November 17, 2025 • 26 mins
Journalists from around the state discuss the news of the week with host Bill Bryant, including the announcement of a new Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, horse trainer Dale Romans. Panelists: Alex Acquisto, Lexington Herald-Leader; Liam Niemeyer, Kentucky Lantern; and Hannah Pinski, Louisville Courier Journal.
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(00:12):
disagree on whether the state
is in a position for another
income tax cut. Yet another
candidate jumps into the race
to succeed retiring Senator
Mitch McConnell in the bill to
reopen the federal government.
A clash over hemp regulations.
The Supreme Court rejects a
case from Kentucky that would
have challenged same sex
(00:32):
marriage. On this mid-November
weekend, comment is next on KET.
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
(00:53):
news in the Commonwealth, and
the guests on our panel of
working Kentucky journalists
tonight are Alex Acquisto,
politics and health reporter
for the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Hannah Pinski politics reporter
for the Courier-Journal, and
Liam Niemeyer, reporter for the
Kentucky Lantern. The state
legislature will soon be
putting together a two year
(01:14):
state budget and deciding how
to spend your tax dollars. It
comes as there was a shortfall
this year. There will be
pressure to backstop some
federal cuts as well. State
Senate Revenue Chairman Chris
McDaniel talked about that and
said the state will not be
bailing out financially
troubled school districts.
>> You have a federal program
(01:35):
currently that you think that
the state is going to backfill.
Rethink your strategy. The
state is not going to backfill.
Federal programs that get
changed. State will not be
coming into bailout districts,
period. End of story.
>> So, Liam, there you have the
chair of the Senate
Appropriations and Revenue
Committee saying Kentucky will
(01:55):
not be filling holes created in
the state budget by cuts from
the federal government and also
seems to not like the idea of
bailing out school districts.
>> Yeah, lawmakers are, you
know, next year when they're
crafting the two year state
budget, are going to have to be
grappling with a number of
different issues. You know, in
particular, the one big
(02:16):
beautiful Bill act that that
passed. You know, House Speaker
David Osborne mentioned that it
would impact how they would go
about the budget. McDaniel you
know, the clip that we saw
there, McDaniel also mentioned
that from the one big beautiful
Bill act that, you know, large
federal programs such as SNAP,
(02:36):
that Kentuckians rely on some
of the cost for, say, the
administration of SNAP. There's
also some costs related to
errors, error rates with how
states calculate, how much
benefits each recipient get,
gets. Those costs are
potentially going to be shifted
more to the state budget north
(02:58):
of potentially 100 million next
year. And you also have future
changes to Medicaid eligibility
as as well. There's there's a
number of different issues that
lawmakers are going to have to
be dealing with.
>> Representative James Tipton
has concerns about education
funding. Some proposals call
for some deep cuts in education.
(03:19):
>> Correct. It's you know,
there's proposals out there
from House Republicans,
Republicans in the US Senate,
the Trump White House into the
proposals, the House and Trump
White House. There would be
significant cuts to to
education. Now, you know, the
Trump White House says that,
you know, it's about empowering
(03:41):
states to use the money as they
see fit about making things
more efficient. But, you know,
there could be significant cuts
potentially, if one of these
budgets are adopted, say, to
education funding for English
language learner students. You
know, Tipton, in his comments
earlier this week, mentioned
(04:02):
that regardless of whatever
changes happen at the federal
level, the state would have to
adapt.
>> Hannah chairman McDaniel
seemed resolute in saying that
the there would be no bailing
out of the state's two largest
school districts, both of which
have financial problems. Is it
fair to say, from your
assessment of other lawmakers
that there is little appetite
(04:24):
for that?
>> Yeah, I definitely think
it's fair to say there's little
appetite for that. I mean,
you've seen Senator McDaniel
been consistently critical of
the Fayette County School
District. Specifically, he
called for the resignation of
the superintendent and the
board chair to resign because
of the mishandling of funds.
And then in JCPS, you have
Representative Jason Nemes, who
(04:45):
represents part of Louisville,
say, you know, we are not going
to help bail you out as well.
And he will fight against any
significant tax hikes to stop.
He will fight against any
significant tax hikes to make
up for those lost funds. So I
think they're very much looking
at, you know, this is a local
issue and it's up to the local
leaders there to solve it.
(05:05):
>> And the education
commissioner says teachers need
raises if the state is to be
able to recruit and retain
teachers. There is another
pressure point in this budget.
>> And it's sort of a perennial
pressure point. I mean, we've
been hearing about teachers
needing raises since at least
the Bevin administration in my
time in Kentucky as a reporter.
And I think if you were to
(05:27):
parse out the issues that the
legislature would have the
biggest appetite for
potentially funding, it would
conceivably be teacher raises.
But I think they could still
fall back on the argument of,
we're not going to invest in
that right now because of sort
of what Hannah was saying.
Schools just need to sort of
rely on on their own funding.
>> There is a lot of discussion
(05:48):
behind the scenes about whether
Kentucky will again lower the
state income tax. It appears
the revenue triggers were not
hit by most measures, but
Representative Jason Nemes, the
House majority whip, disagrees.
He says Kentucky did meet the
threshold for another cut.
>> So I'm fully for a reduction
in another, a full half of a
(06:08):
percent from 3.5% to 3% of our
income tax. If I can't get that
done, if I can't convince my
colleagues to do that, which,
by the way, we did not miss the
trigger, we we we measured it
at the wrong time. But if I
can't convince my colleagues to
go down a full half of a
percent, we need to go down a
quarter of a percent.
>> Liam. These triggers were
(06:29):
guardrails put in place by the
legislature itself. The
supermajority seems to want the
tax eliminated eventually, and
some want to take that next
step right away.
>> Yeah, there seems to be a
little bit of a disagreement
between Representative Jason
Nemis that we heard there and
state budget Director John
Hicks. You know, there was
conversation with House Speaker
David Osborne earlier this week
(06:50):
with reporters, you know,
Osborne mentioning that, you
know, there's different
philosophies with what to do
with the income tax rate. But,
you know, regardless of the
opinion of the state budget
director of whether or not the
fiscal triggers were met, which,
again, are related to revenues
that the state brings in and
how much money is in the state.
(07:10):
Rainy day fund, regardless of
what the state budget director
says, the General Assembly can
make policy as it sees fit.
They did change the system with
the income tax rate reductions
a little bit earlier this year.
So where with each reduction,
instead of it being by a full
(07:31):
half percent, each time a
reduction is done, they're able
to now potentially approve
anywhere between 0.5% again and
a half percent reduction all
the way down to 0.1% reduction.
So a little bit of flexibility
there.
>> That's going to be something
to watch. And we will do that.
The General Assembly of course,
coming to town in early January
in Frankfort. Well the federal
(07:53):
government shutdown finally
ended this week after 43 days.
Alex, we've all reported
stories of Kentuckians with
zero balances on their SNAP
cards that help feed their
families. The question tonight,
and I think that the governor
said this afternoon that
there's going to be a all night
effort to get those snap cards
loaded, but how long will it be
(08:15):
before those benefits are
available?
>> I think the big question is
that nobody really knows
concretely. We you mentioned
Governor Beshear sort of
assured people that state
workers are going to be working
through the night. He said
earlier this week that the
state is working to reimburse
or put those that money back on
(08:36):
Snap recipients EBT cards as
quickly as possible. But, you
know, Snap funding, while it
can be done electronically,
dispersing those funds is sort
of one cog in the government
machine that has been shut down
up until now. And so some
Kentuckians have already seen
their balance replenished. For
others, it might be a couple of
(08:57):
days. I think the big rush is
because people's balances have
been depleted for a while, and
because Thanksgiving is coming
up, there is definitely a push
on the state to try and get it
done as soon as possible. It's
just a matter of █when.
>> Yeah. And you had others who
missed paychecks who supposedly
now will will get their money.
(09:17):
But, you know, planning has
been very difficult, obviously.
Well, the holdup on reopening
the government was health care,
of course, with Democrats
pushing for an extension of
Obamacare subsidies. Kentucky
Congressman Brett Guthrie, a
Republican, suggests that there
are ways to rein in health care
costs.
>> There's some work we need to
do on health care affordability.
(09:38):
That's my committee, actually.
So I'm looking forward to
sitting down with people and
and working. So by hopefully by
Christmas time, I think
December 20th, they promised to
vote on what we're going to do
with the health care and health
care subsidies. I'm not sure
the way they want to do it the
right way, but we're going to
have that discussion and have a
vote.
>> It is interesting how many
(09:59):
Kentucky voices are in the
national discussion. Alex, we
seem to be in an area now where
some want existing Obamacare
coverage to be more affordable.
While many Republicans say
there needs to be a better
overall approach to to health
care insurance.
>> And to be honest, this is
sort of an age old conversation,
which is one there is
definitely an appetite to make
Obamacare more affordable. You
(10:20):
know, the government shutdown
happened over subsidies, which
are basically premiums to
discount that federal
assistance to access that
health care for the people who
need it most. Republicans have
tried to repeal Obamacare
before. They've talked about
overhauling it. Obviously,
Congressman Brett Guthrie is
chairman of a very
(10:41):
consequential committee in
Congress, energy and Commerce,
and he does have real power to
propose that overhaul. It's a
question of, though, what that
would be, because at this point,
the ACA provides health care
protections for millions of
Americans, a whole lot,
hundreds of thousands of
Kentuckians to. And so it's a
sort of thing where if you're
(11:01):
going to overhaul it or
certainly replace it, you have
to have a plan in place, you
have to come up with concrete
policy. And I guess we'll see
if if they actually can manage
to do that.
>> Trying to get two things at
one time. Right proved to be
very difficult. Obviously in
Washington. Hannah does it
appear that health care is
going to be a major issue in
the upcoming 2026 midterm
elections, including here in
(11:22):
Kentucky?
>> Oh, yeah, I definitely think
so. I think since the passage
of the One Big Beautiful Bill
act, what Democrats have said
nationally is, you know, these
Medicaid cuts in the bill,
they're going to kick people
off the Medicaid program, and
they're going to close rural
hospitals and hurt America. And
how we're seeing that translate
in Kentucky is that healthcare
has become a big conversation
(11:43):
in both the House district six
primary as well as the U.S.
Senate race. We've seen
Cherlynn Stevenson in the House
district six race has made
fighting against Medicaid cuts
a priority in her campaign. And
we've also seen in the Senate
race on the Democratic side,
Amy McGrath, she was critical
of the CR reopening the
government, saying these
(12:04):
subsidies weren't extended and
that that needed to happen to
help Kentuckians. So I
definitely think there will be
banking, you know, on the
health care issue on that front
to be able to flip some seats
come next year.
>> Kentucky Congressman Thomas
Massie has helped lead the
charge for the release of the
Epstein files. And this week,
the number of votes needed for
(12:24):
a discharge petition was met,
and it appears that it is
headed to a vote come next week.
Hannah a President Trump calls
it the Jeffrey Epstein hoax.
Congressman Massie has pressed
hard for the release.
>> I think, yes, Massie has led
the charge, I think since July,
I want to say. But yes, his
discharge petition gained. It's
(12:46):
218 signatures. And what that
does is that it forces a House
floor vote. Now, what he is
banking on is because it forces
a floor vote, a floor vote. It
forces Republicans, you know,
to have their vote on the
record. And his message that he
is sending out right now, as
they're considering before the
vote, is that he is saying, you
know, Trump may be able to
protect you right now in your
(13:06):
upcoming elections, but what
about 2028? And what about 2030?
And so I think he's really
banking on, you know, beyond
the midterms to be able to
convince his colleagues to vote
to release the files. Now, I
think it's important to note
that there is still a long way
to go just because there is
going to be a House floor vote,
it means it still means it has
(13:28):
to go through the Senate, and
that we don't know how the
Senate is going to vote on that
front.
>> And we also know that Massie
is in a primary. Yes, in
Northern Kentucky, in his
district.
>> He is. And, you know, the
Epstein files are one of the
reasons, many reasons why, you
know, Trump has targeted him in
the primary since, you know,
Massie has disagreed with Trump
on that front. He really Trump
(13:48):
is unhappy. And that's one of
the reasons why he's getting
primaried by him.
>> Well, yet another Democrat
has jumped into the crowded
U.S. Senate primary. Horse
trainer Dale Romans has had a
lot of contenders in the
Kentucky Derby. At least now he
is running for Senator Mitch
McConnell's seat as what he's
calling an independent Democrat.
(14:09):
>> I've been in Kentucky my
entire life, and I think I know
what Kentucky needs in
Washington, an independent
Democrat that can go to
Washington, D.C. and vote for
what's right for the people of
Kentucky. I know how to win as
an underdog. I know how to come
from behind. And there's a lot
of strength in electing a
Democratic senator from a red
state that wouldn't be beholden
(14:29):
to the party, but also wouldn't
be a puppet to the president,
like a Republican freshman
senator would have to be.
>> Interesting, Lane, that
Romans is trying to carve out.
They're entering a race that
includes Amy McGrath, Logan
Forsythe, Joel Willett and
Pamela Stephenson. So far,
there could be other candidates.
What do you make of this?
Calling himself an independent
(14:50):
Democrat.
>> I definitely think he's
taking a different strategy and
messaging compared to the other
Democrats who have entered the
race. So he specifically points
to Joe Manchin, who is a former
West Virginia senator who had a
centrist streak not always
particularly popular with the
Democratic Party. However, he
was able to consistently win in
Republican heavy state in a
(15:11):
deep red state like Kentucky. I
think Roman sees that as a
potential way to win the
election. We've seen through
his interviews that he's done
this week that he's taking a
different campaign priority
approach. So he recently told
us that he's, you know, for
responsible gun ownership, not
for taking away any anybody's
guns away. And he also admits
that there's issues with the
(15:32):
Medicaid program. But again,
you can't take away the whole
system at once. And I think
potentially this could be a
popular messaging with western
Kentucky and eastern Kentucky,
particularly in the rural areas
of the state.
>> I think just as the race
gets more crowded, you know,
you need to delineate yourself
somehow. When Amy McGrath first
launched, she mentioned about
(15:52):
how she's a centrist and sort
of middle of the road. It's an
interesting marketing strategy,
sort of delineating between
he's not going to be beholden
to the Democratic platform, but
he won't be a puppet for Trump.
Obviously, horse racing is
popular in Kentucky. I think
it's a smart tactic when you're
launching your name with really
very little name recognition.
The matter I guess the bigger
(16:13):
question is will he have
traction overall? But I think
it's smart.
>> And, you know, I think
Roman's candidacy is
interesting just from maybe a
more national 10,000 foot view,
in the sense that ever since
Democrats failure in in 2020
for, you know, the party's been
trying to figure out its path
(16:35):
forward of what should its main
thrust be, politically speaking?
You've seen candidates running
for Senate, I would say,
including Romans in this
category who seem to, you know,
their rhetoric, their messaging
is that they're not going to
necessarily toe the party line.
You see a candidate in main,
(16:55):
Graham Plattner, who is
arguably a lot more progressive
compared to Dale Romans, but
still similar rhetoric in the
sense of, you know, I'm not
going to necessarily follow
what, say, Democratic Senate
Leader Chuck Schumer says.
>> It's interesting that with
so many prediction maps
painting Kentucky Red, that so
many Democrats are interested
(17:15):
in that nomination.
>> Well, I think to you're
trying to capture the, I think,
growing number of voters who
are sort of disillusioned with
both parties, with the division
between both parties. And so it
will be interesting if we start
to see more candidates sort of
pitch themselves. And let's be
honest, Kentucky is more likely
to elect a more moderate
(17:36):
centrist Democrat if they're
going to elect one.
>> So is Charles Booker still
in the mix, do you think,
Hannah.
>> You know, he hasn't said yes
and he hasn't said no? I think
what was particularly
interesting is I believe it was
almost a month ago. He said he
was not running for Louisville
mayor, because that was also
another rumor going around.
(17:57):
However, he did not shut the
door out for a potential U.S.
Senate run. And I think that
would be really interesting. If
he does throw his name in the
ring.
>> There's a tough three way
primary on the Republican side
as well. Of course. Alex Daniel
Cameron Andy Barr Nate Morris
are in the hunt. The latest on
that. And I think, Liam, you
have this update that there are
(18:19):
some endorsements going on.
That's sort of the battle right
now out there, right?
>> Yeah. You know, like with
any campaign, it's a little bit
of the endorsement battle and
trying to get people to back
you. Of course, in the state
legislature, there's a lot of
Republicans to go around to
endorse a Republican U.S.
Senate candidate. You know,
both Cameron and Barr were were
(18:40):
picking up endorsements in
particular. Barr, you know,
picked up the endorsement of
Sander Jason Howell out in far
west Kentucky. You know,
Cameron had the endorsement of
Senator Gary Boswell. And, you
know, it's hard to say. And it
remains to be seen how much
those endorsements will impact
the race, trickle down to
(19:01):
voters. But at the very least,
it's good to have a local
advocate in a particular
portion of the state, you know,
backing your candidacy.
>> All right. So we'll watch
that. And obviously a lot of
spending continuing on the the
in the Republican primary as
well, Alex, we're seeing a lot
of commercials, certainly.
>> A lot of commercials
flooding the airwaves. And it's,
(19:22):
again, sort of a race to the
top to see who can amass the
most money, because right now
you're just trying to get your
face out there as much as
possible, get your message out
there as much as possible.
>> The U.S. Supreme Court
rejected a case this week from
Kentucky that could have
challenged the legality of same
sex marriage. Alex, this was a
case brought by former Rowan
County Clerk Kim Davis. The
justices did not want to
(19:44):
consider that landmark 2015
ruling under that particular
case.
>> When I think what's so
interesting about this case,
and viewers will remember,
because Kim Davis rose to
international fame for refusing
to issue marriage licenses to
gay couples in 2015 after
Obergefell versus Hodges, she
has been embroiled in, you know,
(20:06):
extended lawsuits related to
her refusal to issue those
licenses. For a decade, she's
been ordered by judge and jury
to pay more than $360,000 in
damages. Her appeal of that,
her being ordered to pay
damages is what she pitched the
Supreme Court. And, of course,
her lawyers are sort of
(20:26):
characterizing her as the first,
quote, unquote, victim of
Obergefell because she had to
suppress her religious belief
in order to issue these
licenses. The Supreme Court
said no, but I think it's
important to distinct that
distinguish that they said no,
to sort of using her case as an
avenue to revisit Obergefell.
People have said for a long
time that her case is a poor
(20:47):
one, because at the time she
refused. She was an elected
official who had to adhere to
state statute. And so I think
it will be interesting if the
court decides to take up a
different challenge to
Obergefell. That's certainly
not that one. And it is a blow
to her and her case. And I
think the big question now is,
will she, in fact pay the
damages that she's on the on
(21:08):
the line to pay?
>> Senator Mitch McConnell
secured $147 million for
construction projects at
several Kentucky military
installations. That includes a
project at the Bluegrass Army
Depot near Richmond, and also
for Fort Campbell and some
other areas. Is that the kind
of money going to be harder to
(21:28):
come by with the seniority that
McConnell has that will be
handed eventually to a junior
senator from Kentucky?
>> Sure. I mean, I mean,
seniority always helps in those
matters. I mean, even like
taking a look at just the
wrangling of the budget in
Frankfort when they had the one
time spending there was there's
(21:50):
also some some Jocelyn Jocelyn
was spending there for
particular projects throughout
the state, but, you know, very
much so with McConnell, having
that seniority helps a lot.
>> I think also to, you know,
McConnell was in the leadership
ranks for a long time. And when
you are in the leadership ranks,
you are pretty much always in
the room when negotiations are
(22:11):
happening and particularly when
these budget negotiations are
happening. He was able to
advocate on behalf of Kentucky.
Kentucky was always in those
conversations, and I think
that's something that I know
he's not in leadership right
now, but once he leaves
altogether in his seniority
will definitely be an impact as
well.
>> All right. There was a lot
of talk about the future of
(22:31):
hemp included in the bill to
reopen the government was a
provision that was added by
Senator Mitch McConnell. It
would ban hemp products with
THC content above a certain
level. Opponents, including
Senator Rand Paul, say the
provision threatens the
multibillion dollar hemp
industry.
>> Unfortunately, companies.
>> Have exploited a loophole in
(22:52):
the 2018 legislation by taking
legal amounts of THC from hemp
and turning it into
intoxicating substances.
>> This bill's per serving THC
content limit would make
illegal any hemp product that
(23:13):
contains more than 0.4mg. That
would be nearly 100% of the
existing market. The numbers
put forward in this bill will
eliminate 100% of hemp products
in our country.
>> This all getting attention
because McConnell was an early
champion of hemp, and now he
has concerns about the THC
(23:34):
levels of some products.
Obviously, he and Senator Paul
are really at odds on this one.
Alex.
>> Yeah. So as they were
mentioning, it would limit any
product with 0.4mg people.
Commonly the products that he's
talking about are Delta. What
are they, Delta eight and Delta
nine. McConnell's reasoning is
that the cans these products
(23:56):
are colorful. Kids might get
Ahold of them, become
intoxicated, or adults might
ingest them on purpose and
actually get a lot more
intoxicated or inebriated than
they're expecting. Senator Paul
has said this would kill jobs,
including for a lot of Kentucky
farmers, because Kentucky is a
really big hemp state. A lot of
the GOP, and please chime in on
(24:18):
a national level seems to be
for it. But Kentucky
Republicans are split, right?
So we saw Senator Paul.
Obviously, Thomas Massie isn't
for it. Andy Barr is opposing
it. And so I think it's going
to beg a question of how will
they move forward, and will
they use Brett Guthrie, who we
(24:39):
talked about earlier, chairs
this very consequential
committee to try and leverage
his position to sway it one way
or the other.
>> And, you know, I spoke to
some hemp products business
owners in particular. Jim
Higdon, the co-founder of
Cornbread Hemp, which sells
hemp based THC seltzers. You
know, they're they're making
(25:00):
this since the this bill was
passed with this provision,
they're making it kind of a
year long battle until until
this provision goes into effect
to again, try to influence
people like Guthrie to to
remove it or change it. So
there's a.
>> Potential for a compromise.
>> There is a potential for a
compromise, I think. And like
(25:22):
Liam said, this doesn't take
effect until 2027. And so I
think going into the next year,
it will be interesting to watch
because like Alex said, you
know, Republicans in Kentucky
are sort of divided on this.
And so what they're going to
they need to find a compromise.
And what that compromise looks
like on the national level will
be interesting to see.
>> All right. Last night,
longtime journalist and
frequent comment panelist Bill
Estep won the prestigious Al
(25:44):
Smith Award for his more than
40 years of stories of
Appalachian Kentucky and its
communities. And the. Alex, I
know you had the pleasure to
work with Bill for many years.
>> I did, and I'm so grateful
for it. Bill is one of the
kindest people that I've known,
and he's one of the best
journalists. I wrote in a story
after he left that he turned
(26:04):
over his Rolodex of all of his
time at the Herald-Leader when
he left, and it was more than
70 pages, single spaced. His
source network is incredible.
He's a lovely person.
>> It appears Kentucky will
receive more than $73 million
as part of a $7.4 billion
settlement with Purdue Pharma.
We'll discuss more on that as
it becomes clear. And believe
it or not, Kentucky Derby
tickets went on sale this week,
(26:26):
a reminder that we will get
through the winter ahead that's
common on Kentucky. Thanks for
joining us. Have a good week
ahead.
disagree on whether the state
is in a position for another
income tax cut. Yet another
candidate jumps into the race
to succeed retiring Senator
Mitch McConnell in the bill to
reopen the federal government.
A clash over hemp regulations.
The Supreme Court rejects a
case from Kentucky that would
have challenged same sex
(00:32):
marriage. On this mid-November
weekend, comment is next on KET.
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
(00:53):
news in the Commonwealth, and
the guests on our panel of
working Kentucky journalists
tonight are Alex Acquisto,
politics and health reporter
for the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Hannah Pinski politics reporter
for the Courier-Journal, and
Liam Niemeyer, reporter for the
Kentucky Lantern. The state
legislature will soon be
putting together a two year
(01:14):
state budget and deciding how
to spend your tax dollars. It
comes as there was a shortfall
this year. There will be
pressure to backstop some
federal cuts as well. State
Senate Revenue Chairman Chris
McDaniel talked about that and
said the state will not be
bailing out financially
troubled school districts.
>> You have a federal program
(01:35):
currently that you think that
the state is going to backfill.
Rethink your strategy. The
state is not going to backfill.
Federal programs that get
changed. State will not be
coming into bailout districts,
period. End of story.
>> So, Liam, there you have the
chair of the Senate
Appropriations and Revenue
Committee saying Kentucky will
(01:55):
not be filling holes created in
the state budget by cuts from
the federal government and also
seems to not like the idea of
bailing out school districts.
>> Yeah, lawmakers are, you
know, next year when they're
crafting the two year state
budget, are going to have to be
grappling with a number of
different issues. You know, in
particular, the one big
(02:16):
beautiful Bill act that that
passed. You know, House Speaker
David Osborne mentioned that it
would impact how they would go
about the budget. McDaniel you
know, the clip that we saw
there, McDaniel also mentioned
that from the one big beautiful
Bill act that, you know, large
federal programs such as SNAP,
(02:36):
that Kentuckians rely on some
of the cost for, say, the
administration of SNAP. There's
also some costs related to
errors, error rates with how
states calculate, how much
benefits each recipient get,
gets. Those costs are
potentially going to be shifted
more to the state budget north
(02:58):
of potentially 100 million next
year. And you also have future
changes to Medicaid eligibility
as as well. There's there's a
number of different issues that
lawmakers are going to have to
be dealing with.
>> Representative James Tipton
has concerns about education
funding. Some proposals call
for some deep cuts in education.
(03:19):
>> Correct. It's you know,
there's proposals out there
from House Republicans,
Republicans in the US Senate,
the Trump White House into the
proposals, the House and Trump
White House. There would be
significant cuts to to
education. Now, you know, the
Trump White House says that,
you know, it's about empowering
(03:41):
states to use the money as they
see fit about making things
more efficient. But, you know,
there could be significant cuts
potentially, if one of these
budgets are adopted, say, to
education funding for English
language learner students. You
know, Tipton, in his comments
earlier this week, mentioned
(04:02):
that regardless of whatever
changes happen at the federal
level, the state would have to
adapt.
>> Hannah chairman McDaniel
seemed resolute in saying that
the there would be no bailing
out of the state's two largest
school districts, both of which
have financial problems. Is it
fair to say, from your
assessment of other lawmakers
that there is little appetite
(04:24):
for that?
>> Yeah, I definitely think
it's fair to say there's little
appetite for that. I mean,
you've seen Senator McDaniel
been consistently critical of
the Fayette County School
District. Specifically, he
called for the resignation of
the superintendent and the
board chair to resign because
of the mishandling of funds.
And then in JCPS, you have
Representative Jason Nemes, who
(04:45):
represents part of Louisville,
say, you know, we are not going
to help bail you out as well.
And he will fight against any
significant tax hikes to stop.
He will fight against any
significant tax hikes to make
up for those lost funds. So I
think they're very much looking
at, you know, this is a local
issue and it's up to the local
leaders there to solve it.
(05:05):
>> And the education
commissioner says teachers need
raises if the state is to be
able to recruit and retain
teachers. There is another
pressure point in this budget.
>> And it's sort of a perennial
pressure point. I mean, we've
been hearing about teachers
needing raises since at least
the Bevin administration in my
time in Kentucky as a reporter.
And I think if you were to
(05:27):
parse out the issues that the
legislature would have the
biggest appetite for
potentially funding, it would
conceivably be teacher raises.
But I think they could still
fall back on the argument of,
we're not going to invest in
that right now because of sort
of what Hannah was saying.
Schools just need to sort of
rely on on their own funding.
>> There is a lot of discussion
(05:48):
behind the scenes about whether
Kentucky will again lower the
state income tax. It appears
the revenue triggers were not
hit by most measures, but
Representative Jason Nemes, the
House majority whip, disagrees.
He says Kentucky did meet the
threshold for another cut.
>> So I'm fully for a reduction
in another, a full half of a
(06:08):
percent from 3.5% to 3% of our
income tax. If I can't get that
done, if I can't convince my
colleagues to do that, which,
by the way, we did not miss the
trigger, we we we measured it
at the wrong time. But if I
can't convince my colleagues to
go down a full half of a
percent, we need to go down a
quarter of a percent.
>> Liam. These triggers were
(06:29):
guardrails put in place by the
legislature itself. The
supermajority seems to want the
tax eliminated eventually, and
some want to take that next
step right away.
>> Yeah, there seems to be a
little bit of a disagreement
between Representative Jason
Nemis that we heard there and
state budget Director John
Hicks. You know, there was
conversation with House Speaker
David Osborne earlier this week
(06:50):
with reporters, you know,
Osborne mentioning that, you
know, there's different
philosophies with what to do
with the income tax rate. But,
you know, regardless of the
opinion of the state budget
director of whether or not the
fiscal triggers were met, which,
again, are related to revenues
that the state brings in and
how much money is in the state.
(07:10):
Rainy day fund, regardless of
what the state budget director
says, the General Assembly can
make policy as it sees fit.
They did change the system with
the income tax rate reductions
a little bit earlier this year.
So where with each reduction,
instead of it being by a full
(07:31):
half percent, each time a
reduction is done, they're able
to now potentially approve
anywhere between 0.5% again and
a half percent reduction all
the way down to 0.1% reduction.
So a little bit of flexibility
there.
>> That's going to be something
to watch. And we will do that.
The General Assembly of course,
coming to town in early January
in Frankfort. Well the federal
(07:53):
government shutdown finally
ended this week after 43 days.
Alex, we've all reported
stories of Kentuckians with
zero balances on their SNAP
cards that help feed their
families. The question tonight,
and I think that the governor
said this afternoon that
there's going to be a all night
effort to get those snap cards
loaded, but how long will it be
(08:15):
before those benefits are
available?
>> I think the big question is
that nobody really knows
concretely. We you mentioned
Governor Beshear sort of
assured people that state
workers are going to be working
through the night. He said
earlier this week that the
state is working to reimburse
or put those that money back on
(08:36):
Snap recipients EBT cards as
quickly as possible. But, you
know, Snap funding, while it
can be done electronically,
dispersing those funds is sort
of one cog in the government
machine that has been shut down
up until now. And so some
Kentuckians have already seen
their balance replenished. For
others, it might be a couple of
(08:57):
days. I think the big rush is
because people's balances have
been depleted for a while, and
because Thanksgiving is coming
up, there is definitely a push
on the state to try and get it
done as soon as possible. It's
just a matter of █when.
>> Yeah. And you had others who
missed paychecks who supposedly
now will will get their money.
(09:17):
But, you know, planning has
been very difficult, obviously.
Well, the holdup on reopening
the government was health care,
of course, with Democrats
pushing for an extension of
Obamacare subsidies. Kentucky
Congressman Brett Guthrie, a
Republican, suggests that there
are ways to rein in health care
costs.
>> There's some work we need to
do on health care affordability.
(09:38):
That's my committee, actually.
So I'm looking forward to
sitting down with people and
and working. So by hopefully by
Christmas time, I think
December 20th, they promised to
vote on what we're going to do
with the health care and health
care subsidies. I'm not sure
the way they want to do it the
right way, but we're going to
have that discussion and have a
vote.
>> It is interesting how many
(09:59):
Kentucky voices are in the
national discussion. Alex, we
seem to be in an area now where
some want existing Obamacare
coverage to be more affordable.
While many Republicans say
there needs to be a better
overall approach to to health
care insurance.
>> And to be honest, this is
sort of an age old conversation,
which is one there is
definitely an appetite to make
Obamacare more affordable. You
(10:20):
know, the government shutdown
happened over subsidies, which
are basically premiums to
discount that federal
assistance to access that
health care for the people who
need it most. Republicans have
tried to repeal Obamacare
before. They've talked about
overhauling it. Obviously,
Congressman Brett Guthrie is
chairman of a very
(10:41):
consequential committee in
Congress, energy and Commerce,
and he does have real power to
propose that overhaul. It's a
question of, though, what that
would be, because at this point,
the ACA provides health care
protections for millions of
Americans, a whole lot,
hundreds of thousands of
Kentuckians to. And so it's a
sort of thing where if you're
(11:01):
going to overhaul it or
certainly replace it, you have
to have a plan in place, you
have to come up with concrete
policy. And I guess we'll see
if if they actually can manage
to do that.
>> Trying to get two things at
one time. Right proved to be
very difficult. Obviously in
Washington. Hannah does it
appear that health care is
going to be a major issue in
the upcoming 2026 midterm
elections, including here in
(11:22):
Kentucky?
>> Oh, yeah, I definitely think
so. I think since the passage
of the One Big Beautiful Bill
act, what Democrats have said
nationally is, you know, these
Medicaid cuts in the bill,
they're going to kick people
off the Medicaid program, and
they're going to close rural
hospitals and hurt America. And
how we're seeing that translate
in Kentucky is that healthcare
has become a big conversation
(11:43):
in both the House district six
primary as well as the U.S.
Senate race. We've seen
Cherlynn Stevenson in the House
district six race has made
fighting against Medicaid cuts
a priority in her campaign. And
we've also seen in the Senate
race on the Democratic side,
Amy McGrath, she was critical
of the CR reopening the
government, saying these
(12:04):
subsidies weren't extended and
that that needed to happen to
help Kentuckians. So I
definitely think there will be
banking, you know, on the
health care issue on that front
to be able to flip some seats
come next year.
>> Kentucky Congressman Thomas
Massie has helped lead the
charge for the release of the
Epstein files. And this week,
the number of votes needed for
(12:24):
a discharge petition was met,
and it appears that it is
headed to a vote come next week.
Hannah a President Trump calls
it the Jeffrey Epstein hoax.
Congressman Massie has pressed
hard for the release.
>> I think, yes, Massie has led
the charge, I think since July,
I want to say. But yes, his
discharge petition gained. It's
(12:46):
218 signatures. And what that
does is that it forces a House
floor vote. Now, what he is
banking on is because it forces
a floor vote, a floor vote. It
forces Republicans, you know,
to have their vote on the
record. And his message that he
is sending out right now, as
they're considering before the
vote, is that he is saying, you
know, Trump may be able to
protect you right now in your
(13:06):
upcoming elections, but what
about 2028? And what about 2030?
And so I think he's really
banking on, you know, beyond
the midterms to be able to
convince his colleagues to vote
to release the files. Now, I
think it's important to note
that there is still a long way
to go just because there is
going to be a House floor vote,
it means it still means it has
(13:28):
to go through the Senate, and
that we don't know how the
Senate is going to vote on that
front.
>> And we also know that Massie
is in a primary. Yes, in
Northern Kentucky, in his
district.
>> He is. And, you know, the
Epstein files are one of the
reasons, many reasons why, you
know, Trump has targeted him in
the primary since, you know,
Massie has disagreed with Trump
on that front. He really Trump
(13:48):
is unhappy. And that's one of
the reasons why he's getting
primaried by him.
>> Well, yet another Democrat
has jumped into the crowded
U.S. Senate primary. Horse
trainer Dale Romans has had a
lot of contenders in the
Kentucky Derby. At least now he
is running for Senator Mitch
McConnell's seat as what he's
calling an independent Democrat.
(14:09):
>> I've been in Kentucky my
entire life, and I think I know
what Kentucky needs in
Washington, an independent
Democrat that can go to
Washington, D.C. and vote for
what's right for the people of
Kentucky. I know how to win as
an underdog. I know how to come
from behind. And there's a lot
of strength in electing a
Democratic senator from a red
state that wouldn't be beholden
(14:29):
to the party, but also wouldn't
be a puppet to the president,
like a Republican freshman
senator would have to be.
>> Interesting, Lane, that
Romans is trying to carve out.
They're entering a race that
includes Amy McGrath, Logan
Forsythe, Joel Willett and
Pamela Stephenson. So far,
there could be other candidates.
What do you make of this?
Calling himself an independent
(14:50):
Democrat.
>> I definitely think he's
taking a different strategy and
messaging compared to the other
Democrats who have entered the
race. So he specifically points
to Joe Manchin, who is a former
West Virginia senator who had a
centrist streak not always
particularly popular with the
Democratic Party. However, he
was able to consistently win in
Republican heavy state in a
(15:11):
deep red state like Kentucky. I
think Roman sees that as a
potential way to win the
election. We've seen through
his interviews that he's done
this week that he's taking a
different campaign priority
approach. So he recently told
us that he's, you know, for
responsible gun ownership, not
for taking away any anybody's
guns away. And he also admits
that there's issues with the
(15:32):
Medicaid program. But again,
you can't take away the whole
system at once. And I think
potentially this could be a
popular messaging with western
Kentucky and eastern Kentucky,
particularly in the rural areas
of the state.
>> I think just as the race
gets more crowded, you know,
you need to delineate yourself
somehow. When Amy McGrath first
launched, she mentioned about
(15:52):
how she's a centrist and sort
of middle of the road. It's an
interesting marketing strategy,
sort of delineating between
he's not going to be beholden
to the Democratic platform, but
he won't be a puppet for Trump.
Obviously, horse racing is
popular in Kentucky. I think
it's a smart tactic when you're
launching your name with really
very little name recognition.
The matter I guess the bigger
(16:13):
question is will he have
traction overall? But I think
it's smart.
>> And, you know, I think
Roman's candidacy is
interesting just from maybe a
more national 10,000 foot view,
in the sense that ever since
Democrats failure in in 2020
for, you know, the party's been
trying to figure out its path
(16:35):
forward of what should its main
thrust be, politically speaking?
You've seen candidates running
for Senate, I would say,
including Romans in this
category who seem to, you know,
their rhetoric, their messaging
is that they're not going to
necessarily toe the party line.
You see a candidate in main,
(16:55):
Graham Plattner, who is
arguably a lot more progressive
compared to Dale Romans, but
still similar rhetoric in the
sense of, you know, I'm not
going to necessarily follow
what, say, Democratic Senate
Leader Chuck Schumer says.
>> It's interesting that with
so many prediction maps
painting Kentucky Red, that so
many Democrats are interested
(17:15):
in that nomination.
>> Well, I think to you're
trying to capture the, I think,
growing number of voters who
are sort of disillusioned with
both parties, with the division
between both parties. And so it
will be interesting if we start
to see more candidates sort of
pitch themselves. And let's be
honest, Kentucky is more likely
to elect a more moderate
(17:36):
centrist Democrat if they're
going to elect one.
>> So is Charles Booker still
in the mix, do you think,
Hannah.
>> You know, he hasn't said yes
and he hasn't said no? I think
what was particularly
interesting is I believe it was
almost a month ago. He said he
was not running for Louisville
mayor, because that was also
another rumor going around.
(17:57):
However, he did not shut the
door out for a potential U.S.
Senate run. And I think that
would be really interesting. If
he does throw his name in the
ring.
>> There's a tough three way
primary on the Republican side
as well. Of course. Alex Daniel
Cameron Andy Barr Nate Morris
are in the hunt. The latest on
that. And I think, Liam, you
have this update that there are
(18:19):
some endorsements going on.
That's sort of the battle right
now out there, right?
>> Yeah. You know, like with
any campaign, it's a little bit
of the endorsement battle and
trying to get people to back
you. Of course, in the state
legislature, there's a lot of
Republicans to go around to
endorse a Republican U.S.
Senate candidate. You know,
both Cameron and Barr were were
(18:40):
picking up endorsements in
particular. Barr, you know,
picked up the endorsement of
Sander Jason Howell out in far
west Kentucky. You know,
Cameron had the endorsement of
Senator Gary Boswell. And, you
know, it's hard to say. And it
remains to be seen how much
those endorsements will impact
the race, trickle down to
(19:01):
voters. But at the very least,
it's good to have a local
advocate in a particular
portion of the state, you know,
backing your candidacy.
>> All right. So we'll watch
that. And obviously a lot of
spending continuing on the the
in the Republican primary as
well, Alex, we're seeing a lot
of commercials, certainly.
>> A lot of commercials
flooding the airwaves. And it's,
(19:22):
again, sort of a race to the
top to see who can amass the
most money, because right now
you're just trying to get your
face out there as much as
possible, get your message out
there as much as possible.
>> The U.S. Supreme Court
rejected a case this week from
Kentucky that could have
challenged the legality of same
sex marriage. Alex, this was a
case brought by former Rowan
County Clerk Kim Davis. The
justices did not want to
(19:44):
consider that landmark 2015
ruling under that particular
case.
>> When I think what's so
interesting about this case,
and viewers will remember,
because Kim Davis rose to
international fame for refusing
to issue marriage licenses to
gay couples in 2015 after
Obergefell versus Hodges, she
has been embroiled in, you know,
(20:06):
extended lawsuits related to
her refusal to issue those
licenses. For a decade, she's
been ordered by judge and jury
to pay more than $360,000 in
damages. Her appeal of that,
her being ordered to pay
damages is what she pitched the
Supreme Court. And, of course,
her lawyers are sort of
(20:26):
characterizing her as the first,
quote, unquote, victim of
Obergefell because she had to
suppress her religious belief
in order to issue these
licenses. The Supreme Court
said no, but I think it's
important to distinct that
distinguish that they said no,
to sort of using her case as an
avenue to revisit Obergefell.
People have said for a long
time that her case is a poor
(20:47):
one, because at the time she
refused. She was an elected
official who had to adhere to
state statute. And so I think
it will be interesting if the
court decides to take up a
different challenge to
Obergefell. That's certainly
not that one. And it is a blow
to her and her case. And I
think the big question now is,
will she, in fact pay the
damages that she's on the on
(21:08):
the line to pay?
>> Senator Mitch McConnell
secured $147 million for
construction projects at
several Kentucky military
installations. That includes a
project at the Bluegrass Army
Depot near Richmond, and also
for Fort Campbell and some
other areas. Is that the kind
of money going to be harder to
(21:28):
come by with the seniority that
McConnell has that will be
handed eventually to a junior
senator from Kentucky?
>> Sure. I mean, I mean,
seniority always helps in those
matters. I mean, even like
taking a look at just the
wrangling of the budget in
Frankfort when they had the one
time spending there was there's
(21:50):
also some some Jocelyn Jocelyn
was spending there for
particular projects throughout
the state, but, you know, very
much so with McConnell, having
that seniority helps a lot.
>> I think also to, you know,
McConnell was in the leadership
ranks for a long time. And when
you are in the leadership ranks,
you are pretty much always in
the room when negotiations are
(22:11):
happening and particularly when
these budget negotiations are
happening. He was able to
advocate on behalf of Kentucky.
Kentucky was always in those
conversations, and I think
that's something that I know
he's not in leadership right
now, but once he leaves
altogether in his seniority
will definitely be an impact as
well.
>> All right. There was a lot
of talk about the future of
(22:31):
hemp included in the bill to
reopen the government was a
provision that was added by
Senator Mitch McConnell. It
would ban hemp products with
THC content above a certain
level. Opponents, including
Senator Rand Paul, say the
provision threatens the
multibillion dollar hemp
industry.
>> Unfortunately, companies.
>> Have exploited a loophole in
(22:52):
the 2018 legislation by taking
legal amounts of THC from hemp
and turning it into
intoxicating substances.
>> This bill's per serving THC
content limit would make
illegal any hemp product that
(23:13):
contains more than 0.4mg. That
would be nearly 100% of the
existing market. The numbers
put forward in this bill will
eliminate 100% of hemp products
in our country.
>> This all getting attention
because McConnell was an early
champion of hemp, and now he
has concerns about the THC
(23:34):
levels of some products.
Obviously, he and Senator Paul
are really at odds on this one.
Alex.
>> Yeah. So as they were
mentioning, it would limit any
product with 0.4mg people.
Commonly the products that he's
talking about are Delta. What
are they, Delta eight and Delta
nine. McConnell's reasoning is
that the cans these products
(23:56):
are colorful. Kids might get
Ahold of them, become
intoxicated, or adults might
ingest them on purpose and
actually get a lot more
intoxicated or inebriated than
they're expecting. Senator Paul
has said this would kill jobs,
including for a lot of Kentucky
farmers, because Kentucky is a
really big hemp state. A lot of
the GOP, and please chime in on
(24:18):
a national level seems to be
for it. But Kentucky
Republicans are split, right?
So we saw Senator Paul.
Obviously, Thomas Massie isn't
for it. Andy Barr is opposing
it. And so I think it's going
to beg a question of how will
they move forward, and will
they use Brett Guthrie, who we
(24:39):
talked about earlier, chairs
this very consequential
committee to try and leverage
his position to sway it one way
or the other.
>> And, you know, I spoke to
some hemp products business
owners in particular. Jim
Higdon, the co-founder of
Cornbread Hemp, which sells
hemp based THC seltzers. You
know, they're they're making
(25:00):
this since the this bill was
passed with this provision,
they're making it kind of a
year long battle until until
this provision goes into effect
to again, try to influence
people like Guthrie to to
remove it or change it. So
there's a.
>> Potential for a compromise.
>> There is a potential for a
compromise, I think. And like
(25:22):
Liam said, this doesn't take
effect until 2027. And so I
think going into the next year,
it will be interesting to watch
because like Alex said, you
know, Republicans in Kentucky
are sort of divided on this.
And so what they're going to
they need to find a compromise.
And what that compromise looks
like on the national level will
be interesting to see.
>> All right. Last night,
longtime journalist and
frequent comment panelist Bill
Estep won the prestigious Al
(25:44):
Smith Award for his more than
40 years of stories of
Appalachian Kentucky and its
communities. And the. Alex, I
know you had the pleasure to
work with Bill for many years.
>> I did, and I'm so grateful
for it. Bill is one of the
kindest people that I've known,
and he's one of the best
journalists. I wrote in a story
after he left that he turned
(26:04):
over his Rolodex of all of his
time at the Herald-Leader when
he left, and it was more than
70 pages, single spaced. His
source network is incredible.
He's a lovely person.
>> It appears Kentucky will
receive more than $73 million
as part of a $7.4 billion
settlement with Purdue Pharma.
We'll discuss more on that as
it becomes clear. And believe
it or not, Kentucky Derby
tickets went on sale this week,
(26:26):
a reminder that we will get
through the winter ahead that's
common on Kentucky. Thanks for
joining us. Have a good week
ahead.
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