November 3, 2025 • 26 mins
Journalists from around the state discuss the news of the week with host Bill Bryant, including the latest on the primary campaigns among Democrats and Republicans vying for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2026. Panelists: Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal; Sarah Ladd, Kentucky Lantern; and Austin Horn, Lexington Herald-Leader.
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(00:12):
federal government shutdown
takes hold and hits home in
Kentucky. In Kentucky's U.S.
Senate race, some candidates
appear together, but try to
stand out in the crowded
contest. Governor Beshear makes
more media appearances amid
speculation he will run for
president in 2028. UK health
care gets a huge gift for its
children's hospital as it plots
(00:34):
the future on this. Halloween
comment is next on KET. Good
evening, I'm Bill Bryant and we
welcome you to comment on
(00:55):
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 Lucas Aulbach
reporter for the
Courier-Journal, Austin Horn
senior political reporter for
the Lexington Herald-Leader.
And joining us remotely is
Sarah Ladd, health policy
(01:16):
reporter for the Kentucky
Lantern. Before we jump into
tonight's discussion, Laura
Cullen Glasscock asks us to
clarify something she said
about campaign fundraising on
last week's program. Democratic
candidate Cherlynn Stevenson,
who is running in the sixth
Congressional District, has
campaign debt of nearly $30,000
but also reported cash on hand
(01:38):
of roughly 154,000. That was at
the end of September. Alright,
on to our program. The
government shutdown in
Washington demands our
attention here in Kentucky
tonight. Uncertainty is the
word as paychecks are being
missed and a federal food
assistance program is about to
run out of money. Governor
Beshear has appealed for a
(01:58):
solution. He joined a lawsuit
trying to stop the cuts. And
then just a few hours ago, he
signed a statement of emergency.
>> A person starving to me
isn't a Democrat or a
Republican. They're a child of
God. So because of that, I am
signing a statement of
emergency today that will
provide up to $5 million to our
(02:21):
emergency management. Emergency
management will then work with
Feeding Kentucky and our food
banks across our Commonwealth
to increase the supply of food
for those that need it in
Kentucky. We look out for each
other.
>> Sarah, this is obviously a
story with a lot of moving
parts. As we're on the air here
on this Friday night. The
(02:42):
governor made his statement
just a few hours after a couple
of judges made rulings that
appear to mean that Snap
benefits can continue.
>> Yes, this is a story with a
lot of moving parts, and it
feels like there's been a new
development every day this week.
But basically, the bottom line
where we are right now is the
(03:04):
government shutdown continues,
right? USDA said that it would
not use contingency funds to
continue funding Snap food
assistance during the shutdown.
And that means that at the
start of the new month, which
is November 1st Saturday, a lot
of people 563,000, roughly in
(03:25):
Kentucky, who have SNAP and use
that to buy groceries, were not
going to have that benefit. And
so Beshear had said a couple
different times this week, he
was looking at different
options, what the state could
do at the state level to sort
of maybe mitigate some of that
impact. He had said he did not
feel that a special session
calling the legislature back
(03:46):
into Frankfort was quite what
needed to happen. He he did
talk about sort of having this
big food drive, you know, in
the state over the weekend. But
this is then where this ruling
today, a federal judge ruled in
a lawsuit that Beshear and
about two dozen other
(04:08):
Democratic officials from
across the country were part of
trying to force the Trump
administration's hand, saying,
you have to use funds to keep
SNAP going for people. Beshear
joined that lawsuit the other
day. On Friday afternoon, a
federal judge said that
withholding the Snap funds was
illegal, but she gave the Trump
administration until Monday to
(04:28):
respond. So that sort of left a
question mark over the weekend.
With Snap benefits running out
on Saturday. The Trump
administration has until Monday
to respond. This is where the
declaration of emergency comes
in, he declared. Kentucky is in
a state of emergency, and that
freed up the 5 million from the
rainy day fund that he is now
kind of funneling into feeding
(04:50):
Kentucky, which has seven food
banks across Kentucky. And they
can use that money to buy more
food over the weekend.
>> All right. So apparently a
band aid, while we await some
clarity on what these rulings
may or may not produce, Austin
Lucas, do you get the sense
that a lot of Kentuckians and
people across the country don't
(05:11):
care about the political issues
at play, they just know they're
doing without something they
were expecting?
>> Yeah. I mean, I think people
in Washington and places like
Frankfort like to think a lot
about the political
implications of everything in
the news. And we do know that
there is a political tinge to
(05:31):
this issue right now. I think
there's an Ipsos poll the other
day. 45% of Americans tend to
blame Trump and Republicans a
little more than Democrats, and
33% blame Democrats more than
Republicans. That said, I think
for most people, this isn't so
much a red or blue issue. It's
(05:52):
dollars and cents. It's a green
issue. It's putting food on the
table. So it's just kind of a
different category right now,
especially when it's such an
immediate concern.
>> Yeah, it's an issue of how
do I get my food stamps, which
were available, you know,
yesterday and are no longer
going to be available tomorrow.
And, you know, it's an issue of
health care, which, you know,
open enrollment is a couple of
(06:13):
weeks. And is my bill going to
go up by hundreds of dollars.
So, I mean, I think these are
things that aren't necessarily
always top of mind until you're
going to lose them. And, you
know, I had to get up to speed
on a lot of this stuff myself,
and they pay me to write about
it. So.
>> Well, right. We all had to
find out the numbers of people
involved. It's close to 600,000
in Kentucky who are receiving
(06:34):
Snap benefits. We now know that
number. Republican Senator
Mitch McConnell has pressed for
some kind of compromise that
can get the government reopened.
And Democratic Congressman
Morgan McGarvey of Louisville
is underlining the Democrats
reason for keeping this health
insurance card in play.
>> There are a lot of people
running around these days
saying, don't ever compromise.
(06:57):
That's absolutely nuts. You
have to compromise and.
>> People are still going to
get sick. People are still
going to have emergencies,
people are still going to be
going to hospitals and getting
care. Even if they don't have
health insurance, they're still
going to be going, possibly
going to the emergency room,
maybe not being able to to pay
(07:17):
for that care as they are now.
That's the double whammy of
looking at what we're doing
right now, by not passing the
tax credits in advance of open
enrollment.
>> Is this health insurance
issue on the radar? So clearly
for Kentuckians Austin, as it
is, particularly for Democrats,
which again, is the is the card
they're holding right now?
(07:37):
>> Yeah. I mean, I think one
thing to keep in mind, it's a
significant but limited
population with the ACA
subsidies. Obviously this is a
big deal for the population
involved, and it will change
premiums for a broad range of
people. But this is something
that feels maybe more immediate
(07:58):
and more again, kind of dollars
and cents and apolitical to
most people. That said, we do
know that if you poll the
American people, the number one
thing they say is the main
issue they care about is
affordability is dollars and
cents. You hear people talk
about it over and over again
when they're wringing their
hands over who will be the next
(08:20):
Democratic presidential nominee.
So I think people will
eventually care about a change
like this, should it be
sustained. But right now, this
is just more immediate for the
population affected.
>> Lucas, we heard from Senator
McConnell calling for
compromise, and you reported
Kentucky GOP Senator Rand Paul
also proposed a way out of the
(08:42):
stalemate, suggesting the
government could be reopened in
the short term. And the
President Trump could appoint a
bipartisan committee to hash
out these health care subsidies.
Is the deal breaker for
Democrats?
>> Yeah, he was in Louisville
on Monday and talked to a few
reporters on his way out of
town. And, you know, on his way
out of town, he's got to take a
flight. He says, I want to end
(09:04):
this thing as much as anybody.
I want to make sure the guy in
the, you know, air control
tower is getting paid. So his
idea is come together, reopen
the government for a month, get
everybody who's missing a
paycheck paid, and then get
three Republican senators,
three Democrat senators, get
them together and say, hey, we
got to figure out these ACA
subsidies. Let's come to a deal.
The problem is that requires
bipartisanship, which isn't
(09:24):
always easy to come by these
days. So we'll see what happens.
But either way, Senator Paul
expressed some optimism that
they're getting a little closer
to a deal. Hopefully within the
next week or two is the time
frame he put on it.
>> Sir, you've also reported on
cuts for assistance to kinship
care families, where in many
cases, grandparents in our
Commonwealth are caring for
(09:45):
children who might otherwise be
in foster care. In fact, this
involves about 15,000 extremely
low income families. And you
say this is sort of connected
to the whole SNAP issue as well.
>> Yeah, it's all connected.
The Beshear administration did
announce recently that families
in Kentucky who get Ctap
(10:07):
benefits, and that is a cash
benefit if you're extremely low
income. So if you're a family
of seven, you're making $1,700
a month. If you're a family of
one, you're making 890. So low
income families can get small
cash payments. That benefit is
getting cut by 35% starting
November 1st. And the reasoning
(10:28):
for that, the administration
said, was because they just had
too many people, you know, the
number of people who needed
that help drastically increased
in the last few years. But, you
know, this is this is related
to SNAP because I published a
story this week about families
who are kinship caregivers and,
you know, a large amount of
kinship caregivers get this KET
benefit. And these kinship
(10:50):
caregivers are looking at their
ctap benefit being cut. They
also have Snap benefits, and
they need Snap benefits to buy
food. They need these sorts of
cash payments to, you know, buy
diapers and formula and all the
things you need when you're
raising young children. And
they when I was talking to them,
we had long conversations about
what they need and how they pay
(11:11):
their bills and how they buy
groceries. And it kind of goes
back to a question bill about
where people's priorities are
when it comes to the politics
of it. In all those
conversations, you know, those
people I talked to didn't say,
you know, one party or the
other party needs to do this or
that. They just said, I want to
feed my grandkids. I want to be
able to afford groceries and
(11:31):
all the things I need to do to
help them succeed. So that's
what I hear.
>> Yeah, well, a lot to watch.
Is this government shutdown
continues and the story
develops day by day. Let's turn
to Kentucky's U.S. Senate race,
which is one to watch this week.
Three Republicans, Daniel
Cameron, Andy Barr and Nate
Morris appeared at an event in
Lexington. Also, there was one
(11:51):
of the Democratic contenders,
Amy McGrath. The subject of the
day was future jobs, but they
also got into the shutdown and
tariffs. The news of the day
Austin. The one clear takeaway
the Republicans defend
President Trump while McGrath
attacked his policies and
leadership.
>> Yeah, I think McGrath kind
of played the sort of straight
(12:14):
talk angle she called the
tariff policies stupid, which I
think probably plays somewhat
well to an audience of
manufacturers right now. The
tariffs were supposed to be
this kind of protectionist
policy, and they could end up
working in that way long term.
But right now the data shows
(12:35):
that they're not necessarily
working in a protectionist way.
On the Republican side, you saw
what we've been seeing most of
the whole campaign, which is
unanimity with President Trump.
They are not breaking in
basically any way with the
president's policies. So it'll
be interesting if and when that
ever happens. And they try to
(12:56):
differentiate themselves on a
policy standpoint. But for now,
it's just little issues here
and there. And they're all
singing from the same hymnal of
Trump right now.
>> Each hoping for his
endorsement. Still. Right.
>> Oh, absolutely. It's seen as
the golden ticket by a lot of
people. And, you know, I think
given Trump's standing in the
party right now, it's hard to
see it any other way if he
(13:17):
gives one.
>> Lucas McGrath is probably
the best known of the Democrats
in the race right now. Are you
hearing any more about the
possibility that Charles Booker
gets in that race, which is
already crowded?
>> Right, right. And he's not
talking about it publicly, but
he's talking about a lot of
other things publicly. You know,
you go to his Facebook page,
you can see him talking about
Ice raids on Halloween. You can
(13:38):
see him talking about financial
aid going to Argentina. You
know, things like Trump
suggesting we test nukes for
the first time in so many years.
You know, these are these are
federal issues. You know, this
is a guy talking like he's
keeping an eye on federal
issues and might be interested
in a federal race.
>> Austin, we're watching the
congressional races, including
the open seat in the sixth, and
(13:58):
that is where Andy Barr is
running for the Senate seat. So
Democrat Cherlynn Stevenson
held a roundtable this week on
health care. Do candidates just
sort of have to create
opportunities like that?
>> Yeah, I think Cherlynn
Stevenson holding that event is
kind of a good example and a
reminder that, you know, people
who follow Frankfort closely
(14:20):
definitely see Cherlynn
Stevenson as the favorite at
this point, and they know her
well. But a state
representative, for the most
part, is still just a state
representative in terms of name
I.D. in a congressional
district. It's just hard to
translate that into a much
broader voting population. So
(14:40):
you see, with her hosting that
roundtable, she's got to look
for opportunities any way she
can to get that TV hit, to
continue to get her name ID out
there. Because, you know, most
of these candidates are
starting much closer to zero
than they are to a really
significant high name ID number.
>> What are you seeing on the
(15:01):
Republican side of that sixth
district race?
>> It's it's kind of a mirror
image with Alvarado playing the
the favorite among the insider
class is, is a little better
known throughout the district
than maybe the other two are
right now, but the other two
have put a good amount of money
into this race. They've
signaled a willingness to
(15:22):
advertise, a willingness to
really beat the bushes when it
comes to going to events. And
those other two are
representatives Deanna Gordon
and Ryan Dotson of Richmond and
Winchester.
>> Several of the candidates on
both sides have some indication
they can open their own
personal finances to to assist
in their campaigns. Right?
>> Yeah, Gordon and Dotson have
(15:42):
both put in quite a bit. You've
got David Kloiber on the
Democratic side. So I mean this
could be a very expensive race,
could be very lucrative for
television stations like KET.
Right.
>> And others. Right. Lucas. In
the fourth district, there's
this newly minted race between
Congressman Thomas Massie and
the president Trump's chosen
challenger, Ed Gallrein. Any
(16:03):
indication you had on how that
is playing out?
>> I have indications that a
lot of money has been spent and
a lot of money will be spent.
You know, there's a pro-Trump
PAC that's already pushed seven
digits into ads attacking
Massie and Massie, turning
around and saying, hey, I
raised close to $800,000 in the
third quarter alone, which
would be a new record for him.
So, yeah, I mean, it's going to
(16:24):
be an expensive race, just like
we were just talking about. Now,
Gordon, he's got to introduce
himself to the district outside
of just the state Senate
district. He ran for
unsuccessfully a year ago when
he lost narrowly to Aaron Reid
and a three candidate race. And
you know, Massie, he's shown no
hesitation going after Gallrein
already. And he's got Senator
Paul in his corner on the
(16:44):
campaign trail with him. And
I'm interested to see that one,
too, and just see how Senator
Paul's I wouldn't call it a
rift, maybe a rift at this
point with President Trump. How
him supporting Massie continues
if it continues to affect that
relationship.
>> Well, Kentucky is filing
window will open this coming
Wednesday. It runs through
January 9th. There will be
contests up and down the ballot,
(17:04):
and that includes the
congressional races,
legislative races, local
contests. Voters decide who
will control the courthouses
and the city halls across the
state. In Louisville, incumbent
Mayor Craig Greenberg announced
this week he will run for
reelection.
>> I'm asking you to stand with
me one more time. We need your
time, your talents and your
(17:26):
energy for our campaign. We
need all of you spreading the
word to your family, to your
friends, to your coworkers in
real life and online. This is
our campaign. This is our cause.
This is our city.
>> Greensburg says one more
time. He got term limited after
he went into office by the
(17:48):
legislature. Right. Which also
made the change that there
would be the nonpartisan race
in Louisville, when other
cities can make their own
decisions about that. What case
does Greensburg make for a
second term?
>> Money. The money he's
bringing into Louisville. You
know, he's close with a lot of
legislators out in the state
Capitol who set the state
budget. They're setting a state
budget again in a couple of
(18:09):
months, coming up on election
season. So I'll be really
interested to see how much time
Mayor Greenberg spends out
there and just how how involved
he is again. And if he comes
back with big $100 million
check for downtown like he did
two years ago. So I think he
would also point to improving
violent crime rates touted by
LMPD as a reason he should be
(18:30):
brought back into office, which
LMPD also, they just brought in
one of their biggest recruiting
classes in years.
>> You hear no names, but you
hear there's likely to be a
challenger or two.
>> I would expect some people
to jump in the race. I'm just
curious if they'll be on the
Republican side, because
Republicans I've talked to have
said they might spend more time
in 2026 focusing on Metro
Council races, races they've
(18:50):
had a lot more success in in
recent years. They've almost
flipped to 5050 at this point,
which is unheard of in
Louisville. So, you know, like
you said, it's a nonpartisan
race. Now. You could see a
challenger to Greenberg's left
come in. And then in that case,
you know, if those are the two
candidates on the ballot, who
were the Republicans in
Louisville going to support,
probably Mayor Greenberg. So a
(19:11):
lot, a lot to watch.
>> Special Senate race to watch
that will be in December in
Louisville. That's where the
incumbent or the senator, David
Yates, who was the senator
there, has resigned to become
the interim county clerk in
Jefferson County, a job which
he is going to seek for the
long haul. What are you seeing
in that district that leans
Democratic?
(19:31):
>> Yeah, it I mean, it does not
look competitive. If you just
look at voter registration.
Democrats have a very, very
solid lead in that regard. But
Republicans would tell you,
look at the success we've had
in these Metro Council races in
the South End and on the
outskirts of Louisville. So we
have three candidates in it
right now trying to replace
(19:52):
David Yates, who is very
popular. You have Calvin Leech,
the Republican who lost to him
in the election a year ago.
Who's hoping? Hey, now, I'm not
running against a popular
incumbent. Now I'm running
against Democrat Gary Clemons,
who is the Democrats nominee.
He's a union leader, which you
would think would help in a
district like the South End.
And we'll see. And then former
(20:12):
Louisville Tea Party, I think
President Wendy Higdon is also
in the race as a libertarian.
And she said she wants to focus
on reining in government
spending. So, you know, it will
be a sprint. The race is
December 16th.
>> Governor Beshear continues
to make some high profile
appearances around the country,
often in left leaning spaces,
as he is looking at the 2020
(20:34):
presidential race. But a
moderate leaning group has
given him some encouragement in
a survey. Austin.
>> Yeah, it was done by Welcome
Pack, which is kind of this
centrist Democrat group. They
they ranked all the prospective
2028 candidates on a scale of
(20:54):
how they overperformed or
underperformed on their last
election. And Beshear was the
highest. I think he was
somewhere around 23%
Overperformance notably, they
did not take into account
having a family name in
politics. You know, that's
something that I think
everybody acknowledges. Beshear
benefits from at least a little
bit. Also notable is last on
(21:15):
the list was Gavin Newsom, who
governor of California, who's
often the first person that
people talk about when it comes
to the 2020 Democratic
nomination.
>> Well, Senator Rand Paul
keeps a mentioning that he is
not ruling out the possibility
that he may run as well. Could
we have two presidential
contenders from Kentucky in 28?
>> It's possible he's not
ruling it out. He's not ruling
(21:37):
it in, but he's not ruling it
out. And, you know, he's not a
never Trump type of guy. He's a
guy who supported President
Trump for most of his career.
But but yeah, no he's not shut
the door on running. And he's
been open about his differences
with the president. You know,
bombing boats off Venezuela,
the tariffs. So that could give
him a lane against whoever kind
of inherits the MAGA throne, be
(21:59):
it JD Vance, be it anybody else.
So he's not ruling it out.
>> All right. Some other news,
Sarah, a committee the governor
appointed to study universal
pre-K has essentially said it
should happen.
>> Yeah. This was a Beshear
appointed committee. They've
spent the last four months
going across Kentucky and
having, I believe it was 54
(22:20):
different sort of meetings. And
I know they've had town halls
in different cities, basically
researching the benefits of
universal preschool in Kentucky.
Unsurprisingly, the
recommendation that came out
this week was that Kentucky
should expand access to
preschool, which right now
about 27% of children have
access to was their finding.
(22:42):
They recommended that happen
slowly over the next few years.
And, you know, this is
something Beshear has pushed
for for a while. I think it's
worth noting that members of
the committee were both
Democrat and Republican, and
they did hear from Republicans.
So it was bipartisan in some
ways. The next step, you know,
is to convince enough
(23:02):
Republicans in the legislature
that this is worth a big
investment. What that dollar
amount is, I don't know, but
you'd have to convince enough
Republicans that this is
something they really need to
do. And up until this point,
that's not that's not happened.
>> Sir, you also did a story
recently that shed some light
on why Kentucky is seeing more
C-section births.
>> We know Kentucky has had
(23:24):
high rates of cesarean section
deliveries higher than the
national average, and that has
concerned a lot of health
advocates and birth workers.
And they've been sort of
looking at ways to decrease
that. And part of the one of
the factors driving our higher
number is that a lot of people,
(23:45):
once they have a C-section,
they always have a C-section.
And so the push lately has been
to have more vaginal births
after cesarean. So be back is
what they're called. And so the
study came out this this week
from U of L and a couple of
other institutions that found
that a lot of providers in
(24:05):
Kentucky actually want to
provide more vbacs, and a lot
of women want them. But the
barrier that a lot of providers
expressed was insurance. Their
liability insurance would go up
if they offered that. And then
there's also the concern that
if you're going to offer a VBAC,
you need to have the tools to
intervene if an emergency
(24:27):
C-section is necessary. And a
lot of hospitals maybe don't
have 24 over seven or or
anesthesia. So there are some
barriers there. But the
willingness is also there.
>> Yeah, a huge gift for UK
Children's Hospital $50 million
from New York philanthropist
Tom Golisano.
>> Mr. Golisano just doesn't
hand money out. He looks
(24:49):
carefully at the recipients and
I think he has trust in us. He
has confidence in us that we're
going to do what he's done in
life. And that is if you find
something, a challenge you need
to meet, that challenge. You
need to make things better for
the community.
(25:09):
>> Sarah. The Children's
Hospital will now add
Golisano's name, and the gift
of that magnitude will
certainly be a big boost.
>> Yeah, I believe it's the
largest ever in UK Healthcare's
history and the second largest
in UC's history. They are
renaming the hospital, and they
said they're going to use the
money to sort of improve the
hospital's work itself, and
(25:31):
also maybe strengthen and
expand other programs
throughout the state.
>> Also, many in the judicial
community and beyond are
remembering Judge Lewis Paisley.
He was a district judge, then a
circuit judge, then on the
Kentucky Court of Appeals,
remembered for some landmark
rulings, including striking
down Kentucky's law in 1986.
>> Yeah, I mean, he's kind of a
(25:53):
Lexington legend. And that
ruling was sort of the main
exemplar, but included in his
obit in the first sentence, I
think, in the Herald-Leader was
he was a lover of the Rolling
Stones and horse racing. So may
we all be so dedicated to our
loves, to have our to have them
be included in the first line
of our.
>> There you go. And the
(26:15):
Kentucky Book Festival is
underway and continues this
weekend. It brings authors and
their fans together. Founded by
journalist Carl West, it was
held in Frankfort for 30 years.
Now it's shifted to Lexington.
The main events are Saturday at
Joseph Beth Booksellers. That's
comment on Kentucky. We thank
you for joining us. Have a good
week ahead. Okay Sarah, thank
(26:46):
you so much. Awesome I think we.
Good show. We covered a lot of
ground didn't we.
>> Yes, we certainly did.
>> Yeah.
>> Fun time.
>> A little more hectic this
time. Getting it together
federal government shutdown
takes hold and hits home in
Kentucky. In Kentucky's U.S.
Senate race, some candidates
appear together, but try to
stand out in the crowded
contest. Governor Beshear makes
more media appearances amid
speculation he will run for
president in 2028. UK health
care gets a huge gift for its
children's hospital as it plots
(00:34):
the future on this. Halloween
comment is next on KET. Good
evening, I'm Bill Bryant and we
welcome you to comment on
(00:55):
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 Lucas Aulbach
reporter for the
Courier-Journal, Austin Horn
senior political reporter for
the Lexington Herald-Leader.
And joining us remotely is
Sarah Ladd, health policy
(01:16):
reporter for the Kentucky
Lantern. Before we jump into
tonight's discussion, Laura
Cullen Glasscock asks us to
clarify something she said
about campaign fundraising on
last week's program. Democratic
candidate Cherlynn Stevenson,
who is running in the sixth
Congressional District, has
campaign debt of nearly $30,000
but also reported cash on hand
(01:38):
of roughly 154,000. That was at
the end of September. Alright,
on to our program. The
government shutdown in
Washington demands our
attention here in Kentucky
tonight. Uncertainty is the
word as paychecks are being
missed and a federal food
assistance program is about to
run out of money. Governor
Beshear has appealed for a
(01:58):
solution. He joined a lawsuit
trying to stop the cuts. And
then just a few hours ago, he
signed a statement of emergency.
>> A person starving to me
isn't a Democrat or a
Republican. They're a child of
God. So because of that, I am
signing a statement of
emergency today that will
provide up to $5 million to our
(02:21):
emergency management. Emergency
management will then work with
Feeding Kentucky and our food
banks across our Commonwealth
to increase the supply of food
for those that need it in
Kentucky. We look out for each
other.
>> Sarah, this is obviously a
story with a lot of moving
parts. As we're on the air here
on this Friday night. The
(02:42):
governor made his statement
just a few hours after a couple
of judges made rulings that
appear to mean that Snap
benefits can continue.
>> Yes, this is a story with a
lot of moving parts, and it
feels like there's been a new
development every day this week.
But basically, the bottom line
where we are right now is the
(03:04):
government shutdown continues,
right? USDA said that it would
not use contingency funds to
continue funding Snap food
assistance during the shutdown.
And that means that at the
start of the new month, which
is November 1st Saturday, a lot
of people 563,000, roughly in
(03:25):
Kentucky, who have SNAP and use
that to buy groceries, were not
going to have that benefit. And
so Beshear had said a couple
different times this week, he
was looking at different
options, what the state could
do at the state level to sort
of maybe mitigate some of that
impact. He had said he did not
feel that a special session
calling the legislature back
(03:46):
into Frankfort was quite what
needed to happen. He he did
talk about sort of having this
big food drive, you know, in
the state over the weekend. But
this is then where this ruling
today, a federal judge ruled in
a lawsuit that Beshear and
about two dozen other
(04:08):
Democratic officials from
across the country were part of
trying to force the Trump
administration's hand, saying,
you have to use funds to keep
SNAP going for people. Beshear
joined that lawsuit the other
day. On Friday afternoon, a
federal judge said that
withholding the Snap funds was
illegal, but she gave the Trump
administration until Monday to
(04:28):
respond. So that sort of left a
question mark over the weekend.
With Snap benefits running out
on Saturday. The Trump
administration has until Monday
to respond. This is where the
declaration of emergency comes
in, he declared. Kentucky is in
a state of emergency, and that
freed up the 5 million from the
rainy day fund that he is now
kind of funneling into feeding
(04:50):
Kentucky, which has seven food
banks across Kentucky. And they
can use that money to buy more
food over the weekend.
>> All right. So apparently a
band aid, while we await some
clarity on what these rulings
may or may not produce, Austin
Lucas, do you get the sense
that a lot of Kentuckians and
people across the country don't
(05:11):
care about the political issues
at play, they just know they're
doing without something they
were expecting?
>> Yeah. I mean, I think people
in Washington and places like
Frankfort like to think a lot
about the political
implications of everything in
the news. And we do know that
there is a political tinge to
(05:31):
this issue right now. I think
there's an Ipsos poll the other
day. 45% of Americans tend to
blame Trump and Republicans a
little more than Democrats, and
33% blame Democrats more than
Republicans. That said, I think
for most people, this isn't so
much a red or blue issue. It's
(05:52):
dollars and cents. It's a green
issue. It's putting food on the
table. So it's just kind of a
different category right now,
especially when it's such an
immediate concern.
>> Yeah, it's an issue of how
do I get my food stamps, which
were available, you know,
yesterday and are no longer
going to be available tomorrow.
And, you know, it's an issue of
health care, which, you know,
open enrollment is a couple of
(06:13):
weeks. And is my bill going to
go up by hundreds of dollars.
So, I mean, I think these are
things that aren't necessarily
always top of mind until you're
going to lose them. And, you
know, I had to get up to speed
on a lot of this stuff myself,
and they pay me to write about
it. So.
>> Well, right. We all had to
find out the numbers of people
involved. It's close to 600,000
in Kentucky who are receiving
(06:34):
Snap benefits. We now know that
number. Republican Senator
Mitch McConnell has pressed for
some kind of compromise that
can get the government reopened.
And Democratic Congressman
Morgan McGarvey of Louisville
is underlining the Democrats
reason for keeping this health
insurance card in play.
>> There are a lot of people
running around these days
saying, don't ever compromise.
(06:57):
That's absolutely nuts. You
have to compromise and.
>> People are still going to
get sick. People are still
going to have emergencies,
people are still going to be
going to hospitals and getting
care. Even if they don't have
health insurance, they're still
going to be going, possibly
going to the emergency room,
maybe not being able to to pay
(07:17):
for that care as they are now.
That's the double whammy of
looking at what we're doing
right now, by not passing the
tax credits in advance of open
enrollment.
>> Is this health insurance
issue on the radar? So clearly
for Kentuckians Austin, as it
is, particularly for Democrats,
which again, is the is the card
they're holding right now?
(07:37):
>> Yeah. I mean, I think one
thing to keep in mind, it's a
significant but limited
population with the ACA
subsidies. Obviously this is a
big deal for the population
involved, and it will change
premiums for a broad range of
people. But this is something
that feels maybe more immediate
(07:58):
and more again, kind of dollars
and cents and apolitical to
most people. That said, we do
know that if you poll the
American people, the number one
thing they say is the main
issue they care about is
affordability is dollars and
cents. You hear people talk
about it over and over again
when they're wringing their
hands over who will be the next
(08:20):
Democratic presidential nominee.
So I think people will
eventually care about a change
like this, should it be
sustained. But right now, this
is just more immediate for the
population affected.
>> Lucas, we heard from Senator
McConnell calling for
compromise, and you reported
Kentucky GOP Senator Rand Paul
also proposed a way out of the
(08:42):
stalemate, suggesting the
government could be reopened in
the short term. And the
President Trump could appoint a
bipartisan committee to hash
out these health care subsidies.
Is the deal breaker for
Democrats?
>> Yeah, he was in Louisville
on Monday and talked to a few
reporters on his way out of
town. And, you know, on his way
out of town, he's got to take a
flight. He says, I want to end
(09:04):
this thing as much as anybody.
I want to make sure the guy in
the, you know, air control
tower is getting paid. So his
idea is come together, reopen
the government for a month, get
everybody who's missing a
paycheck paid, and then get
three Republican senators,
three Democrat senators, get
them together and say, hey, we
got to figure out these ACA
subsidies. Let's come to a deal.
The problem is that requires
bipartisanship, which isn't
(09:24):
always easy to come by these
days. So we'll see what happens.
But either way, Senator Paul
expressed some optimism that
they're getting a little closer
to a deal. Hopefully within the
next week or two is the time
frame he put on it.
>> Sir, you've also reported on
cuts for assistance to kinship
care families, where in many
cases, grandparents in our
Commonwealth are caring for
(09:45):
children who might otherwise be
in foster care. In fact, this
involves about 15,000 extremely
low income families. And you
say this is sort of connected
to the whole SNAP issue as well.
>> Yeah, it's all connected.
The Beshear administration did
announce recently that families
in Kentucky who get Ctap
(10:07):
benefits, and that is a cash
benefit if you're extremely low
income. So if you're a family
of seven, you're making $1,700
a month. If you're a family of
one, you're making 890. So low
income families can get small
cash payments. That benefit is
getting cut by 35% starting
November 1st. And the reasoning
(10:28):
for that, the administration
said, was because they just had
too many people, you know, the
number of people who needed
that help drastically increased
in the last few years. But, you
know, this is this is related
to SNAP because I published a
story this week about families
who are kinship caregivers and,
you know, a large amount of
kinship caregivers get this KET
benefit. And these kinship
(10:50):
caregivers are looking at their
ctap benefit being cut. They
also have Snap benefits, and
they need Snap benefits to buy
food. They need these sorts of
cash payments to, you know, buy
diapers and formula and all the
things you need when you're
raising young children. And
they when I was talking to them,
we had long conversations about
what they need and how they pay
(11:11):
their bills and how they buy
groceries. And it kind of goes
back to a question bill about
where people's priorities are
when it comes to the politics
of it. In all those
conversations, you know, those
people I talked to didn't say,
you know, one party or the
other party needs to do this or
that. They just said, I want to
feed my grandkids. I want to be
able to afford groceries and
(11:31):
all the things I need to do to
help them succeed. So that's
what I hear.
>> Yeah, well, a lot to watch.
Is this government shutdown
continues and the story
develops day by day. Let's turn
to Kentucky's U.S. Senate race,
which is one to watch this week.
Three Republicans, Daniel
Cameron, Andy Barr and Nate
Morris appeared at an event in
Lexington. Also, there was one
(11:51):
of the Democratic contenders,
Amy McGrath. The subject of the
day was future jobs, but they
also got into the shutdown and
tariffs. The news of the day
Austin. The one clear takeaway
the Republicans defend
President Trump while McGrath
attacked his policies and
leadership.
>> Yeah, I think McGrath kind
of played the sort of straight
(12:14):
talk angle she called the
tariff policies stupid, which I
think probably plays somewhat
well to an audience of
manufacturers right now. The
tariffs were supposed to be
this kind of protectionist
policy, and they could end up
working in that way long term.
But right now the data shows
(12:35):
that they're not necessarily
working in a protectionist way.
On the Republican side, you saw
what we've been seeing most of
the whole campaign, which is
unanimity with President Trump.
They are not breaking in
basically any way with the
president's policies. So it'll
be interesting if and when that
ever happens. And they try to
(12:56):
differentiate themselves on a
policy standpoint. But for now,
it's just little issues here
and there. And they're all
singing from the same hymnal of
Trump right now.
>> Each hoping for his
endorsement. Still. Right.
>> Oh, absolutely. It's seen as
the golden ticket by a lot of
people. And, you know, I think
given Trump's standing in the
party right now, it's hard to
see it any other way if he
(13:17):
gives one.
>> Lucas McGrath is probably
the best known of the Democrats
in the race right now. Are you
hearing any more about the
possibility that Charles Booker
gets in that race, which is
already crowded?
>> Right, right. And he's not
talking about it publicly, but
he's talking about a lot of
other things publicly. You know,
you go to his Facebook page,
you can see him talking about
Ice raids on Halloween. You can
(13:38):
see him talking about financial
aid going to Argentina. You
know, things like Trump
suggesting we test nukes for
the first time in so many years.
You know, these are these are
federal issues. You know, this
is a guy talking like he's
keeping an eye on federal
issues and might be interested
in a federal race.
>> Austin, we're watching the
congressional races, including
the open seat in the sixth, and
(13:58):
that is where Andy Barr is
running for the Senate seat. So
Democrat Cherlynn Stevenson
held a roundtable this week on
health care. Do candidates just
sort of have to create
opportunities like that?
>> Yeah, I think Cherlynn
Stevenson holding that event is
kind of a good example and a
reminder that, you know, people
who follow Frankfort closely
(14:20):
definitely see Cherlynn
Stevenson as the favorite at
this point, and they know her
well. But a state
representative, for the most
part, is still just a state
representative in terms of name
I.D. in a congressional
district. It's just hard to
translate that into a much
broader voting population. So
(14:40):
you see, with her hosting that
roundtable, she's got to look
for opportunities any way she
can to get that TV hit, to
continue to get her name ID out
there. Because, you know, most
of these candidates are
starting much closer to zero
than they are to a really
significant high name ID number.
>> What are you seeing on the
(15:01):
Republican side of that sixth
district race?
>> It's it's kind of a mirror
image with Alvarado playing the
the favorite among the insider
class is, is a little better
known throughout the district
than maybe the other two are
right now, but the other two
have put a good amount of money
into this race. They've
signaled a willingness to
(15:22):
advertise, a willingness to
really beat the bushes when it
comes to going to events. And
those other two are
representatives Deanna Gordon
and Ryan Dotson of Richmond and
Winchester.
>> Several of the candidates on
both sides have some indication
they can open their own
personal finances to to assist
in their campaigns. Right?
>> Yeah, Gordon and Dotson have
(15:42):
both put in quite a bit. You've
got David Kloiber on the
Democratic side. So I mean this
could be a very expensive race,
could be very lucrative for
television stations like KET.
Right.
>> And others. Right. Lucas. In
the fourth district, there's
this newly minted race between
Congressman Thomas Massie and
the president Trump's chosen
challenger, Ed Gallrein. Any
(16:03):
indication you had on how that
is playing out?
>> I have indications that a
lot of money has been spent and
a lot of money will be spent.
You know, there's a pro-Trump
PAC that's already pushed seven
digits into ads attacking
Massie and Massie, turning
around and saying, hey, I
raised close to $800,000 in the
third quarter alone, which
would be a new record for him.
So, yeah, I mean, it's going to
(16:24):
be an expensive race, just like
we were just talking about. Now,
Gordon, he's got to introduce
himself to the district outside
of just the state Senate
district. He ran for
unsuccessfully a year ago when
he lost narrowly to Aaron Reid
and a three candidate race. And
you know, Massie, he's shown no
hesitation going after Gallrein
already. And he's got Senator
Paul in his corner on the
(16:44):
campaign trail with him. And
I'm interested to see that one,
too, and just see how Senator
Paul's I wouldn't call it a
rift, maybe a rift at this
point with President Trump. How
him supporting Massie continues
if it continues to affect that
relationship.
>> Well, Kentucky is filing
window will open this coming
Wednesday. It runs through
January 9th. There will be
contests up and down the ballot,
(17:04):
and that includes the
congressional races,
legislative races, local
contests. Voters decide who
will control the courthouses
and the city halls across the
state. In Louisville, incumbent
Mayor Craig Greenberg announced
this week he will run for
reelection.
>> I'm asking you to stand with
me one more time. We need your
time, your talents and your
(17:26):
energy for our campaign. We
need all of you spreading the
word to your family, to your
friends, to your coworkers in
real life and online. This is
our campaign. This is our cause.
This is our city.
>> Greensburg says one more
time. He got term limited after
he went into office by the
(17:48):
legislature. Right. Which also
made the change that there
would be the nonpartisan race
in Louisville, when other
cities can make their own
decisions about that. What case
does Greensburg make for a
second term?
>> Money. The money he's
bringing into Louisville. You
know, he's close with a lot of
legislators out in the state
Capitol who set the state
budget. They're setting a state
budget again in a couple of
(18:09):
months, coming up on election
season. So I'll be really
interested to see how much time
Mayor Greenberg spends out
there and just how how involved
he is again. And if he comes
back with big $100 million
check for downtown like he did
two years ago. So I think he
would also point to improving
violent crime rates touted by
LMPD as a reason he should be
(18:30):
brought back into office, which
LMPD also, they just brought in
one of their biggest recruiting
classes in years.
>> You hear no names, but you
hear there's likely to be a
challenger or two.
>> I would expect some people
to jump in the race. I'm just
curious if they'll be on the
Republican side, because
Republicans I've talked to have
said they might spend more time
in 2026 focusing on Metro
Council races, races they've
(18:50):
had a lot more success in in
recent years. They've almost
flipped to 5050 at this point,
which is unheard of in
Louisville. So, you know, like
you said, it's a nonpartisan
race. Now. You could see a
challenger to Greenberg's left
come in. And then in that case,
you know, if those are the two
candidates on the ballot, who
were the Republicans in
Louisville going to support,
probably Mayor Greenberg. So a
(19:11):
lot, a lot to watch.
>> Special Senate race to watch
that will be in December in
Louisville. That's where the
incumbent or the senator, David
Yates, who was the senator
there, has resigned to become
the interim county clerk in
Jefferson County, a job which
he is going to seek for the
long haul. What are you seeing
in that district that leans
Democratic?
(19:31):
>> Yeah, it I mean, it does not
look competitive. If you just
look at voter registration.
Democrats have a very, very
solid lead in that regard. But
Republicans would tell you,
look at the success we've had
in these Metro Council races in
the South End and on the
outskirts of Louisville. So we
have three candidates in it
right now trying to replace
(19:52):
David Yates, who is very
popular. You have Calvin Leech,
the Republican who lost to him
in the election a year ago.
Who's hoping? Hey, now, I'm not
running against a popular
incumbent. Now I'm running
against Democrat Gary Clemons,
who is the Democrats nominee.
He's a union leader, which you
would think would help in a
district like the South End.
And we'll see. And then former
(20:12):
Louisville Tea Party, I think
President Wendy Higdon is also
in the race as a libertarian.
And she said she wants to focus
on reining in government
spending. So, you know, it will
be a sprint. The race is
December 16th.
>> Governor Beshear continues
to make some high profile
appearances around the country,
often in left leaning spaces,
as he is looking at the 2020
(20:34):
presidential race. But a
moderate leaning group has
given him some encouragement in
a survey. Austin.
>> Yeah, it was done by Welcome
Pack, which is kind of this
centrist Democrat group. They
they ranked all the prospective
2028 candidates on a scale of
(20:54):
how they overperformed or
underperformed on their last
election. And Beshear was the
highest. I think he was
somewhere around 23%
Overperformance notably, they
did not take into account
having a family name in
politics. You know, that's
something that I think
everybody acknowledges. Beshear
benefits from at least a little
bit. Also notable is last on
(21:15):
the list was Gavin Newsom, who
governor of California, who's
often the first person that
people talk about when it comes
to the 2020 Democratic
nomination.
>> Well, Senator Rand Paul
keeps a mentioning that he is
not ruling out the possibility
that he may run as well. Could
we have two presidential
contenders from Kentucky in 28?
>> It's possible he's not
ruling it out. He's not ruling
(21:37):
it in, but he's not ruling it
out. And, you know, he's not a
never Trump type of guy. He's a
guy who supported President
Trump for most of his career.
But but yeah, no he's not shut
the door on running. And he's
been open about his differences
with the president. You know,
bombing boats off Venezuela,
the tariffs. So that could give
him a lane against whoever kind
of inherits the MAGA throne, be
(21:59):
it JD Vance, be it anybody else.
So he's not ruling it out.
>> All right. Some other news,
Sarah, a committee the governor
appointed to study universal
pre-K has essentially said it
should happen.
>> Yeah. This was a Beshear
appointed committee. They've
spent the last four months
going across Kentucky and
having, I believe it was 54
(22:20):
different sort of meetings. And
I know they've had town halls
in different cities, basically
researching the benefits of
universal preschool in Kentucky.
Unsurprisingly, the
recommendation that came out
this week was that Kentucky
should expand access to
preschool, which right now
about 27% of children have
access to was their finding.
(22:42):
They recommended that happen
slowly over the next few years.
And, you know, this is
something Beshear has pushed
for for a while. I think it's
worth noting that members of
the committee were both
Democrat and Republican, and
they did hear from Republicans.
So it was bipartisan in some
ways. The next step, you know,
is to convince enough
(23:02):
Republicans in the legislature
that this is worth a big
investment. What that dollar
amount is, I don't know, but
you'd have to convince enough
Republicans that this is
something they really need to
do. And up until this point,
that's not that's not happened.
>> Sir, you also did a story
recently that shed some light
on why Kentucky is seeing more
C-section births.
>> We know Kentucky has had
(23:24):
high rates of cesarean section
deliveries higher than the
national average, and that has
concerned a lot of health
advocates and birth workers.
And they've been sort of
looking at ways to decrease
that. And part of the one of
the factors driving our higher
number is that a lot of people,
(23:45):
once they have a C-section,
they always have a C-section.
And so the push lately has been
to have more vaginal births
after cesarean. So be back is
what they're called. And so the
study came out this this week
from U of L and a couple of
other institutions that found
that a lot of providers in
(24:05):
Kentucky actually want to
provide more vbacs, and a lot
of women want them. But the
barrier that a lot of providers
expressed was insurance. Their
liability insurance would go up
if they offered that. And then
there's also the concern that
if you're going to offer a VBAC,
you need to have the tools to
intervene if an emergency
(24:27):
C-section is necessary. And a
lot of hospitals maybe don't
have 24 over seven or or
anesthesia. So there are some
barriers there. But the
willingness is also there.
>> Yeah, a huge gift for UK
Children's Hospital $50 million
from New York philanthropist
Tom Golisano.
>> Mr. Golisano just doesn't
hand money out. He looks
(24:49):
carefully at the recipients and
I think he has trust in us. He
has confidence in us that we're
going to do what he's done in
life. And that is if you find
something, a challenge you need
to meet, that challenge. You
need to make things better for
the community.
(25:09):
>> Sarah. The Children's
Hospital will now add
Golisano's name, and the gift
of that magnitude will
certainly be a big boost.
>> Yeah, I believe it's the
largest ever in UK Healthcare's
history and the second largest
in UC's history. They are
renaming the hospital, and they
said they're going to use the
money to sort of improve the
hospital's work itself, and
(25:31):
also maybe strengthen and
expand other programs
throughout the state.
>> Also, many in the judicial
community and beyond are
remembering Judge Lewis Paisley.
He was a district judge, then a
circuit judge, then on the
Kentucky Court of Appeals,
remembered for some landmark
rulings, including striking
down Kentucky's law in 1986.
>> Yeah, I mean, he's kind of a
(25:53):
Lexington legend. And that
ruling was sort of the main
exemplar, but included in his
obit in the first sentence, I
think, in the Herald-Leader was
he was a lover of the Rolling
Stones and horse racing. So may
we all be so dedicated to our
loves, to have our to have them
be included in the first line
of our.
>> There you go. And the
(26:15):
Kentucky Book Festival is
underway and continues this
weekend. It brings authors and
their fans together. Founded by
journalist Carl West, it was
held in Frankfort for 30 years.
Now it's shifted to Lexington.
The main events are Saturday at
Joseph Beth Booksellers. That's
comment on Kentucky. We thank
you for joining us. Have a good
week ahead. Okay Sarah, thank
(26:46):
you so much. Awesome I think we.
Good show. We covered a lot of
ground didn't we.
>> Yes, we certainly did.
>> Yeah.
>> Fun time.
>> A little more hectic this
time. Getting it together
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