make?

>> Before these cuts began, the income tax generate 40% of general fund revenue with this cut.

It will have been reduced by 30%.

>> Debate begins on whether to again cut Kentucky's income tax.

>> I'd say we'll get close to a single digits if not near 0 by early Thursday, >> the snow is just part of our problem.

>> If the market gets better at infecting novels as humans are mammals and actually become better at infecting us as well.

>> And scientists react to the first U.S. death from the bird flu.

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

♪ ♪ ♪ >> Good Evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION for this Wednesday, January, the 8th, I'm Renee Shaw coming to you from Katie's Frankfort Capital Operation Center in the annex and we appreciate you joining us this evening.

Now on the second day of Kentucky's legislative session, lawmakers on the House budget panel.

But it to once again lower the state income tax as our June Leffler reports in tonight's Legislative update.

The tax cut is set to move quickly and the Republican controlled General Assembly.

♪ >> A priority Bill House Bill one would lower the income tax by half a percentage point from 4% to 3.5%.

This time next year, Kentucky Republicans want to emulate other states like neighboring Tennessee that have gotten to 0 income tax.

>> Bucks, you can cite result minds disagree.

But there's a good amount of support for the theory that as that income tax become rate comes much more competitive with other states, then there's reason for people to stay here as well as locate here.

Fresh population as well as economic growth that encourages the same.

And because the company is not having to pay your employers either have to pay the of times to get the same wage to their employees.

They would in other locations.

There are a lot more things.

But those are the primary drivers of what's going on.

>> Lawmakers decided to gradually reduce the income tax in 2022.

Progressive think tank in Kentucky says that move has cost the state billions of dollars.

>> Before these cuts began, income tax generated 40% of general fund revenue with this cut.

It will have been reduced by 30%.

Another cut would cost 718 million dollars a year once fully phased.

And for a total of 2.2 billion dollars.

Yeah.

Annual loss.

Revenue from the 3 have point cuts.

The amount that exceeds what Kentucky spends on Base K 12 seek funding and as well as being more than what we spend on all of higher education, behavioral health and child care combined.

>> Yea, votes came from all Republicans on the House appropriations and Revenue Committee.

Democrats passed on the measure will see any reason to vote no on this bill yet other than >> not really being 100% agreement.

This entire model of of going to where we're going because I feel like it benefits higher income people at the expense of very lower-income people.

It and I'm not gonna get into that right now, obviously.

I do want to look at data a little more.

>> The House bill would move steady.

You could get approval on the House floor and head to the Senate by the end of the week for Kentucky Jen Leffler.

>> Thank you, June.

And that vote is expected in the house tomorrow.

Lawmakers are in Frankfort until Friday, but then they'll go on a hiatus after that resuming the regular session in February.

Governor Andy Beshear delivers his state of the Commonwealth address to a joint session of the Kentucky House and Senate.

Tonight, KET has exclusive coverage of the address with analysis and reactions by legislative leaders.

It all begins tonight at 7 Eastern 6 central following Kentucky edition right here on KET.

Throughout our coverage of the legislative session.

Kentucky Edition is introducing you to some newly elected members of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Tonight, you'll get to know Craig Richardson from Hopkinsville in western Kentucky.

He ran unopposed in the 3rd district, replacing retired Senator Whitney Westerfield.

He's been preparing for the legislative session for months, engaging with state lawmakers and learning the process and Frankfort, even before he secured his seat here.

More about Senator Craig Richardson as we continue our series on the freshman class of 2025.

With Senator welcome.

It's good to have you.

Thank you so much for having me.

So tell us about your background and what prompted you to want to even run for the state Senate?

>> Well, to be honest, I always had an interest in politics.

My grandfather was a trustee for a county down in Middle Tennessee.

And so I've always been around and always wanted to do it.

My background is currently I'm an attorney, but I've been real estate agent.

I've been in healthcare in sales.

So recently taking over a family law practice being involved in the community just opened up this opportunity to to get involved in the Senate.

Bigger.

Capacity.

I think I think Muhammad Ali said it.

That service is the rate that we pay here on earth.

And that means a lot to me, the opportunity that we can make a difference, even if it's just a little bit means a lot to me.

Yeah.

>> What are your top 2 or 3 issues that are really driving?

How you see yourself operating here?

>> Coincidently one of the main reasons that I decided to run for office was to continue to put that pressure on economic development.

But likewise, when I would go around and talk to constituents and ask him at the end of the day before you go down.

To sleep or you get up in the morning, what are the things that that are on your mind?

It was always centered around something on economic development, whether that was job growth or sustainability for raising a family here in the commonwealth.

So that is.

Ironically, why wanted to run in the first place?

The things that drive me are the economy.

What our jobs, what opportunities are recruiting for a future.

Selling ourselves as a state to let everybody know that the Commonwealth of Kentucky is open for business.

>> Christian County is a good pace from here right at you.

How many hours?

It's about 3 hours.

Pretty good fight yesterday to the speed Yeah, it goes.

And that's pretty good clip right there.

But it is a far distance and oftentimes when we're in Western and West Kentucky, we hear so physically removed from the Capitol.

How to your constituents want to see you?

Connect them better perhaps to what happens here.

Do you think that's a concern and something that you can help them feel more connected to?

>> Caldwell County, Christian Uber County are very 3 distinct counties.

There's agriculture a little one, but you have a cold identity.

A new member.

And you have a lot of manufacturing that's growing in Christian County.

So how to address each of those 3 counties.

It's working with local government.

Staying out of their politics.

But listening to the concerns that they have and being transparent about what we do here and letting them know that their work gets done by communicating with me here.

And so I've done the best I can to communicate that with as many local officials and constituents is possible that let's just KET the communication open and know that I'm open to listen to everything and see what we can do in the timeline.

We can do it in for the best outcome for everybody.

>> The former lawmaker, Senator Richardson replaced has a new gig, life skills and has named Whitney Westerfield as its new director of legal and government affairs.

The group serves 18 counties in South Central and western Kentucky by providing mental health and addiction services.

Westerfield served 3 terms as a state senator before retiring at the end of last year.

The Republican from Fruit Hill in Christian County and his wife have 5 children, including newborn triplets.

>> I'm Laura Rogers joined by National Public Radio's Reiland Barton for our midweek.

Check in on political news and Rylan.

Let's begin with the statement today from the Kentucky Democratic Party upset with the General Assembly Republicans for Representative Daniel Gross Spurs House committee assignments.

Can you tell us more about that?

>> Yeah, they're upset that he was assigned to a committee at all.

So Representative first period been accused of sexual harassment.

They're already been implications for this.

You can call to resign by the top leaders of the party, including Governor Andy Beshear.

And you've been stripped of its interim committee assignments as well.

And so the Kentucky Democratic Party saying that because Republicans, the Republican leaders of the Legislature had assigned him to committees that they were making a political stunt here.

We'll see where this goes.

But for the moment, this means that he's going to be on these committees, he's going to still have a voice on big boats out on the floor.

But all the voices well in these committees to decide what bills make it through the legislature.

It's important to remember, though, Democrats are, you know, have 20% of seats.

They're in the super minority here.

So doesn't have too much weight to begin with just 8 being part of the party.

But that seems like a little bit of politics being played here.

Democratic leaders are calling out Republicans are now at their school.

>> And it is day 2 of the legislative session.

What can you tell us so far about developments that have been made?

>> So this is the odd numbered year section.

It's a little bit slower than even numbered year, which is when the big state budget gets past.

It's a little bit shorter, but there's still a lot that could happen.

>> That said, you know, the Republican leaders of the House and Senate say they do want to kind of slow things down the section.

They want to.

>> Instead, it's a passing 850 bills during those long sections.

They want to maybe think about passing more like 50.

That would be a big difference from where things have been added in recent years is just a huge push to to pass legislation to the through the legislature specially after total party control of so far.

We've seen some debate over the rules.

This is pretty typical for the first day or 2 of session where the party in power will pass a rule.

The party that's not in power will get mad and say that they're going to be excluded from debate on the other.

There are a couple rules here that >> Democrats are concerned about will work with the allows Republicans for the majority to a little bit more easily and debate, which is we're really the only the really oftentimes only foothold that Democrats can get in the discussion around some of the bills moving through the legislature is to take up time and raised their concerns and hope that those messages are getting out to the public.

So it'll be a little easier to stop of stop those debates from happening granted.

I do imagine the soul this will happen.

They'll probably later on in session when when things are starting to move a little quickly.

But that's also when most of the bills passes is later on in session when they're getting up against a deadline there.

And and legislators starting a lot more creative.

A couple other things that the House decided they will assign every bill to a committee.

That's a rule that the Senate usually does in the Senate decided to not do that to see just little procedural All things are going to work another not here.

Just kind of gearing up for what might pass later on the second.

>> And you as a journalist, is there any particular legislation, anything that you are following closely or that you anticipate will get a lot of discussion of?

>> Well, I think the big one, it's going to be the decision to likely lower the state's income tax rate once more from 4% down to 3 and a half percent.

I know that sounds big, important, boring.

But this is the primary way that the state Treasury makes its money the way the state coffers are built so they can spend on state services.

Kentucky's enjoyed and many states have enjoyed a few years of of record budget surpluses.

A lot of this goes back to the coronavirus pandemic winsome you know, when the state coffers were buoyed, especially by a federal tax dollars by federal incentives during the coronavirus pandemic in Kentucky's still been able to write that way.

I think there's a question out there.

How long that way that's going to last.

You start to see these other states fall off starting with the bigger one.

So big ones like California last year started experiencing.

Some are starting to see it happen in some of the smaller states as well.

But sunny budget years, art there anymore.

And so some budget critics will point out, well, you might want to worry a little bit more about under cutting your state's main revenue source.

The state income I imagine that that discussion is going to happen a lot this section and then a lot of the big 4 full term or issues that are still very prevalent in the legislature in legislative politics are going to come up.

I think the discussion whether or not to limit diversity, equity inclusion, programs of higher education institutions will come up again.

But the bill that was proposed last year but didn't pass.

But a lot of those institutions have started doing that on their own.

So that's not exactly the big a push for it.

And also whether any sort of school choice measure comes up.

There is big school choice amendment came up for voters to weigh in on last fall.

They rejected it soundly whether or not the Legislature's really gotten the message yet is I think still in question whether they try to come up with some other creative way to allow public dollars to be spent on non traditional public school education.

There's it.

Stars are for that.

But provisions in the state constitution at the moment that have prevented that from taking place.

So we'll see if there are any other creative ways to try to do that.

>> And then Rolland, while we're talking to want to shift briefly here to national politics and Congressman Thomas Massie who represents portion of northern Kentucky getting attention for his vote and speaker of the House.

Can you elaborate on that for us?

>> Yeah, process is he's in this new version of led by Republican House of Representatives.

He's having a fight at the prominent role because he's coming out as one of the people is not going to go along with what the majority necessarily want to do it.

He said that he was, you know, he would vote against Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he would rather have his finger nails pulled off and doing that.

he's really found himself in a corner here.

And I think he will continue to because there's such an era control there.

That is if he can, it's going to make a lot of the Republican leaders, a lot of the votes come down to what would promise Massey do whether or not they believe he will go along with those votes we've seen.

Well, U.S.

Senator Rand Paul.

Sometimes the U.S. Senate has had to consider his voting that way for even the previously Joe Mansion for Democrats where that that person is right on the on the fringe of the party becomes that critical vote when the when things get really tight, going to try to pass a bill.

>> Yeah, interesting political landscape for sure.

Both here at home in Kentuckyian then across the country as well and be our editor Reiland Barton.

We always appreciate you so much.

Getting your insight and we'll see you again next week.

>> Work continues to dig out from the major winter storm that just blew through Kentucky.

The work is slow going as temperatures remain below the freezing mark throughout most of the state and on top of the cold, many areas saw some light accumulation again today.

Now all eyes are on the next winter weather maker, our Kris to dot and talk to meteorologist Kevin Hearted from Wave 3 in Louisville yesterday about what we can expect.

>> And we're going to notice temperatures falling back into the double digits and possibly single digits now and we can to KET the cloud cover around.

That may save us from going below 0.

Some of the computer guidance is trying to break up those clouds by early Thursday morning and it would be a rapid fall below 0.

If that happens.

But I'd say we'll get close to a single digits if not near 0 by early Thursday.

>> Yes, a digit is cold enough, right?

Single digits below 0.

I mean, that's a big difference.

And then give us a little sneak peek to what we may see Friday into Saturday.

Another round of wintry weather.

>> Yeah.

Before I address that, I'll just mention, you know, we talked about problems with the snow that fell.

The cold brings problems of its own to.

So don't forget the pipes.

Don't forget the Pats.

Don't forget the elderly.

And if you don't have power, it's a really big issue.

So KET in mind, the cold can cause problems of its own as well.

Now, looking ahead to Friday into Saturday, still some unknowns on this, but it is a snow maker.

That's what we know, Chris, the south will be solidly in the cold air on this.

What we want to pull the rest of my hair out, trying to figure out if it's going to be sleet or freezing rain.

The question is how much will it be?

And that depends of the systems to the north and South Bays just before it reaches us or as it passes us.

And at this point are still some disagreement in the model data.

But it looks like we'll see an advisory level snow that would be between one to 4 inches in the forecast at that point in the game.

>> A number of school districts have canceled classes for the remainder of the week, including Fayette County.

The Louisville Metro Police Department will be the subject of a new research project funded by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ awarded a $400,000 Grant for the project that will partner LMPD is accountability and Improvement Bureau with researchers from Ohio State University.

The researchers will be embedded in the LMPD as senior researcher explained, they will not be there to act as monitors.

>> Having a research team that's embedded in the agency will be able to confront, provide feedback in real time to the LMPD and to the executives so that they can continue to make those innovative decision-making about which policies and procedures training accountability mechanisms to KET our officers safe and our citizens safe.

We have a shared desire.

Both the researchers and the leadership from LMPD to do something that has not been done before in this country.

And that is as you move forward with these reforms, less test them in real time.

Let's open ourselves up to become a learning laboratory and learn not just what works, but also what doesn't work.

And then correct course immediately so that we can find those practices that are the most effective, the most efficient and the most equitable.

>> In December, the city of Louisville and the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to a deal to reform the LMPD after federal investigators accuse the Department of illegal and unconstitutional practices.

This is believed to be the first time a research team has been embedded in a police department undergoing federal oversight.

♪ ♪ In the U.S. has recorded its first ever fatality from the H 5 n one virus also known as the Avian or bird flu.

The victim was older than 65 and lived in Louisiana for tonight.

Look at medical news, Kentucky Edition reached out to experts at Johns Hopkins University to learn more about it.

>> This case in Louisiana's rate, the first serious H 5 n one infections here in the U.S. associated with this recent H 5 n one outbreak.

It's not the only serious one.

There've been hundreds of cases of she was infected with H 5 n one who have been hospitalized or even die from infection.

But this is the first month from this recent outbreak here in the U.S. that has led to that severe disease.

We've been following this H 5 n one virus for many years.

There have been times where we've had a few cases a year are a dozen cases a year.

And this is the first time we've seen sustaining transmission of the virus between apples and that sets off a alarms with scientists because Wilbert was very good at replicating and birds.

But now things are a little bit different.

The longer a virus like HIV.

One Stace and in apples, the more likely he is to meet hated that up late.

Those changes that will make it better at infecting that novel.

If the virus becomes better at infection novels.

Since humans are mammals, it may actually become better at infecting us as well with H 5 n one.

If it becomes able to transmit from person to person, it does run the risk.

So plus the pandemic.

>> As great as what we saw with COVID-19.

>> To one advantage, though, that we have is, you know, we have years of experience working with influenza.

We know how to make influenza vaccines.

We have an a viral drugs that can target the virus and we have a good understanding of how the virus spreads is important to note that in terms of the people who are at risk of H 5 n one right now.

It really is those dairy farm workers, poultry farm workers and people who are coming in contact with dead wild birds.

For instance, vast majority of cases are very mild.

A C infections, very low risk to the general public outside of some of those groups that we talked about that really are coming in direct contact with potentially infected animals.

Eating eggs is perfectly safe right now.

Eating chicken is perfectly safe, particularly if you let you cook your chicken.

Well, stay away from de animales PC, dead animals, particularly dead birds in your area and stay away from raw milk products because the virus can be president brought out the best majority people of this country should not be concerned right now about getting an H 5 Newton one infection.

>> According to the American Veterinary Association, cattle suffering from avian flu shows symptoms of reduced milk production and a low appetite poultry become lethargic and also have a decreased appetite.

♪ The first integrated coed college in the south is celebrating a milestone Berea College in Madison County turns 170 years old this year, Kentucky Edition spoke with author Gretchen Dykstra about her book.

Lessons from the Foothills Berea College and its unique role in America and how the college has a mission to find and educate youth who come from impoverished rule or minority backgrounds.

>> There hadn't been a thing written comprehensively about modern Berea.

I spent the better part of a decade spending a lot of time on the campus and the eastern Kentucky overarching and struck by how it's maintained its adherence to its historical values, even as it continues to be innovative.

And that strikes me as unique.

>> fascinating.

Clearly free tuition for low-income students and their labor program makes it unique.

And the United States for higher education.

And then when you combine it with the liberal arts and and the standards that they require from their extraordinary students, I think you have what many academics see as a special place that has lessons to learn.

Hence the title of the book, lessons from the Foothills.

I asked myself a lot what makes so special and I KET coming back to their admissions office and what an extraordinary job they do finding these talented young people, many of whom have gone through week high schools.

>> Have shown perseverance to break the cycle of poverty and have shown themselves to be independent.

Think thinkers and curious students and I'm amazed at that and how they consistently find these extraordinary students as one of the things that saddens me in the course of writing this book is how many people think that because it's poor students, low-income students, the school is, in fact, easy or week.

And in fact, I doubt if I could get through Berea I founded academically rigorous and very challenging and I went to many classes.

So that was certainly a pleasant surprise and one that I hope the book can can help too mitigate that impression.

Brea is not what woke.

And there's a lot of talk about woke institutions and what always interests me is that the real was doing this embracing kinship in embracing.

>> Smoothed understanding between the races in the genders.

Way before that was ever a term or let alone politicized.

They've been doing it since its founding.

I think that it is in many ways profoundly conservative because we're not talking about politics.

We're talking about values and we're talking about their historic values of doing something that was radical.

Then but is no longer radical.

I think most sensible Americans realize that equal opportunity and racial >> understanding is is is a value we all seek.

>> The Wall Street Journal ranked the nation's top 500 for 2025. and Brea was 300 and 11th on the list in 2020 for the Washington Monthly ranks Berea the number one liberal arts college in the country.

Well, this note, as we close out the show reminder that the U.S.

Postal Service is suspending mail delivery tomorrow as part of a national day of mourning honoring the late President Jimmy Carter.

>> And we hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky edition, really inform connect and inspire.

Thanks so much for watching.

I'm Renee Shaw and I will see you again real soon.

Take a chance.

♪ ♪