Governor Beshear moved some money around to support some programs.

Kentucky House leadership urges state agencies not to cooperate with an executive order expanding medical cannabis eligibility.

The superintendent of Kentucky's second largest school district is on administrative leave amid financial concerns.

More cities put a pause on data centers as we head for mid-June.

Comment is next on KET.

[MUSIC] Good evening.

I'm Bill Bryant, and we welcome you to comment on Kentucky.

A look back at and some analysis of the week's news in the Commonwealth and the guests on our panel of working Kentucky journalists tonight are McKenna Horsley politics reporter for the Kentucky Lantern Mario Anderson, anchor and host of In Focus Kentucky on Spectrum News one.

And joining us remotely is Russ Cassidy, regional editor of Appalachian Newspapers.

Also tonight, Eastern Kentucky's only dental school opens and some localities requested an extension of the state gasoline tax cut, but most did not.

Let's get to some matters simmering in Frankfort this week.

Last week, Governor Beshear expanded eligibility for medical marijuana through an executive order.

He said he was clarifying the rules.

Well, now, the House Majority Whip, Jason Nemes, says the General Assembly does not approve of the expansion, and Beshear has pushed back on that.

>> We want this for people who need it, who are in the conditions that we have established.

Some of us want to expand conditions, some of us don't.

There is a lawful process to do that.

The governor has skirted that law after he asked us to do it, and we said no.

So I'm asking you, as our chief law enforcement officer, to do all that you can do to make sure that the law is followed and that those who break the law, even under the understanding that they might be following an unlawful executive order, are prosecuted and they lose their license.

>> This was the right thing to do.

It's helping a lot of people.

And I was really surprised to see an attack from one lawmaker who called on the attorney general to prosecute people dying of a terminal illness for securing medical cannabis.

I mean, that's a complete lack of humanity.

It is really low.

I mean, an individual with ALS, you want to prosecute, and that is certainly not leadership.

And even for that individual is a is a new record low.

>> So, Mario, this is quite a standoff and some tough talk this week.

>> Tough talk indeed.

And of course, Representative Nemes was talking and speaking in front of the interim Joint Committee on Judiciary this past Tuesday, speaking in front of the Attorney General, Russell Coleman.

And he called Governor Beshear's executive order, which added several new conditions to the state's list of approved conditions for medical marijuana.

He called them unlawful.

He said the General Assembly did not approve this back in 2023, when it passed through the state legislature and Governor Beshear and his comments, he said that, you know, the law and his opinion suffer from a lack of clarity.

So that's why he wanted to be able to add these new additional conditions and wanted to kind of move things forward.

But definitely a standoff and a lot of back and forth from both sides of the aisle.

>> Well, McKenna, where does this go from here?

Nemes obviously there, right in front of him was the attorney general, and he asked him to prosecute anybody who bends the legislatively approved rules.

>> Right.

You know, I think this is definitely going to be a conversation that evolves between Beshear and lawmakers over the next few days.

But Nemes said to Sarah Ladd, the lantern reporter after Beshear made those comments, he emphasized that he had been talking about licensees, not individual people, who benefit from this medicine and things like that.

And he also added that he does want to see conditions expanded in the future, but not before the program is fully operational.

And he said that he doesn't believe that Beshear is the person to make that decision at this point.

>> Russ, this is all being rolled out.

And Beshear says the medical cannabis program is generally going well.

He did acknowledge that much of Eastern Kentucky does not have the access that he would like to see.

>> Yeah.

Right now there's only one operational.

To my understanding, there's only one operational dispensary in eastern what could be considered Eastern Kentucky, and that's in Ashland.

But aside from the lack of dispensaries in Eastern Kentucky, and I don't know if this is factoring into some of the back and forth between the legislature and the governor.

But there are a lot of lingering questions about the way that the permits were given to the dispensaries and the growers and things of that nature.

So I don't know if that's factoring in, but there are a lot of questions out there that remain to be answered about how that law was implemented, which may be causing some consternation on part of the legislature to accept an executive order expanding this.

>> Well, another matter that caused friction between the governor and the legislature came after Beshear announced cuts to several social programs last week.

He blamed the legislature for underfunding the budget.

Well, House Speaker David Osborne called the proposed cuts a cruel and unnecessary blow.

But this week, the governor announced that he was moving around about $30 million from projects and restoring much of the cut that was apparently about to be made.

So, McKenna, I guess a lot can happen in a week.

Yes.

So regarding these programs, right.

>> It may all even change again by next week when we're here to talk about it.

But Beshear said that because of those responses from lawmakers last week, he's reading those statements to say that that's their legislative intent, that he has the flexibility to make these decisions.

In that statement you referenced from Speaker Osborne, he said that the General Assembly, in its two year budget, gave the governor and his administration the flexibility to use existing state funding to protect priority services.

So Beshear basically said in his press conference this week that he's reading that as intent.

So if this moves to the court system, at some point, lawmakers challenge this move that he will use this to show why he had the authority to do it.

>> And apparently it was said this week that, yeah, he does have the ability to move around some money, if that's what they expected him to do.

And, and now he's done that.

>> So yes.

>> All right, Russ, journalists across the state, you know, had set out to do stories on the on the impact of potential cuts.

And the governor says that that this will not totally restore the cuts that he sees, because he says the budget is underfunded.

>> Yeah.

So, so and we're watching this closely, of course, because of the impact these programs have in our coverage area.

But my understanding from what the governor said is that what's going to be able to be bridged at this point is that there will be no cuts to foster families or residential programs, that they'll be able to keep the temporary Assistance for Needy Families, program the TANF program intact, and that they're going to be able to blunt about half of the cuts being made to Medicaid.

But with, you know, these programs used to be, you know, especially like Social Security at the federal level, used to be the third rail.

You didn't touch them, you didn't mess with them if you were in politics.

But those things are all on the chopping block now at the federal and state level.

So there's going to be a lot of changes, and there's going to be a lot of confusion.

And I'm not sure, you know how they're going to be able to fund these programs without less federal money and with a lot of changing rules at this point.

And we're going to have to be following this very closely.

>> And McKenna, we see as a result some power struggles here, obviously, between the legislature and the executive branch.

>> Right.

And that's definitely been a theme for the past few years, particularly during Beshear's time in office.

Currently before the Supreme Court, there are two pending court cases regarding separations of powers that the Beshear administration had challenged that challenged a law that separated power within the executive branch and moved some powers from the governor to other Republicans.

Beshear also is challenging a state law that was passed by the General Assembly this year that would give the attorney general and the state treasurer more oversight of governors before they leave office and their activities.

So, yeah, I think Beshear has has a history of these court cases.

So he was preparing for another one when he made this move.

>> All right.

Well, the state gasoline tax went up $0.10 in most of Kentucky.

But some mayors and county judge executives asked for extensions, and those were granted.

Most local leaders decided the loss of $27 million a month for road maintenance was too much to justify a cut that was said to be saving Kentucky drivers about $5 a month.

So what apparently was said by the majority of cities and counties that did not request an extension of the cut.

>> Right.

So, Beshear this week, he pushed back at some accusations from Republican lawmakers in Frankfort who called that move political pandering, saying that President Trump has floated the idea of suspending the federal gas tax amid the war in Iran and gas prices soaring across the nation.

But we are seeing some mayors and county officials say that they're not willing to risk their road projects.

The mayor of Henderson did say basically this in a Facebook post this week, saying that he cannot support jeopardizing any of the many road projects that we have in coordination with the state for something that won't really trickle down to consumers.

>> Yeah.

And according to the Henderson mayor, and other city and county officials have concern about the legislature maybe being retaliatory Republican leaders, maybe looking back to maybe claw back some of that money that was initially allocated or back and forth again.

So, Henderson mayor, he's been very outspoken in saying that he's rather just take it as it is, be more cautious and focus on on the task at hand of making sure that the state dollars are there and not getting into the political back and forth.

>> All right.

Well, we'll follow that issue as it evolves.

Data centers continue to make news across Kentucky this week, the state's two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington, have put pauses on data centers until they can come up with some rules and regulations.

And Pikeville is among the latest to announce a major data center project.

Eric King of the Kentucky Energy Inventory Planning Commission, says his job is to provide local leaders with information that can help them make good decisions.

>> This conversation is happening across Kentucky.

Folks who are pro data center, who see investment opportunity, those who are against it, that have concerns about the cost associated with building those types of units, as well as the cost of electricity that they could consume relative to the community that serves, you know, serves the power there.

So there are a lot of questions that Kentuckians have, and they're right to ask those questions.

>> And with all of those questions, I mean, is it fair to say that local leaders are left wondering, you know, are they going to be on the right side of history, whatever decision they make, whether they allow these data centers to come in or they oppose them?

>> Well, yeah.

I mean, you know, one of the overarching issues here is the lack of legislation or any action by the legislature to regulate these industries.

And the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission came out with a report recently saying that really, the only thing that's going to keep, you know, just general people from paying the cost associated with these data centers for, for example, electrical infrastructure is going to be those regulations and those regulations aren't in place.

So, you know, individual communities are being left to their own to kind of come up with their own plan.

And so there's going to be kind of a hodgepodge, you know, across the state until there's actually regulations in place, you know, the reaction overall to the project in Pikeville, which at this point is just an agreement to explore the possibility has been incredibly negative.

And I think with these nightmare scenarios, you know, news of these nightmare scenarios coming out constantly about these data centers, you know, there's a long way to go towards making people feel comfortable.

And without those regulations, it may not be possible to really make people feel comfortable before.

>> So Mario, there you see that in a more rural area in Pike County.

But Lexington and Louisville also have put on moratoriums on any future movement of data centers, at least for now, until they can come up with some rules.

>> That's right.

They're wanting to the cities and the Metro Council on Louisville, the Lexington-fayette Urban County Council.

They're wanting to have more listening sessions, get community feedback.

But yes, they're pausing any permits, any development plans that may come through.

They're saying they're not going to be reviewing any of those to maybe at the earliest, the late fall until they can be able to have more discussions to see, you know, pros and cons of the of the topic.

>> And the question remains, McKenna, will the state act?

There was a House bill that passed but did not make its way through the Senate.

And there are senators and others and other leaders who are saying, you know, we just need a whole lot more information before we make a lot of rules.

>> I definitely think that this will be a topic that comes up during the interim committee before next session.

You know, it definitely feels like this has been a growing topic that's really been snowballing since lawmakers adjourned in April.

And we've and, you know, now it's June and it seems like there are there's a new data center every every week.

>> It does seem.

So it really doesn't.

>> So, you know, I think definitely lawmakers are going to have to take some action, even if it's saying they don't want to take any action next session.

>> Okay, so we'll watch that.

Now.

It was reported this week that solar generated more electricity than coal for the first time ever.

In May, W EKU reported on the finding by Ember, a global energy policy group.

Solar generated nearly 13% of the nation's electricity.

Coal was at just over 12%.

We should note it is interesting that that is the nationwide energy mix Rus.

Although coal is still the number one source here in Kentucky.

>> Yeah, it is, and it may be now, but will it remain so in the future?

It's highly unlikely.

You know, over the past few decades, electric utilities have been moving further and further away from coal, as they've kind of predicted.

That's the way the economic and regulatory structures are going to go.

And it would take a massive change of those to really turn that.

You know, many have said that the moves by the Trump administration to force the use of coal to generate power, you know, may not have long term effects because, again, the electrical producers have already moved, begun to move away from it, shutting down coal power generation and things of that nature.

So, you know, it may be the main way of producing power in Kentucky right now will remain.

So I would say the industry, most people in the industry would say probably not.

>> Kentucky lawmakers voted this week to approve a $125 million consulting contract for University of Kentucky health Care, and it came after the Lexington Herald-Leader did some extensive reporting on some spending by UK and its health care arm, McKenna.

Liam Nima did reporting for the lantern, which also noted some of the reporting by Beth Musgrave for the Herald-Leader.

>> Yes, definitely a team effort here.

Right.

But Craig Collins, the chief financial officer for UK health care, told lawmakers in Frankfort during a committee meeting this week that that committee or that contract that they ultimately approved with consulting company Deloitte was a continuation of contracts for the health care system to expand the use of online records management software to hospitals that they have acquired over the past few years.

But that comes as the Herald-Leader had reported on spending by executives for travel from the university, attending overseas meetings in London and the Cayman Islands.

The Herald-Leader reported that the university spent nearly $270,000 on this travel, but it's unknown what exactly those details are, because the university is not turning over records on that.

>> Okay, so and that goes along with the whole list of questions about the LLC and all of that, which the university has been saying that they, in some cases, have to embrace some of the practices of business and move ahead.

So that will be interesting as it evolves.

Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Doctor Demetrus Liggins has been placed on administrative leave, and an interim superintendent is now in place at this point.

Mario.

This comes after financial issues that led to layoffs and cuts that have consumed the district in recent months.

The district is seeking a loan to pay its bills in the months ahead.

>> There sure is.

There's been many months of concern about the financial concerns, budgetary issues, but also transparency, communication back and forth between the district and the the community.

But yes, just this past week, we learned that Demetrius Liggins, he had sent a letter, an email to the board chair, Fayette County Public Schools, which sparked some confusion over whether he was resigning or actually wanting to seek a separation agreement.

But during this back and forth email exchange and then the special called Meeting the Fayette County Board of Education, they decided to go ahead and just put Superintendent Liggins on temporary paid leave while they kind of navigate the next steps with this future.

But as moving forward, they've put in an acting superintendent, Bill Bradford.

He's been with the district for several a couple of years.

He's been in public education for many years before this as well.

But he is overseeing the district currently as Fayette County Public Schools.

And the board figures out what to do and how to move forward with Liggins.

And he's still getting paid but not doing any day to day management.

>> Does it appear they're trying to work out a separation agreement with him?

>> It's hard to tell.

Time will tell as well.

They have said that the discussions related to personnel matters that is held in closed, closed session.

They can't talk about it publicly, but they have retained legal representation to figure out their next steps.

But we'll see what happens with that.

>> All right.

And then I think there's some questions in Frankfort about, you know, is there enough money now to audit all the schools that they need to audit?

And there has been so much attention that's been paid to Fayette and Jefferson counties.

And then the other districts also need to be looked at regularly.

So that that's some concern.

>> It is.

Yeah.

Well, Jefferson County Public Schools in Fayette County Public Schools, the two largest districts, they have over $100 million worth of deficits they're trying to figure out.

But there's 117 different school districts across Kentucky, and they have their own various things going on, and some of them are more minor.

But again, trying to manage all the different school districts and how to move forward with the next steps the Department of Education is getting involved to, to figure out what to do.

>> All right.

Well, let's talk some politics.

A historic change in Pike County, which now has more Republican registered voters than Democrats.

And, Russ, what are the factors that led to that trend, to that milestone moment there in Pike County?

>> Well, the Republican Party took a slim lead in the registration, but it is significant considering that at one point, Pike County was absolutely Democratic, Democratic stronghold.

You couldn't get elected as a Republican.

But, you know, there's a lot of factors going into that.

You know, there's a lot of people who express the feeling that the Democratic Party, in many ways moved away from them culturally and even on, you know, economic and other issues.

But obviously, you know, you can't ignore the influence of Donald Trump and, you know, his his, you know, popularity at the national level and in polls doesn't look good.

But I would, you know, venture to say that he still retains a lot of popularity here in the region.

And I just about, you know, have to say that that is absolutely a factor in the growing number of Republicans in our community.

You know, we're going to see in January a large number, if not almost total number of Republicans.

We still have a few Democrats left in races for November, but most of the county offices will be held as the judge executive will be returning to Republican.

So, you know, there's a lot of changes going on, and it could take a while for the Democratic Party if they want to, to kind of reverse that at this point.

>> Right.

McKenna.

Governor Beshear came to Lexington this week and endorsed Zach Dembo and that sixth district congressional race.

He wants Andy Barr seat Barr, now the nominee for the U.S.

Senate.

On the Republican side, facing Charles Booker, Dembo faces Ralph Alvarado you did a story on that race?

>> Yes.

So definitely that was a very packed rally for a rainy Tuesday here in Lexington.

But it was packed at the borough and all the supporters were there to hear from Dembo, Governor Beshear, former Governor Steve Beshear as well, and several others topped Kentucky Democrats.

And so, you know, I think this really shows how important this race is for Kentucky Democrats this time around here in the sixth district.

But they believe that this is a district that can be flipped.

But if you talk to Republicans, they believe that looking at history, history of the district and how long Barr has been in power since his election, first election in 2012, that they still believe this is a Republican area.

>> And Alvarado's campaign clapped back, right?

>> Yes they did, his campaign manager told me for this story that Central Kentucky voters have rejected the radical agenda of Washington Democrats over and over again, kind of a nod to some of that national support that Dimbo is having in this race.

>> Mario, Governor Beshear started his week in Iowa and Minnesota campaigning for the Democratic candidates for governor in those states, but states that could also be key if, let's say, somebody were eyeing the 2028 presidential race.

>> That's right.

And this follows he was just in South Carolina a week or two before that, with Representative James Clyburn in front of a packed house there.

He made him a Kentucky colonel while he was visiting there.

But Governor Beshear, he is continuing traveling in his official capacity as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association and also appearing on the national outlets on television, speaking to the national audience about democratic policies, ways to move forward together, kind of utilizing some of his talking points here in Kentucky as governor.

But he is front and center on the thick of the front lines, helping raise money for these candidates who are running for office and hoping potentially, you know, he may if he does decide to enter the race, officially, go back to these same states where he was able to get money for other candidates and potentially ask for those same donors to donate to his campaign if he runs for.

>> President, maybe collect IOUs if those candidates are successful.

>> IOUs.

And then thank you later.

>> Yeah, you're right.

The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint against Republican state Senator Julie Raque Adams.

That's in regard to compensation she received from a group called Kentucky Strong.

McKenna, you looked into that?

>> Yes.

So a Louisville Democrat filed this complaint with the Ethics Commission following a report from Tom Loftus for the lantern that found that the Kentucky Strong Inc had payments to Raque Adams about $80,000 for a three year period.

And that was the group's only expensive expenses at the time.

But they were all connected to various lobbying interests and things like that.

But the Ethics Commission has dismissed that complaint.

>> As she commented on the dismissal.

>> She declined to comment this week.

>> Okay, Russ, the new dental school up and running at the University of Pikeville.

I know that's exciting.

In the mountains.

Apparently, students from both there in eastern Kentucky and from out of state.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

Just over 50 students have begun their classes at the Tanner College of Dental Medicine.

The really cool thing about this is, you know, number one, we're going to be putting out more dentists, which is needed.

But also, you know, this region is drastically underserved.

And I'm talking about Central Appalachia as a whole.

And this school will be able to provide services for some of those individuals who maybe haven't been able to receive services because of the way Medicaid reimbursement, Scott and other factors.

A lot of dentists won't take Medicaid.

And there's other factors that keep people from being served in this school will be able to not only put new dentists out, but offer services while those students are still in school.

That will help improve the health of the region.

Overall.

>> The 2026 Kentucky Kids Count report is out measuring how children are doing across the state.

Ranking Kentucky 36th overall in childhood well-being.

Mario once again shows progress being made but need for more work.

>> Yeah, there's a lot of different data points that were released and that report a positive to that.

The Kentucky ranked second nationally in high school graduation, which is a pretty big deal for public education.

But then a fourth grade reading levels.

The report shows still, there's a lot of work for improvement there, but also the increase in children without health insurance from 2019 to 2024, that has some challenges as well.

So there's a lot of different data points there.

And another one too.

There's been an increase in child and teen deaths related to accidental ingestions and overdoses and suicides.

>> So to.

>> Watch a lot to watch.

>> Many in Kentucky and beyond.

Remembering former state Senator Dennis Period of Hardin County, he served three terms in the Senate and was a member of Democratic leadership.

Members of both parties mourned his loss, with one former colleague saying he never forgot who sent him to Frankfort.

Parrott represented the 10th Senate district from 2011 to 2023.

Dennis Parrott was 66 and after 47 years behind the microphone, Greg Stottlemyre is retiring as the voice of the EKU colonels.

He called nearly 500 football games, more than 1300 men's basketball games.

[MUSIC] He also worked in Lexington TV news about 25 years and was frequently on this program.

Good luck to him.

That's comment.

[MUSIC] Have a good week ahead.

>> But you like you were like.

>> Well,