And so a lot of people in our community needed help, couldn't afford it, and needed access to resources.

So Calvary partnered with some other local churches here in town, and they launched our first clinic.

So we have a volunteer cardiologist, we've got an endocrinologist, we've got a gynecologist.

And so that allows us to dig a little deeper in the care that we can provide.

So from dental, then we added medical services.

A few years ago we added Vision Services and then an organization called Faith pharmacy.

And it was amazing because then our patients that were here for medical care could then come to our pharmacy to fill the prescriptions for free when you go.

And a drug is incredibly expensive and your sticker shock, but you've got to pay it because you're sick and that's the only way you're going to get well.

Well, that's not a choice for a lot of our patients.

They need medications in order to live, but they can't afford them.

And so being able to get them for free here means that is a chance to get better.

And that is a chance to get healthier and to improve their chronic conditions to, you know, lose weight, to get their diabetes under control, to get their high blood pressure lowered so that other chronic conditions don't come about as a result of, you know, undiagnosed and untreated conditions.

It is more often than not, we will see tears when people get dentures.

They've not had teeth for decades, or they have battled very, very, very terrible dental disease for decades.

They haven't been to the dentist in years.

And they come here, we're able to do oral surgery here.

We are able to help them get fitted for dentures and to have like to restore smile is the most incredible thing, and that's truly the most visible change that you can see in the care that we provide.

Obviously glasses is another thing too.

We are so fortunate that doctor Don Stratton with Stratton eyes, donates every single pair of lenses and frames for every patient who's in need here.

And so they come here for an annual eye exam.

We're able to fill their prescription here.

They get glasses for free.

So we're at the tail end of celebrating our 20th year.

I think it's a really incredible accomplishment to see where we started and how much we've grown, and to know that we are truly saving lives every single day.

I'm really proud of all that we have done in the community, and that we continue to do because of these incredible volunteers that give their heart and time.

>> There are a total of four clinics that see about 600 unique patients every year.

Well, how could the state spend your taxpayer dollars?

Governor Andy Beshear delivers his annual policy and budget address tomorrow in Frankfort, and you can see it live right here at 5:30 p.m.

eastern, 430 central.

And we'll recap it for you tomorrow night on Kentucky Edition with analysis at 630, which is when we hope to see you again, also at 530 for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect, and inspire.

We hope you'll subscribe to our Kentucky Edition email newsletters and watch full episodes and clips at ket.org.

Look for us on the app and you can also find us on the social media channels Facebook, Instagram and X. Thanks so much for watching!

I'm Renee Shaw and I will see you right back here tomorrow night at 530.

Take good care.