More details House road plan announced
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- Created on Thursday, March 15 2012 21:02
- Posted or Written by: C2
FRANKFORT — The House is expected to vote Friday on a two-year, $3.5 billion road plan that includes money to widen Leestown Road and advance the Newtown Pike extension in Lexington. It also would authorize two new bridges in Louisville.
The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee approved three bills on Thursday that included the state's two-year and four-year road plans for state transportation projects.
Included in the Democratic House plan is $20 million — about $15 million in the current fiscal year — for widening Leestown Road from New Circle Road to Masterson Station Park. There also is additional money to extend Newtown Pike to Broadway, a project that has been in the state's road plan for years.
Rep. Kelly Flood, D-Lexington, noted that the plan includes money for new bike paths along Rose Street near the University of Kentucky.
"That was great to see in there," Flood said. "It's been a long time since we've had some breathing room to have these type of community projects (in the road plan)."
Much of Thursday's discussion in the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee involved the authorization for two new bridges in Louisville. The House budget calls for $50 million in bonds for those projects in addition to $230 million in previously-authorized bonds. Drivers would also have to pay tolls when crossing those bridges to pay off other costs.
Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, objected to the tolls, saying they are an unfair tax on the working poor who must use the bridges to get to work.
But Rep. Sannie Overly, D-Paris, and chairwoman of the transportation budget subcommittee, said decisions about how those bridges were financed have already been made.
A vote in favor of the two-year plan was not a vote in favor of tolls, Overly said.
Wayne was the only legislator to vote against the transportation bills.
Read More At: Kentucky.com
CBO Realeases New Report On Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
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- Created on Thursday, March 15 2012 20:49
- Posted or Written by: C2
Citing a “tremendous amount of uncertainty,” a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation found that because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, about 3 million to 5 million fewer people will obtain health insurance coverage through their employer between 2019 and 2022, based on the agencies' latest baseline projections.
The 30-page report noted that some observers are surprised that the two federal offices do not anticipate much higher reductions in employment-based coverage due to subsidized health insurance resulting from the 2010 law. “CBO and JCT's estimates take account of that expansion, but they also recognize that the legislation leaves in place some financial incentives and also creates new financial incentives for firms to offer and for many people to obtain health insurance coverage through their employers,” the report said.
U.S. businesses that choose not to offer coverage because of the 2010 law will tend to be smaller employers and employers with mostly lower-wage workers, according to the report, which also said those workers and their families are more likely to be eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or subsidies through the health insurance exchanges. CBO and JCT analysts also presented four different scenarios that include both larger and smaller reductions in employment-based insurance that are based on various assumptions regarding employer behavior. In one of those scenarios, the agencies concluded that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would reduce employer-sponsored coverage by as much as 20 million people in 2019.
The findings were released two days after the CBO and JCT released their updated baseline projections as well as separate analysis about the healthcare law.
From: ModernHealthcare.com
Louisville Metro Council
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- Created on Saturday, March 10 2012 21:06
- Posted or Written by: C2
The Louisville Metro Council is the city legislature of Louisville, Kentucky (Louisville Metro). It was formally established in January 2003 upon the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County and replaced the city's Board of Aldermen and the county's Fiscal Court (three county commissioners).
The Metro Council consists of twenty-six seats corresponding to districts apportioned by population throughout Jefferson County. Although all cities in Jefferson County, apart from Louisville, retained their status after the merger, their residents are represented on Metro Council and vote alongside other county residents. The seats come up for reelection every four years, using a staggered process so that only half of the seats are up every two years.
Since the council's inception, Democrats have maintained a majority in the chamber, currently with seventeen members (65.4%). Democrats gained two seats in the 2010 election.
Below is a list of our Democratic Louisville Metro Council members.
Incumbents not up for election on Nov. 6th are noted with an "*".
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Metro Council - 1st District
Attica Woodson Scott Barbara Shanklin * Mary C. Woolridge David Tandy * Cheri Hamilton David James Tom Owen |
Metro Council - 9th District
* Tina Ward-Pugh Jim King Rick Blackwell * Vicki Aubrey Welch Cindi Fowler * Marianne Butler Tim Martin |
Metro Council - 18th District
Ryan Teague Ridge J. Joseph Cohen * Dan Johnson Robert John Zoeller Jr. Madonna Flood * David Yates Brent Ackerson |
