Kenny Colston (KPR)

As primary campaigns in Kentucky warm up, the highest-profile one is turning into a responsibility blame game.

State Representative Alecia Webb-Edgington is six Republicans vying to replace outgoing Fourth Congressional District Congressman Geoff Davis.

And one of her opponents, Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore, is criticizing Webb-Edgington for missing crucial votes on the state budget last week.

Confusion and last-minute lobbying have potentially derailed what some Kentucky lawmakers considered the hallmark of the current legislative session.

House Bill 4 is better known as the prescription pill bill. It's centerpiece is the transfer of the KASPER drug tracking system to the attorney general’s office.

Late last week, it appeared lawmakers had struck a last-minute deal to pass the bill before this week's recess. But confusion about which amended version of HB4 was up for a vote mired them in procedural minutiae.

This week, Kentucky’s legislature did something it hasn’t done in quite some time. That’s agreeing to a state budget without the need of a special session.   Kentucky Public Radio Capitol Bureau Chief Kenny Colston speaks with Rick Howlett about what else happened this past week in Frankfort. 

Kentucky lawmakers are unlikely to approve new two-year and six-year road plans in time to override any gubernatorial vetoes.

The conference committee working on the plans did not come to a compromise late last night, significantly decreasing the potential for a deal today.

The plans fund many projects, including the widening of Interstate 65, the expansion of the Mountain Parkway and portions of the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville.

The Kentucky Senate has passed an amended bill that would help the state repay interest on a federal unemployment insurance loan.

And despite concerns that the Senate amendments would derail the proposal, the bill’'s original House sponsor has agreed to the changes.

An effort by Governor Steve Beshear to expand preschool services in the commonwealth did not make it into the final state budget.

Beshear put a $15 million appropriation for preschool in his budget proposal. The House cut that figure in half and funded other education programs with what was left. The Senate struck all the money, saying it wouldn't be right to expand some programs while slashing others. And after days of budget talks, the Senate won the argument.

A scholarship program intended to serve college students in far eastern Kentucky has been expanded. What was originally called the Appalachian Scholarship Fund has been expanded to all coal-producing counties in Kentucky, including those in the western portion of the state. The program applies to students in the last two years of their education who attend a university, public or private, in a coal-producing county. The intent was to keep eastern Kentucky students from leaving the area for college.

After a night of discussions, Kentucky lawmakers have finally reached a budget agreement.

State lawmakers have approved two major pieces of legislation dealing with drug abuse in Kentucky.

House Bill 4 tightens regulations on prescription pills. It passed the full Senate Wednesday afternoon. Around the same time, the House passed Senate Bill 3, which caps the amount of pseudoephedrine Kentuckians can buy every month without a prescription. Since both bills were amended, they will now return to their original chambers, where lawmakers must decide whether to agree with the changes or send them to conference committees for compromises.

Budget talks in Frankfort appear to have stalled.

Lawmakers have met for three straight days, usually twice a day, to resolve differences between budget proposals passed by the House and Senate. But there are firm disagreements over school construction, cuts to the governor'’s office and coal severance projects.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo says the Senate isn'’t compromising on those issues, so the potential to deliver a budget on time is in danger.