busy with the budget and other bills, including driver's license, offices, pardons and time changes.

A candidate in Kentucky's crowded U-S Senate race drops out.

Republican voter registration surges in recent weeks, the area around the Louisville UPS disaster fully reopens.

[MUSIC] January cold is really taking hold on this MLK holiday weekend, and comment is next on KET.

Good evening.

I'm Bill Bryant and we welcome you to comment on 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 Tessa Duval, politics and public affairs editor for the Lexington Herald-Leader, Lucas Aulbach reporter for The Courier Journal, and McKenna Horsley politics reporter for the Kentucky Lantern.

Extra credit for them showing up tonight in this rough weather.

But first, let's dive right into the legislative session and some of the attention getting bills that are under consideration after hearing frustrations over those long wait times and long trips to regional driver's licensing offices.

There is a move to return some of that function back to local counties.

Senator Aaron Reed filed what is designated Senate Bill seven.

>> Senate Bill seven provides a practical conservative solution by giving counties the option to bring driver's license renewals back home.

It's not a mandate.

I need to stress that it is an option.

>> And the move to regional offices was made in the 2020 session.

All along, there have been lots of complaints ever since Lucas.

>> Plenty of complaints.

Yeah, they say Senator Reid and Senate President Robert Stivers both said this is probably the most complained about issue they've heard about from constituents, and probably two people who hear plenty of complaints.

So it's it's telling right there.

Now complaints have gone down since the summer.

They kind of had a perfect storm moment when the real ID federal deadline was hit and 15 year olds became eligible to apply for permits.

So the long lines, things like that, that is less than an issue.

But driving across the state, there's 35 offices.

And I think a lot of these rural counties are a little isolated.

You got to drive an hour to get there.

Our back take a day off from work.

So, you know, there have been some issues.

And Senator Reid's bill, it's the first one to move through the Senate.

So it has support.

>> And if you don't have the right documentation, you have to go back.

So yeah, that's been an issue.

>> I would complain about that myself.

>> All right.

A test of this approach would provide counties with some options.

It would give four offices the right to issue renewals.

Right.

>> Right.

So the option would be available to the circuit clerk, county clerk, sheriff or judge executive's office to enter into an agreement with the transportation cabinet.

So again this is optional.

So a couple of different, you know, few different office holders who have the potential to bring that back to these local communities where there's where they there are not these regional offices, because, as Lucas said, you know, with only a few dozen of these around the state, 120 counties, there are a lot of folks who who have to make quite a haul to get their license renewed at this point.

>> Make it clear again, the counties do not have to do this right.

>> They have the option of doing this.

>> And then this.

Choosing which office would do it.

Is that spelled out in the law or the county just would have to agree to that.

>> Yeah.

So any of those four have the opportunity to do it under this law.

Now, is this going to be the final version that we see?

Because there are also versions of this in the House.

But the take away from this is there is an appetite in the legislature to bring back local options.

>> They're hearing a lot about it over there.

Right.

Well, a bill that would highly restrict cell phone use while driving is making its way through the process.

Senator Donald Douglas, who is a doctor, says he spent too many nights putting people back together, as he puts it, who were seriously injured by distracted driving.

>> As a practicing physician for the last 40 years.

I really appreciate what you're bringing here.

I've spent a lot of nights in the operating room, helping to put people back together who were distracted and who ended up in the operating room.

And I want you to know, I really got tired of seeing our sons and daughters in the in the in the emergency room, in the operating room because of the distraction.

So I appreciate it for that account.

>> McKenna.

There seems to be a lot of support for this as well.

In fact, in your article, you wrote that one senator says she's been practicing hands free driving, knowing this bill is ultimately likely to pass.

>> Right.

This is Senate Bill 28, and it's a priority for Senator Jimmy Higdon, who is the Republican chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

And this will be his final session, as he is not seeking reelection.

And he spoke about this initiative in an interview with me back in September when he announced he would not seek reelection.

This bill goes a bit further than the existing no texting law that Kentucky drivers are used to, but it explicitly bans things like watching videos on your phone while you're driving, or using video calls to chat with other people, playing games, and sending things like emails and other kinds of electronic messages, Senator Higdon said.

This is in line with what we're seeing in other states.

About 30 states in the country have a version of a hands free law, he said.

This one is a little bit not as restrictive as those, but all surrounding states here in Kentucky have a version of this.

So this would probably bring Kentucky drivers in line when they're traveling out of state as well.

>> You said that Higdon basically sees this as legacy legislation for him.

He retires at the end of the year.

>> Yes.

When he brought this to committee back in the interim session, he brought a Louisville mother with him whose daughter died in a car crash as a result of a distracted driver.

So, you know, I think he's really put in the work to be personally invested in this.

And I think we'll see other lawmakers join on with this legislation as well.

>> There would be a period of adjustment between the time this becomes law and when citations are actually put out there.

Right, right.

>> So once it's passed by the legislature, if it makes it all the way through this session, it would go into effect in late October.

So Kentucky drivers would have time to adjust with this.

Police officers wouldn't be able to cite drivers on the road, but give warnings about this new law if they do see a driver using their phone while driving.

So there will be an adjustment period.

>> A proposed constitutional amendment would restrict governors from issuing pardons very late in their terms.

Senator Chris McDaniel has championed that bill before, and he's pushing it again.

>> The bill that sits in front of you today is a constitutional amendment that will be taken to the people of the Commonwealth.

That constitutional amendment merely says that for 60 days leading up to the gubernatorial election, and then from the time of the election until the swearing in of either a successive governor or a new governor, the pardon power is not in place.

>> This would ultimately have to be approved by voters.

It seems to be sailing through the Senate as it has before, but it has stalled in the House previously.

Lucas.

>> Right.

Yeah.

It has sailed through the Senate at least five times, but has never quite made it through the House.

Now, House Speaker David Osborne did say this week that McDaniel has had conversations with House members in the interim, and they seem more receptive to it this year.

I want to say that that it used to be a 30 day threshold.

Now it's 60 days.

I don't know if that's one or more support, but Senator McDaniel seemed more optimistic that it's going places this year.

>> Yeah, I mean, this is something that clearly is one of his his passion projects.

He's brought it up for consideration at least a half dozen times, and it has made it through the Senate before.

But the key is, you know, can it get through the House?

Because, remember, there's a limit on how many proposed constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot before voters.

There's a total of four.

So there is the legislature does have to be selective to some extent about what they're going to put out there.

>> They have to put a priority on that.

And then, you know, you might think, well, who would be opposed to that?

But there is, once you think about it, some opposition.

McKenna.

>> Yes, we have seen that in the legislature.

We've seen lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle vote in favor of this bill.

But we have seen some advocates who raise concerns about the limiting of pardons, particularly those who are in criminal justice reform, and see that as an avenue for people who might be over incarcerated to get relief and have that avenue available to them.

>> Kind of a last stopgap.

There is also a bill from State Senator Matt Nunn.

He is the senator who replaced the former Senate Majority Leader, Damon Thayer, after Thayer decided to step away.

Tessa, it would essentially mean that juveniles who committed violence against school personnel could be treated as adults.

>> Right?

So the aim of this, of this bill is to strengthen protections for teachers against physical violence from students.

And so part of that is allowing for the potential to prosecute as adults, teens who are 14 and older and are charged with third degree felony assault.

Now, the discretion to make that decision will still remain with the local prosecutor, but this bill will give them that option.

>> All right, one who's watching the state legislative session very closely is the education commissioner doctor Robbie Fletcher, a McKenna.

I know you spoke to him for a story.

Commissioner Fletcher notes that he's watching Tennessee, where they have a recently passed law going into effect.

Now that would have starting teachers receive at least $50,000 a year in pay.

Here in Kentucky, it's just over 40,000.

So he has some real concerns about attracting and keeping teachers, especially along the Kentucky Tennessee border.

>> Right.

When we spoke in that interview, he said that one of the areas that he's always going to be watching for is teacher pay.

And we've definitely seen that become kind of a political football in recent years.

And Frankfort from the Democratic and the Republican side, we've seen lawmakers, though, or politicians in general, generally support raising teacher pay in some way, but they disagree about how to do that.

The legislature has focused on increasing seek formula funding, hoping that the school districts will raise funds on their own salaries on their own.

But then we've also seen advocates call for direct raises to teachers from state funding.

So it's definitely an issue that will probably continue to be debated during this budget year.

>> And there's been a reluctance to do that to to mandate the raises from the state level.

>> Right.

And, you know, that's probably going to be part of this debate as well.

>> Fletcher also notes that he hopes for a local element in student assessments.

This is interesting.

>> Yes.

So this is something that the Kentucky Department of Education has been working on for a couple of years now, but this would change or add another component to assessment of schools.

So this would be a way for local communities to have a say in how their school is doing.

You know, if they have feedback that they believe graduates should have a certain skill, like if there's a certain industry in the area or some kind of other opportunity that should be a part of education in that community.

They can give that feedback as well.

Some school districts do have this kind of element already in the works, but this would expand this statewide.

House Bill.

257 from representative J.T.

Payne includes this new component of assessment and will be filed this session and.

>> A closer tie to the community, really, that the school is serving.

>> Right.

And that's kind of a way for school districts to meet the needs of their own community directly, instead of focusing on statewide metric.

>> Yeah.

Tessa, there is an anti grooming bill that is proposed.

It is House Bill four.

What would it do.

>> Right.

So this bill from Representative Proctor would define and set penalties for when an adult grooms a minor.

So it has some some language defining what specifically that is.

But essentially an adult manipulating a child or a teen into an inappropriate relationship with them.

The severity of the the charge, the sentence that would follow for being convicted on this crime relates to the age of the victim.

And if the adult had a position of trust or authority in that child's life.

So, so far, this bill has racked up about a quarter of the House as its co-sponsors.

>> Indication of support.

There is a proposal to exempt Kentucky from Daylight Savings Time.

House Bill 368 has several sponsors.

It would have Kentucky stay on standard time year round.

That's the time we're on now.

If it passes, it wouldn't start until October 31st, meaning Kentucky would spring forward this year.

But we once we went back to standard time, it would be permanent after that.

Lucas, dare I say time will tell on that one, right?

>> Not bad.

Pretty good.

You've seen some chatter about this at the federal level before.

We'll see how it advances in the state legislature.

You know, I think it'd be a little weird personally.

Just you cross the border and all of a sudden you're in a different time zone.

But, you know, I went back Louisville to Western Kentucky when I was in school.

And you're crossing time zones there.

>> So did you know we did it once in the in the 1970s?

>> You know, I had heard that.

>> Yeah.

And so it would be interesting to see you heard it and I live.

Yeah.

Okay.

>> What.

>> So we'll see on that one.

All right.

Other bills folks are watching right now.

>> I think the big talker in the first couple of weeks is Representative Baker had two bills that would limit US citizens who were not born in the United States from running or holding office.

Those bills are not going to pass, I'm told.

I think there's questions about whether they're constitutional, but I think there's going to be similar bills that are filed, maybe bills aimed at dual citizenship bills.

Maybe you have to have been a citizen for X number of years to hold office.

So even though these two bills that have been the big talkers are not really going anywhere, I don't think the issue is going anywhere.

>> So for me, it's the budget.

We've seen the Republican proposal for the legislative and the judicial branch budgets.

We've seen the governor's budget, but we all know that the one that, you know, is the budget.

The one that folks care about, watch for, keeps.

The executive branch running comes from House Republicans, and that's the one we haven't seen yet.

>> All right.

And McKenna, you have an interesting observation about a bill or two.

>> Yes.

So Senator Scott Madon, who's a Republican from Pineville, has introduced a bill to make the indigo, indigo milk cap the state mushroom.

This is Senate Bill 19.

But he filed it after hearing from a group of students in his district who were learning about plants in the area and wanted to see this reflected in the state symbols.

So there's a lot of chatter about that one.

So it will be interesting to see how that moves throughout the process.

>> We'll soon know if we get a state mushroom.

You know, okay, Governor Beshear is going to be taking another trip out of the country and it's coming next week, right?

>> Yes.

We found out later this afternoon that the governor will be going to Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.

And the Switzerland stop is back in Davos, where he will appear at the World Economic Forum.

I believe he's going to be on a couple of panels.

He was also there last year where he spoke on a panel with Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

>> All right.

And there's been some movement in the legislature about the governor's travels.

>> Right, right.

Since even that trip last year to the forum, Kentucky Republicans have been critical of the governor's international travel and the dollars used for that travel.

Representative TJ Roberts of Northern Kentucky has filed House Bill 86, which would require governors to seek permission of the state treasurer to have tax dollar funds and use them for international travel.

So this kind of gives another check and balance within the executive branch itself.

The state treasurer now is a Republican, so it will be interesting to see if that moves throughout the General Assembly.

>> And the state Treasurer essentially would have veto power, right?

>> Yes.

On international trips for the governor.

>> Interesting.

All right.

This is a busy election year, as you know, and a Democratic candidate for the U.S.

Senate who started his campaign with a splash back in the fall, ended up not filing before last week's deadline.

Lucas Joel Willet had loaned his campaign money, but he indicated he could not make the campaign work out financially.

>> Yeah, I talked with him a little bit on Monday after he did not file to run.

And, you know, he said he had just had trouble raising money nationally among Democratic donors who were concerned about whether this race is winnable for a Democrat.

I think he said, you know, they've heard he's heard concerns from them about the results of the last two Senate elections and the Democrats not being competitive against McConnell and Paul in those races.

Now, interestingly enough, the two candidates who lost those races are running in this race.

So you can take what you want from those comments.

But he did not say who he will be supporting, but I think he intends to stay involved and intends to support a candidate.

So we will stay tuned.

>> You believe he's likely to endorse at some point?

>> I made it sound like he will at some point, or will at least back somebody.

So, you know, I don't think we've heard the last from him.

>> So he just felt that the Democratic National folks couldn't get behind the candidate here.

>> It's the donors he said he talked to just did not he you know, they would rather invest their money in Michigan or these states that might be a little more competitive, at least on paper.

So that was the concern he ran into.

>> Okay.

On the Republican side a couple of weeks ago, Congressman Andy Barr said if he's elected to the Senate, he would champion coal to power data centers.

Now, one of his opponents, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, told me he agrees that AI reopens the door for coal, is promising a future for coal something that you embrace as well?

>> Absolutely.

I mean, we've got to maintain our historical competitive advantage, and that has come because of low cost and reliable energy that is built on coal and natural gas.

And you talk about AI.

I mean, one of the things that will allow Kentucky to punch above its weight in this regard is the fact that a lot of these technologies that are coming online require a lot of energy.

>> McKenna you know, it's interesting, the coal that has been written off by many because of environmental concerns and just the changes out there reemerges as an issue because of the apparent need for energy for these data centers.

>> Right.

And data centers are being heavily debated across Kentucky, particularly at the county level, where we're seeing proposals come in to have these sites come in to communities.

Mason County's proposal particularly comes to mind where residents either very much so agreed with the proposal or very much so disagreed with the proposal, as we see those play out and local officials make decisions about them, we might see how that influences candidates respond to data centers throughout the year.

>> Lucas Cameron also released a poll this week, commissioned by his own campaign, that shows him holding a lead over other Republicans.

I think it pegs the race at 40% for Cameron, 25% for Barr, 13% for Morris.

What's going on?

What do you see in those numbers and what would shake up this race?

>> That's pretty much in line with what we've seen so far.

Cameron hovering around that 40% number.

I think Barr's people look at that and say, you know, you look at the breakdown.

Barr has a 12% lead in that poll in Lexington.

I think they think he's a little higher there.

They look at Eastern Kentucky, where the poll said Cameron had a very significant lead.

I think they have that Hal Rogers endorsement, which I think is they think is going to help them down the line.

So, I mean, the Trump endorsement obviously would change the race.

And I think we're going to see ads start to pick up a little bit here pretty soon.

And if you know one of these ads sticks or these guys can brand each other, make a case for themselves, that might shake things up, but, you know, things are going to start ramping up soon.

>> And they have to decide who to attack.

Tessa, you had an observation on that poll.

>> Yeah.

So I looked at some polling from October, and at that point Daniel Cameron had 39%, Barr at 22%, Morris at 4%.

So what this tells us is that some of the undecideds are breaking toward Barr.

They're breaking toward Morris.

But none of the attacks, none of the.

The more more that voters learn about these other two candidates is bringing them away from Daniel Cameron, I mean, 39 to 40%.

That's that's pretty consistent.

And so he might not have the most money to get his message out there, but he he has the name ID, he's been on Republican voters ballots a couple times before.

And so they are familiar with him, whereas people have never had the chance to vote for Nate Morris.

And only in a certain area have they had the opportunity to vote with Barr.

But of course, we care about this way more than the average voter right now.

Viewers of your show care about this a lot more, so a lot can still happen between now and mid May.

>> We don't have a runoff, so a plurality could win the nomination on either side.

Republican Andy Barr has named a new campaign manager after the unexpected death of Tatum Dale at age 35.

That certainly was a shock to the campaign.

Dale had been a Barr staffer since her college days.

He named Blake Gober his new manager.

>> Yeah, and Tatum, I've been told, was kind of Barr's right hand.

I think it was it was very much a shock, and she was very well respected.

Blake.

He's been around Kentucky elections before.

He's worked nationally before.

And some of these other races he's with run switch PR, which is staying neutral as a firm but very well connected among Republican voters.

Blake previously worked with McConnell.

I think he's new to this campaign, but he's not new to campaigns.

So we'll we'll see if that affects the race at all.

But he's he's in.

>> Let's look at some numbers.

Kentucky Republican voter registration surged in recent weeks.

86% of all new registration went to the GOP.

Independent registration is also up, but Democratic registration dropped.

So right now we'll put this on the screen.

48% of Kentucky voters are registered Republicans, 41% are Democrats, 11% are independent or unaffiliated with the major parties.

Any conclusions that you draw, Tessa, about that registration trend heading into this election year?

>> Yeah.

Seeing more voters register as independents or without party affiliation is a part of a national trend.

Actually, there was just some new numbers out from Gallup this week that said, about 45% of U.S.

adults consider themselves politically independent, which is a record high.

Now, that doesn't mean they're all registered as independents, but it means they don't feel that strong allegiance toward one party or the other.

And that is, you know, that is significant, as it feels like politics gets more and more, you know, Partizan and divided.

So when you have folks who don't feel that allegiance or maybe don't even have that registered allegiance to one party, it becomes a wild card.

In general elections.

>> 11% and growing with that independent registration.

McKenna.

And they can't vote in these primaries.

>> Right.

So Kentucky has closed primaries, which means that you must be a registered voter of that political party to vote in its primary.

As Republican primaries typically are the more contested one where there's multiple candidates, sometimes even more than two candidates, voters who maybe don't feel a strong allegiance to either party are probably considering.

Having a voice in that primary.

You know, if they can make a difference in some way.

So that's probably why we are seeing some voters choose a primary to vote in.

>> In Washington, Congressman James Comer says the committee he chairs will start contempt of Congress proceedings against former president Bill Clinton and potentially Hillary Clinton.

Yes.

>> Yeah.

So the Clintons were subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee to testify about the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

That's being led by the committee that comer chairs.

Comer blasted the Clintons publicly for not appearing this week, but they responded in a letter to him accusing him of playing Partizan politics and saying his handling of the Epstein case was impeding this investigation.

>> Locust ten weeks after the UPS plane crash disaster in Louisville, the area is now fully reopened for business.

>> They're getting there.

Yeah.

Work continues.

I think a lot of the chatter now is how are they going to pay for this cleanup?

How much is going to come from UPS?

How much is it going to come from insurance?

My coworker Matt had a good story about this a couple days ago.

So, you know, efforts are going to continue.

It's it's not what it was three months ago, but, you know, it's a big job.

>> And a Muhammad Ali stamp was unveiled in Louisville this week.

>> Yeah.

You know, it's not every day we get Bob Costas out in our neck of the woods.

So that was, you know, I was a little disappointed I didn't make my way to that one.

You know, he's the first Louisville native to be on a stamp, if I'm not mistaken.

And you'd be hard to make an argument for anybody else.

You know, the greatest is the first.

>> So what?

To make a note of this, both statewide office holders from Garrard County have lost their fathers in the beginning of this year.

Cawood Metcalfe was a longtime prosecutor and attorney for 65 years.

He was the father of State Treasurer Mark Metcalfe.

And earlier this month, Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Schell lost his father, Gary Schell, who was a longtime farmer.

Both officeholders followed into their father's careers, and the Kentucky Film Office has named Meg Fister as the new executive director of the Kentucky Film Office.

Governor Beshear says she will help boost Kentucky's profile in that area.

That's comment on Kentucky.

Have a good week ahead.