Tagged: STEVE BESHEAR

Governor Steve Beshear and other state officials reiterated the importance of a legislative package focused on fighting prescription drug abuse today (Mon). House Speaker Greg Stumbo filed House Bill 4 last week calling for tougher restrictions on pain management clinics and better use of the state’s prescription monitoring system. Stumbo calls the issue a bi-partisan effort.

“It doesn’t matter whose name is on it, it matters what names it saves down the road, what lives it affects, and how it has a positive impact on this problem. And I believe that it will.”

Kentucky's bourbon distillers may soon be getting one of their biggest wishes… a change in the barrel tax.

The tax, named because it charges property taxes on bourbon aging in barrels in distillery warehouses, is one of its kind.

But other alcoholic beverages made it the commonwealth aren't subject to the same taxes, Beshear says.

It is the only such tax in the world and it's not assessed in Kentucky on any other alcoholic beverage such as beer, vodka or scotch whiskey, he said.

In his inauguration speech, Gov. Steve Beshear spoke about education and the importance of building a generation that can lead Kentucky in the future. But it was a far cry from the pro-coal rhetoric that dominated some of his speeches earlier this year. Beshear’s avoidance of the issue didn’t surprise many observers, who know where the governor stands on coal.