Tagged: 2012 Kentucky General Assembly

Kentucky lawmakers have returned to the capitol for a special session, and it's not clear how long they'll remain in Frankfort to finish their work.

The House gaveled in at noon today and quickly filed two bills. One measure cracks down on prescription pill abuse and another funds the state road plan.

Neither measure cleared the General Assembly during the regular session this year. And House Speaker Greg Stumbo says his chamber will work quickly to pass the bills.

Republican Senate President David Williams says Democratic Governor Steve Beshear needs to tone down his rhetoric over the upcoming special session.

The two men butted heads yesterday when the Senate didn't pass two of the session's critical bills. The Senate adjourned, effectively killing a bill that funded the state's road plan and one that would place further limitations on prescription drugs.

In his call for the special session, Beshear personally blamed Williams for blocking the bills, and at other times called him greedy and selfish.

A blame game over important legislation is turning into a full-blown repeat of last year's gubernatorial election.

Democratic Governor Steve Beshear and Republican Senate President David Williams are arguing over who is to blame for lawmakers adjourning their regular session without passing key bills. A bill to crack down on Kentucky's prescription drug abuse died in the final minutes of the session, and even though lawmakers passed a road plan, they neglected to pass the bill that funds the projects.

Kentucky lawmakers still haven't reached an accord on appropriations in the state's transportation budget.  State Representative Sannie Overly says House and Senate lawmakers remain far apart on proposed construction projects to be included in a six-year, $10 billion road plan.  Legislators are scheduled to reconvene Thursday for the final day of this year's legislative session.  This only allows two more days for negotiators to work out differences in the competing proposals offered by the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-led Senate.  Overly is a leading Democratic negotiator