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Redistricting, State Budget, and Other Legislative Issues

Renee Shaw and guests discuss early activity in the 2022 Kentucky legislative session. Guests: Sen. Robert Stivers, Republican from Manchester, Kentucky Senate President; Sen. Morgan McGarvey, Democrat from Louisville, Senate Minority Floor Leader; Rep. David Osborne, Republican from Prospect, Kentucky House Speaker; and Rep. Joni Jenkins, Democrat from Shively, House Minority Floor Leader.
Season 29 Episode 3 Length 56:33 Premiere: 01/10/22

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Kentucky Tonight

KET’s Kentucky Tonight, hosted by Renee Shaw, brings together an expert panel for in-depth analysis of major issues facing the Commonwealth.

This weekly program features comprehensive discussions with lawmakers, stakeholders and policy leaders that are moderated by award-winning journalist Renee Shaw.

For nearly three decades, Kentucky Tonight has been a source for complete and balanced coverage of the most urgent and important public affairs developments in the state of Kentucky.

Often aired live, viewers are encouraged to participate by submitting questions in real-time via email, Twitter or KET’s online form. Viewers with questions and comments may send an email to kytonight@ket.org or use the contact form. All messages should include first and last name and town or county. The phone number for viewer calls during the program is 800-494-7605.

After the broadcast, Kentucky Tonight programs are available on KET.org and via podcast (iTunes or Android). Files are normally accessible within 24 hours after the television broadcast.

Kentucky Tonight was awarded a 1997 regional Emmy by the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The series was also honored with a 1995 regional Emmy nomination.

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Renee Shaw is the Director of Public Affairs and Moderator at KET, currently serving as host of KET’s weeknight public affairs program Kentucky Edition, the signature public policy discussion series Kentucky Tonight, the weekly interview series Connections, Election coverage and KET Forums.

Since 2001, Renee has been the producing force behind KET’s legislative coverage that has been recognized by the Kentucky Associated Press and the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Under her leadership, KET has expanded its portfolio of public affairs content to include a daily news and information program, Kentucky Supreme Court coverage, townhall-style forums, and multi-platform program initiatives around issues such as opioid addiction and youth mental health.  

Renee has also earned top awards from the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), with three regional Emmy awards. In 2023, she was inducted into the Silver Circle of the NATAS, one of the industry’s highest honors recognizing television professionals with distinguished service in broadcast journalism for 25 years or more.  

Already an inductee into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame (2017), Renee expands her hall of fame status with induction into Western Kentucky University’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni in November of 2023.  

In February of 2023, Renee graced the front cover of Kentucky Living magazine with a centerfold story on her 25 years of service at KET and even longer commitment to public media journalism. 

In addition to honors from various educational, civic, and community organizations, Renee has earned top honors from the Associated Press and has twice been recognized by Mental Health America for her years-long dedication to examining issues of mental health and opioid addiction.  

In 2022, she was honored with Women Leading Kentucky’s Governor Martha Layne Collins Leadership Award recognizing her trailblazing path and inspiring dedication to elevating important issues across Kentucky.   

In 2018, she co-produced and moderated a 6-part series on youth mental health that was awarded first place in educational content by NETA, the National Educational Telecommunications Association. 

She has been honored by the AKA Beta Gamma Omega Chapter with a Coretta Scott King Spirit of Ivy Award; earned the state media award from the Kentucky Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 2019; named a Charles W. Anderson Laureate by the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet in 2019 honoring her significant contributions in addressing socio-economic issues; and was recognized as a “Kentucky Trailblazer” by the University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration during the Wendell H. Ford Lecture Series in 2019. That same year, Shaw was named by The Kentucky Gazette’s inaugural recognition of the 50 most notable women in Kentucky politics and government.  

Renee was bestowed the 2021 Berea College Service Award and was named “Unapologetic Woman of the Year” in 2021 by the Community Action Council.   

In 2015, she received the Green Dot Award for her coverage of domestic violence, sexual assault & human trafficking. In 2014, Renee was awarded the Anthony Lewis Media Award from the KY Department of Public Advocacy for her work on criminal justice reform. Two Kentucky governors, Republican Ernie Fletcher and Democrat Andy Beshear, have commissioned Renee as a Kentucky Colonel for noteworthy accomplishments and service to community, state, and nation.  

A former adjunct media writing professor at Georgetown College, Renee traveled to Cambodia in 2003 to help train emerging journalists on reporting on critical health issues as part of an exchange program at Western Kentucky University. And, she has enterprised stories for national media outlets, the PBS NewsHour and Public News Service.  

Shaw is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Kentucky, a board member of CASA of Lexington, and a longtime member of the Frankfort/Lexington Chapter of The Links Incorporated, an international, not-for-profit organization of women of color committed to volunteer service. She has served on the boards of the Kentucky Historical Society, Lexington Minority Business Expo, and the Board of Governors for the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 

Host Renee Shaw smiling in a green dress with a KET set behind her.

Lawmakers Discuss Redrawing District Maps, Spending Priorities, and More

Legislative leaders started the 2022 General Assembly session with a mission to pass redistricting maps in the first week.

With that goal met, lawmakers have turned their attentions to a range of other issues, including the state budget, tax policy, infrastructure, and more. In the process, House Republican leaders broke with longstanding tradition and released their proposed biennial budget before Gov. Andy Beshear presented his spending plan to lawmakers. Normally, governors deliver their proposal first, which House budget committee members use to craft their budget bill.

“It guess it is a little bit unprecedented,” says House Speaker David Osborne, “but at the same I’m not sure why it’s unprecedented.”

The Prospect Republican says lawmakers spend the interim period hearing from executive branch officials, economic experts, and other stakeholders about their budget needs, so the Appropriations and Revenue Committee already has a wealth of information to craft a spending plan.

House leaders outlined their budget last Friday, ahead of Beshear’s budget address scheduled for Jan. 13. In previewing his own budget proposal on Tuesday, the governor called the House move unprecedented, unprovoked and unwise.

“It doesn’t bother me personally but it leads to an inferior product, which provides inferior services to our people,” Beshear said.

The governor also said the move might violate Kentucky statute but stopped short of calling for legal action on the matter. Osborne says it’s “laughable” to think getting a head start on the budgeting process is either illegal or unwise.

“I think it’s ridiculous to assert it would somehow result in an inferior product,” the House speaker says. “We will fully consider every item that the gov has offered up.”

Osborne says he is pursing an aggressive schedule to save time later in the session to tackle new tax reform measures. Republican leaders pushed through a comprehensive tax overhaul in 2018, and Osborne says lawmakers now have a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to do more.

With a $1 billion surplus plus billions more on the way in federal infrastructure and COVID relief funding, Democrats contend the state also has a unique opportunity to make much-needed investments.

“For the first time in many years we have money to argue about how we spend it instead of about where the cuts are going to be,” says House Minority Floor Leader Joni Jenkins of Shively. “As we go forward, I hope there’s room for compromise, that there’s room for transparency, and that the voices of the executive branch, as well as those of the minority and the majority are heard.”

Comparing the Budget Plans

The House GOP plan increases per-pupil funding for public schools (known as SEEK) to $4,100 in the first year of the biennium and to $4,200 in the second. It also continues to fund full-day kindergarten through the biennium, and increases the money schools receive to cover transportation costs.

The plan does not provide a pay raise for teachers, but does give a 6 percent increase to state employees. Osborne says the GOP budget also calls on the state personnel cabinet to review government employee salaries with an eye towards adjusting pay rates based on working conditions for various jobs and cost of living variances in different parts of the state.

“I think that we need to be thoughtful in how we pay our state employees as well as compensating them better,” says Osborne.

Jenkins says the thinning ranks of state employees has reached a crisis point, particularly among social workers and corrections personnel. She says those people can often find jobs in the private sector that have safer, less stressful work environments and that offer better compensation.

“Part of that is pay and part of it is the benefits package,” says Jenkins. “Folks no longer know that if I stay at this job for 15 to 20 years, I’m going to have a decent retirement.”

Senate President Robert Stivers says he thinks lawmakers will be able to reach an agreement on the compensation issue.

“State workers will have to be competitive with the private sector,” says the Manchester Republican. “There will have to be certain groups that will have to be targeted to keep them in our ranks.”

For example, the Republican plan does offer larger pay increases for social workers and state police officers, according to Osborne.

Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey (D-Louisville) agrees that a pay raise for state workers is overdue.

“State employees haven’t had a meaningful raise in 13 years, all the while we’ve been whittling away their retirement benefits,” says McGarvey. “If we want to run government like a business, then we’ve got to pay our workers.”

The governor’s proposal allocates $2 billion in additional funding in the next biennium to education, including ongoing support for full-day kindergarten and money for universal pre-kindergarten.

“No longer will tens of thousands of our children be left out of preschool or Head Start – programs that we know provide positive outcomes on children’s early literacy, and mathematic skills. and foster long-term educational success,” says Beshear.

Stivers disputes those benefits, saying that he’s seen studies that show pre-K and all-day kindergarten don’t influence future academic success. He says he doesn’t want to institutionalize children in a school-type setting from age 3 to 18.

“I’m not a fan of pre-K. I think kids need to be kids,” says Stivers. “I haven’t seen any data… that convinces me that pre-K is of substance.”

As the father of a youngster in pre-kindergarten, McGarvey says these early educational experiences are critical to a child’s brain development.

“This is not sending kids to institutionalize them, this is making sure that kids have social abilities skills, and fine motor skills… and are kindergarten-ready so that they can achieve that lifelong learning,” says McGarvey.

The governor also proposes a $685 million more in SEEK funding than the Republican plan, teacher and school staff salary increases, funding for social and emotional learning, money for vocational education centers, and $155 million more in school transportation funds.

Disaster Relief

Republicans and the governor do agree on the need to provide financial assistance to communities devastated by the December tornadoes. Osborne says they will appropriate $200 million for disaster relief at the suggestion of the Beshear Administration. But only $45 million of that will be available for immediate spending on items like temporary housing and repairs to schools and infrastructure.

Osborne and Stivers say the remainder will be allocated once state and local officials have a better understanding of what else the affected areas need, and how much the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide and private insurers will reimburse to policyholders. Osborne acknowledges, though, that even the full $200 million may not be enough.

“Nobody knows what it’s going to cost to get those communities back on their feet,” says the House Speaker.

Whatever the final amount is, Stivers says he wants tight controls on those funds to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren’t misspent or absconded by scammers who target disaster areas.

With so many families suffering damaged or lost homes, Jenkins wonders how many will chose to stay in the area. She fears some may move away from parts of the state that are already suffering population declines.

“What happens to those cities if people do not come back and rebuild?" says Jenkins.

State Revenues, Pension Benefits and Medical Marijuana

Despite the influx of federal dollars, Frankfort Republicans are reluctant to spend those funds or the budget surplus.

“We have got to be very focused on not spending one-time money on something that creates recurring expenses,” says Osborne.

GOP leaders have expressed their desire to boost the state’s Rainy Day Fund and pay down public pension obligations rather than invest in much new spending. Stivers says using some of the surplus on pension debt now will save the state money on interest payments in the long run.

That’s bad news for state retirees who have not had a cost of living adjustment to their pension benefit in years. McGarvey says the state could give retirees a COLA increase and current employees a pay raise, which he argues would put more money into the economy and ultimately generate more tax revenues.

“We can do both,” says McGarvey. “We can protect our retirees and we can benefit our state workers.”

The Democrat says lawmakers should also consider new sources of revenue from sports betting and other expanded gambling options as well as medical and/or recreational marijuana.

Legislation to allow the use of medicinal marijuana has passed the House before, but then died in the Senate. Although studies indicate that prescribed use of marijuana can help people with certain conditions, Stivers says he still remains skeptical about the health benefits without more extensive research or guidance from federal health agencies.

As for pay raises for Kentuckians, Stivers prefers a different approach.

“You have more income if the government is not taking as much of it,” the Senate president says. “So we might want to consider some tax reforms that lets people keep moneys in their pocket.”

Redistricting

Over the weekend, lawmakers approved the new maps for state and federal legislative districts as well as state Supreme Court districts. While legal challenges could be forthcoming, Osborne says he believes the maps drawn by the Republican supermajorities to be lawful and constitutional.

Democrats complained about how some of the districts were drawn by the GOP. Jenkins says Lexington, Bowling Green, and northern Kentucky have been carved up in ways that will dilute the representation of those areas and hurt Democrats. She also says it’s interesting that the two sets of Democratic House districts in Jefferson County set to be changed will pit outspoken female incumbents against each other.

Given the tradition of gerrymandering political districts in the commonwealth, Jenkins contends the state needs a nonpartisan redistricting process.

“I will admit the former majority took some liberties with the map, and I think it’s time for us to have a complete reset of that,” says Jenkins. “I think having independent experts in map-making would be a great thing for the state of Kentucky.”

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Connections host Renee Shaw smiling in a gray suit along with the show logo and a "Check Schedule" button.Connections host Renee Shaw smiling in a gray suit along with the show logo and a "Check Schedule" button.

Season 29 Episodes

Medical Marijuana Legalization in Kentucky

S29 E44 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 01/30/23

Kentucky's Juvenile Justice System

S29 E43 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 01/23/23

Legislation Introduced in the 2023 General Assembly

S29 E42 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 01/09/23

2023 Legislative Session Preview

S29 E41 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 12/19/22

National Politics

S29 E40 Length 56:34 Premiere Date 12/05/22

2022 Election Preview

S29 E39 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 11/07/22

Inflation and the Economy

S29 E38 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 10/31/22

Constitutional Amendments 1 & 2

S29 E37 Length 56:36 Premiere Date 10/24/22

Candidates for U.S. House of Representatives: Part Two

S29 E36 Length 56:35 Premiere Date 10/17/22

Candidates for U.S. House of Representatives: Part One

S29 E35 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 10/10/22

U.S. Senate Candidate Charles Booker

S29 E34 Length 26:31 Premiere Date 10/03/22

Discussing Flooding's Impact on Eastern Kentucky Schools

S29 E33 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 09/26/22

COVID-19, Monkeypox and Influenza

S29 E32 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 09/12/22

Eastern Kentucky Flooding and Legislative Relief Package

S29 E31 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 08/29/22

Child Care in Kentucky

S29 E30 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 08/22/22

School Safety: Debating State Policies

S29 E29 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 08/01/22

Work, Wages and Welfare

S29 E28 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 07/25/22

50 Years of Title IX

S29 E26 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 07/18/22

The Impact of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions

S29 E24 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 07/11/22

Kentucky's Ban on Abortion

S29 E23 Length 56:34 Premiere Date 06/27/22

Discussing New Developments in the COVID-19 Pandemic

S29 E22 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 06/20/22

Reducing Opioid Addiction Rates in Kentucky

S29 E21 Length 56:36 Premiere Date 06/13/22

Mass Shootings and Gun Laws

S29 E20 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 06/06/22

Discussing the Rise in Gas Prices and Inflation

S29 E19 Length 56:34 Premiere Date 05/23/22

Previewing Kentucky's 2022 Primary Election

S29 E18 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 05/16/22

Third Congressional District Democratic Primary

S29 E17 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 05/09/22

Candidates in the 2022 Primary Election: Part Two

S29 E16 Length 58:33 Premiere Date 05/02/22

Candidates in the 2022 Primary Election: Part One

S29 E15 Length 58:40 Premiere Date 04/25/22

Lawmakers Review the 2022 General Assembly

S29 E14 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 04/18/22

Recap of the 2022 Legislative Session

S29 E13 Length 56:35 Premiere Date 04/11/22

Public Assistance and Jobless Benefits

S29 E12 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 03/28/22

Abortion Legislation in the 2022 General Assembly

S29 E11 Length 56:34 Premiere Date 03/21/22

State Budget, Taxes, and Other 2022 General Assembly Topics

S29 E10 Length 57:42 Premiere Date 03/14/22

Critical Race Theory and Approaches to Teaching History

S29 E9 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 02/28/22

2022 Legislative Session at the Midpoint

S29 E8 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 02/21/22

Name, Image and Likeness Compensation

S29 E7 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 02/14/22

Child Abuse and Neglect

S29 E6 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 02/07/22

Debating School Choice in Kentucky

S29 E5 Length 56:35 Premiere Date 02/01/22

Debating Provisions in the Proposed State Budget

S29 E4 Length 56:34 Premiere Date 01/24/22

Redistricting, State Budget, and Other Legislative Issues

S29 E3 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 01/10/22

Discussing Legislative Goals for the 2022 General Assembly

S29 E2 Length 56:33 Premiere Date 01/03/22

Previewing the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly

S29 E1 Length 56:35 Premiere Date 12/06/21

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Review of the 2024 Kentucky Lawmaking Session - S31 E3

  • Wednesday April 24, 2024 5:00 am ET on KET
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Legislative Session Recap - S31 E2

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State Budget - S30 E44

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