This and that before taking a long holiday weekend:
1. Throughout this year’s gubernatorial campaign, Gov. Ernie Fletcher bragged about the great budgetary balancing act his administration has performed during his term. A particular point of emphasis in that portion of his campaign spiel was in Medicaid, where he claimed the reforms his administration initiated had solved an inherited "deficit."
Only after the election did Kentuckians learn that the Medicaid "deficit" didn’t stay solved. This week brought word that the Medicaid program needs another $112 million in state money to leverage federal matching funds and fill a $389 million shortfall in the current budget year.
Oh, by the way, a few other state agencies are finding themselves running short this year, to the tune of about $20 million.
Meanwhile, state revenue forecasts are shrinking as the budgetary demands for fulfilling commitments to higher education, teachers’ salaries, the state’s pension programs and assorted other areas of government grow.
Under the best of circumstances, crafting a budget proposal is a difficult task for an incoming governor simply because of the short time between Election Day and the deadline for submitting a spending plan to the General Assembly. With current fiscal circumstances obviously being less than optimal, Gov.-elect Steve Beshear has some unpleasant decisions to make in the next couple of months.
And I wouldn’t bet on the Medicaid shortfall being the last surprise Beshear will find during the transition of power in the Governor’s Office.
2. At first, I thought it a bit odd and somewhat less than "newsy" that Beshear would call a press conference just to announce a Web site where people can register for non-merit positions in the new administration.
But I attended anyway. (We media grunts tend to do that with governors - and perhaps even more so with new governors - just in case they say something that does qualify as "news.") And I came away with the impression that the Web site announcement was just an excuse for Beshear deliver a "lesson learned" message about the Fletcher administration’s hiring scandal.
Beshear owes his election to the hiring investigation, or at least to Fletcher’s bumbling responses to the probe. But if the lesson from it is truly learned, the governor-elect will continue to enjoy some beneficial effects from it throughout his term. The outcome of the scandal, and particularly the state Personnel Board’s reinstatement of Mike Duncan to his job in the Transportation Cabinet, should help immunize him from the kind of political pressures that led the Fletcher administration to politicize the hiring and firing or merit system employees.
After all, Democrats can’t want their governor to wind up in his own BlackBerry Jam, can they?
3. Although Beshear has said he wants Democrats to retake control of the state Senate next year, it might be wise of him to avoid being overtly involved in that fight during the upcoming General Assembly session.
Yes, he is the leader of his party now. But he’s also a governor who wants to get at least some of his agenda through a Republican-controlled Senate, and Senate President David Williams has made it clear that task will become infinitely more difficult if Beshear is at the same time recruiting opponents for Republican senators. And Williams doesn’t make idle threats.
So, if Beshear wants to have some successes during the first session of his term, he might want to leave legislative candidate recruitment to the Democratic caucuses in the respective houses and to Jennifer Moore and Nathan Smith, the new chair and co-chair at party headquarters.
Of course, after the session, there’s nothing stopping Beshear from helping his party’s candidates raise money. That’s to be expected from any governor.
4. Before I started writing editorials/columns/blog entries and realized the best job in journalism is being paid to be an opinionated SOB, my last assignment as a reporter was covering the 1979 gubernatorial race between John Y. Brown Jr. and Louie Nunn. I gained respect for Brown during that campaign, and I thought he did a decent job as governor.
But try as I might, I can’t think of any way to describe his decision to skip the inauguration of Beshear, his opponent in a contentious 1987 gubernatorial primary won by Wallace Wilkinson, as anything but the act of a sore loser.
5. Enjoy your Turkey Day. I’ll be back Monday.
Larry Dale Keeling, a columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader, has spent most of his 35-plus years in journalism reporting on or writing editorials and columns about Kentucky’s politics and political issues. He now brings his experience and expertise on those topics to the KyKurmudgeon blog.
Under your point number 4, you opined that former Gov. Brown’s decision to decline an invitation to attend Beshear’s inaugural indicated he is a sore loser. Perhaps there is another explanation: I suspect that John Y, who has always been more at home as businessman than politician, knows Steve Beshear better than you or I. And, I suspect that he just can’t bring himself to kiss up to someone he does not respect.
Like many lawyers, Beshear cloaks himself into this jovial-neighborly-dedicated husband-Baptist-love everybody-awe shucks mister good guy! When, in reality, he is a career opportunistic bloodsucker.
I respect Brown’s refusal to prostitute himself to Beshear. Likewise, we should all be wary. Judge Beshear by his actions, not his rhetoric!
It’s almost a week past Monday…are you still alive?
I could not find a previous post on this subject so I am including it in an ongoing discussion for the Bluegrass Region.
THE PIPELINE WE ARE GOING TO PAY FOR:
There exist, plenty of discussion about what to do about that big “ugly” pipeline the Kentucky America Water Company wants to build to supply more water to the Bluegrass Region. The Frankfort Plant Board has been sitting in on these meetings and should be properly informed by now. And still no firm decisions.
The Lexington Metro Government made a run recently, at trying to acquire Kentucky American Water. They lost that fight.
The parent company, of KENTUCKY AMERICAN WATER COMPANY, IS ‘THAMES RIVER’ ENGLAND.
The conglomerate that owns Thames has seen the high cost of maintenance for owning a water company and their return on the investment has not been good. Not just Lexington but several of the other water properties owned by Thames River, England. We see now, in order to build assets and (future equity) they want to spearhead this drive of a huge pipeline from the Ohio River in Louisville
This huge pipeline will deliver mega gallons of water for distribution and sell and will be very costly to all of us. If the pipeline is approved, and there seems to be several questions about it’s environmental impact to our and other counties, then the stock of Thames River in England will go up and then they parent company, located in Germany, will find it much more profitable when they eventually sell the Lexington Water Supply to a big hitter.
It is my opinion the German Company owing Thames River, will eventually unload all their water systems when the price is right. But, first they must improve the distribution system. And that cost a lot of money, but government subsidies and an increase in the price of water will take care of the debt.
With a rate increase, to amortize the debt, they must incur and with higher water prices, it is WE . . . the taxpaying citizens that will add to the worth of Kentucky American Water.
Sure we get more water in drought times but.
Why is it that the Frankfort Plant Board can’t take the initiative to suggest several locations for reservoirs in the county and stock our own water supply? The pipeline that serves our county, at the Kentucky River, for over 100 years, has been an adequate source of water. But now, because of growth in the Bluegrass Region, there are real concerns that Frankfort may run out of water supply from the Kentucky River during droughts. (It’s called GLOBAL WARMING) Remember?
I do not feel it representative of the citizens, who are paying for the services of the Frankfort Plant Board, are being aggressive enough toward the power leaders in this discussion, KENTUCKY AMERICAN WATER and the Bluegrass Water Consortium.
In addition to holding water for our water these series of medium reservoirs could be used for local recreation and for the guarantee that Frankfort will not be dependent on European investors to supply us our water needs.
It is not a good idea and until the Frankfort Plant Board becomes a leader instead of a follower, then there is little hope. I blame the failed leadership on our “ALOOF” MAYOR and CITY COMMISSIONERS for this.
The plant board is one of those HANDS OFF deals the Commission does not deal with in a firm manner. FEWPB virtually operates as a private entity, which it is not. Those in public trust positions should become more involved in this issue, so as not to put an extra tax burden on our citizens of Franklin County and create more wealth for Thames River in England.
When the time is right Thames will unload KENTUCKY AMERICAN but not until this huge pipeline is built.
Thames must have this to improve their stock and market position. And we are paying for it. That just sucks!