The federal health care legislation that Kentucky’s senior senator revealed Thursday morning has drawn sharp criticism from a number of organizations and individuals, including the state’s junior senator.
The journalists on KET’s Comment on Kentucky discussed the divided opinions on the U.S. Senate version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), as well as other items making news around the commonwealth last week.
Critics Weigh In on Health Care Proposal
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky can afford to lose only two of his fellow Republicans if he hopes to pass the legislation that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Rand Paul is among five members of the GOP caucus who say they’re against the bill made public last week.
Nick Storm of Spectrum News says Paul opposed the House version of the AHCA, so it’s no surprise that he rejects the Senate version since he says it’s substantially the same. Paul contends neither plan goes far enough in rolling back Obamacare, and the senator dislikes the tax breaks and subsidies that the legislation gives insurance companies. Storm says this gives Paul and his fellow conservatives some leverage in negotiating changes to the bill.
As soon as McConnell released the proposal, dozens of individuals with disabilities gathered outside the senator’s Washington office to protest proposed cuts to Medicaid. Ryland Barton of Kentucky Public Radio says Capitol Police arrested some demonstrators and dragged others away from the scene. He says the AHCA would significantly change how Medicaid is funded and it would phase out the Medicaid expansion by 2024. Some 460,000 Kentuckians have received coverage under that expansion, according to Barton.
McConnell hopes to vote on the bill before Congress recesses for the July 4th holiday. Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader says the Majority Leader hates to lose and is renowned for his ability to count votes. He says McConnell is prepared for whatever outcome unfolds in the coming days.
Beshear Versus Bevin
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear has filed a fourth lawsuit against Gov. Matt Bevin. The matter involves a recent executive order issued by the governor that includes the reorganization of several education-related boards. Beshear, a Democrat, contends the Republican governor doesn’t have the legal authority to abolish those boards and then recreate them with new members. Bevin argues the suit is more political grandstanding by Beshear, says Brammer. He says the attorney general contends the governor’s sweeping board reorganizations raise constitutional questions.
Brammer says Beshear won one of his suits against the governor, when the state Supreme Court ruled that Bevin couldn’t unilaterally cut state university funding from a previously approved budget. Brammer says the Kentucky Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in August in a suit challenging the governor’s restructuring last year of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees. Bevin’s office contends that suit is moot since the General Assembly approved broader powers for governors over university boards.
A third lawsuit challenging the governor’s reorganization of the Kentucky Retirement Systems board is still pending.
Brammer says Beshear would get a significant boost to his political career if he were to win all four of the current legal challenges. But more lawsuits could be coming: Brammer says Bevin has plans to reorganize dozens more state professional and medical boards later this year.
Kentucky Added to Travel Ban
The state of California has banned all publicly funded travel to the commonwealth because of a law deemed discriminatory against gay and transgender individuals. Barton says California’s attorney general contends that Kentucky Senate Bill 17 would allow public school clubs or groups to discriminate against LGBTQ students. Supporters of the measure passed earlier this year say it’s designed to protect religious expression in schools.
Barton says the travel ban announced last week includes Kentucky as well as Alabama, Texas, and South Dakota. California officials had previously restricted state-funded travel to Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Storm reports the Bevin administration was quick to respond to the ban. A release from the governor’s office said, “It is fascinating that the very same West Coast liberals who rail against the President’s executive order, that protects our nation from foreign terrorists, have now contrived their own travel ban aimed at punishing states who don’t fall in lockstep with their far-left political ideology.”
Brammer speculates what the travel ban could mean for California state colleges and universities that might want to send athletic teams to Kentucky for games. Bevin hoped to avoid such bans by not pushing for transgender bathroom restrictions. Similar legislation in North Carolina resulted in the cancellation of numerous concerts and sporting events there. Brammer says Kentucky benefited from that when the Atlantic Coast Conference moved its baseball tournament from North Carolina to Louisville this year.
Other Frankfort News
• Abortion Clinics: The Cabinet for Health and Family Services has tightened regulations for abortion clinics in the commonwealth. Barton says the new rules require clinics to have legal contracts with an ambulance service and a hospital to provide transportation and care for a clinic patient in the event of an emergency. He says the hospital must be within the same county and within a 20-minute drive of the clinic.
Only one abortion clinic is currently in operation in Kentucky. Barton says attorneys for EMW Surgical Center in Louisville had previously sued the state over licensing requirements they contend were already too restrictive.
• Medical marijuana: State Sen. Morgan McGarvey (D-Louisville) discussed his plans for a medical marijuana bill with members of a legislative committee last week. Barton says 29 states already have some provisions to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for medicinal purposes. He says McGarvey argues that Kentucky shouldn’t be one of the last states to embrace the treatment. The senator’s proposal would limit medical marijuana use to patients receiving end-of-life care.
A similar bill sponsored by McGarvey in the 2017 General Assembly session failed to advance over concerns that federal officials continue to classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug, says Barton. Storm adds that Gov. Bevin has said he would approve medical marijuana if lawmakers passed legislation to allow it in the commonwealth.
• KFC Yum! Center: State Auditor Mike Harmon says taxpayers got a bad deal in the financing plan for the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Barton says Harmon told a legislative committee last week that the University of Louisville Athletic Association is not paying enough, which has put an unfair share of the financing burden on state and local taxpayers.
Earlier this year, the legislature extended a tax incremental financing (TIF) plan that supports Yum! Center debt payments with proceeds from sales and property taxes gathered in downtown Louisville. Barton says initial projections for those TIF revenues were flawed and didn’t result in sufficient income. Now those taxes will be collected for an additional 25 years, which Barton says will cost the state $350 million in lost revenues.
Some lawmakers want Harmon to audit the U of L athletics program, but Barton says Harmon declined to commit to such an examination.
The opinions expressed on Comment on Kentucky and in this program synopsis are the responsibility of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of KET.
