music This is a very, very important bill in terms of addressing addiction, PTSD and depression, particularly to helping our veterans.

[MUSIC] >> Will Kentucky look at ibogaine as a possible way to help ease veterans pain?

[MUSIC] >> So I'm not in favor of it.

[MUSIC] >> Not everyone is on board with a statue in the state Capitol honoring U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell.

[MUSIC] >> I've been in this town for many years, and we've talked about light rail.

[MUSIC] Light rail has value, has benefit.

>> And our people in Louisville are ready to travel underground.

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition on this Good Friday, April the 3rd.

I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you for joining us this Friday, one of the many bills passed by the Kentucky General Assembly is now law.

Governor Andy Beshear signed House Bill 422 yesterday.

The bill is also known as Logan's Law in honor of six year old Logan Tipton, who was stabbed to death during a home invasion in Versailles back in 2015.

His killer was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, but he was convicted of attacking other members of the Tipton family.

House Bill 422 prevents juries from splitting such a verdict.

It also mandates longer prison time for violent offenders, and clarifies that certain felony offenders would not be eligible for early release under mandatory reentry supervision.

The governor signed some other bills today, among them Senate Bill 69, creating the Autism Spectrum Disorder Trust Fund, which will help fund research supporting Kentuckians living with autism.

Senate Bill 85 creating a special needs trust in the state retirement system, letting people financially plan for family members with special needs, and House Bill 562 requiring the Kentucky Department of Education to create a diploma for students with special needs who otherwise wouldn't get one.

Some Republican lawmakers want Kentucky to take the lead in researching ibogaine, which is a powerful psychedelic drug that can be used to treat drug addiction and PTSD.

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring compound that comes from a plant native to West Africa.

Right now, ibogaine is an illegal drug in the U.S.

throughout this legislative session, lawmakers heard from Kentuckians, who traveled to Mexico, where they used the drug to treat substance use disorder, depression and PTSD.

Senate Bill 77, sponsored by Senator Donald Douglas, a physician, sets up a framework for clinical research of ibogaine.

The bill does not call for any research funding at this time, but they say that appropriations may be made in the future.

Only a handful of other states are participating in ibogaine research currently, but several others are considering similar legislation.

In Kentucky's bill, the state treasurer's office would enter into a partnership with an ibogaine drug developer to conduct clinical clinical trials.

Lawmakers in the Kentucky House debated the bill on Wednesday evening.

>> This is a very, very important bill in terms of addressing addiction, PTSD and depression, particularly to helping our veterans.

So with with with the mass challenges that our veterans have, this is a good alternative.

In order to with that.

>> It references a drug developer in the legislation.

Is there a drug developer at this time, or is this just contemplating that there would be a company or organization developing this in the future?

>> There is a drug developer.

It's working with Texas.

Texas took a lead about about a year before we got involved.

And so they're going to be working with and select this drug development company, along with the cooperation with the FDA.

>> Senate Bill 77 passed the House on an 82 to 8 vote and is now sitting on the governor's desk for him to approve or reject a bill that would rework the Public Service Commission is also awaiting the governor's review.

The PSC oversees and sets rates for Kentucky utility providers.

Senate Bill eight expands the PSC from 3 to 5 members and requires them to have certain professional qualifications and experience.

Under a previous version of the bill, the state auditor would have been in charge of making two of the appointments.

That part was removed from the bill, and all five appointments now come from the governor and are subject to confirmation in the state Senate.

Also absent from the final bill is language that could prevent advocacy groups or the public from speaking before the PSC to advocate for or against new projects or rate changes.

[MUSIC] Time now for our reporter's notebook, and we're going to go inside the Kentucky General Assembly lawmaking session that is in recess right now.

And we have with us McKenna Horsley, who is a politics reporter with the Kentucky Lantern, and we thank you so much for your time.

>> Oh, thanks for having me.

>> So we know that lawmakers really tried to beat the buzzer on getting the state budget, the two year spending plan for the upcoming biennium, Don and to the governor's desk, along with road projects and transportation judiciary budgets.

Tell us about what is already on the governor's desk that he's reviewing right now.

>> Yes.

So he is a slew of bills on his desk already.

He can sign them.

He can let them become signature or let them become law without his signature.

And he can obviously veto them.

And then lawmakers will have a chance to come back later this month and override any vetoes that he issues.

But obviously, the budget bills are a huge focus for him.

He can issue some line item veto to some of those measures and come up with different ask of the General Assembly that they may take into consideration.

Likely they will not is usually the case, but there's also a lot of policy decisions as well.

On his desk last night, he did issue two vetoes for two different bills that are related to guns and firearms at an event here in Louisville that honored his friend, who died in a 2023 shooting, along with other several other employees at the Old National Bank shooting.

One of those bills would have protected firearms manufacturers and sellers from liability in courts for actions related to gun violence, and another one lowered the concealed carry for firearms and other deadly weapons from 21 to 18.

Those are two big priorities for the Republican controlled legislature, so I'm sure we'll likely see those vetoes override when we come back later this morning.

>> Yeah.

And to your point about the budget, you know, it's not just the executive branch budget, but there are other budgets, the legislative and judicial branch budget.

There's not so much to talk about with the legislative branch budget.

But we know that that we know the Chief Justice, Denver Lambert, has called out an alarm about what possible cuts could come in the judicial branch because of what the legislature has sent to the governor's desk.

Tell us more about this.

>> Yes.

So when some of the final versions of these bills were released last week, we heard from the Chief Justice that the budget for the the judicial branch was underfunded and could jeopardize some services that are really important to a lot of communities, like specialty courts, which is often drug court, mental health court and things like that.

So that was the judiciary advocating for for more money throughout the week.

And then once the final judicial budget came out on Wednesday, the chief Justice said that it's still under funds for operations.

And she said that we know we will have significant layoffs, but will still focus on getting resources to people and providing those services that they do.

>> And there's nothing that lawmakers can do at this point right now to undo perhaps those negative consequences.

>> Right?

You know, I mean, you know, just kind of thinking of the process, maybe one thing that could happen is that we do see a veto override maybe, or a veto issued on this section, and they could let that stand up.

Typically, they don't let vetoes stand.

So we'll have to see how the next couple of weeks play out on that one.

>> Wright Medicaid has been a big issue that lawmakers have tackled.

We know that House Bill two, Representative Ken Fleming from Louisville took up that charge for this, and that got a lot of discussion all throughout this session.

But the final version of this measure, cost containment, essentially, of this Medicaid program.

What do you think will the governor's response will be to that bill?

>> You know, the governor, throughout the past few months, especially as we've seen different policies arise on Medicaid at the federal level, has big a big been a big proponent of keeping these resources that we have and things like that at the state level.

You know, this this budget is also and this topic is very intertwined with the budget itself.

After the budget was released, the governor was still critical of what money was in the budget, saying that it underfunds Medicaid.

And he predicts a 681 million shortfall from his administration on that, saying that the math doesn't math when it comes to that.

So, you know, I think this is a topic we'll definitely even see well into the next budget session that we have in 28.

And this will continue to evolve, I'm sure.

>> And the final version did lower those co-pays from 20 or $35 to as low as $1, right?

So there was some some negotiation there because there was concern that they would really make health care inaccessible for folks based on the co-pays that were originally proposed in that measure.

But that's been readjusted, right?

>> Yes.

That is some news that came out Wednesday.

>> A lot of stuff to keep track of when when you're in those final days.

And they actually went over past midnight.

So they actually used that 58th day, right?

>> Yes, yes.

And so how that works is once the clock struck midnight, the Senate had completed its orders of the day, which is when it would pass bills or lawmakers would take votes on things, but they kept the floor open into that next day to receive some action from the House and prepare themselves for when they come back later this year.

Right.

This month.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This month.

Which is going to seem like a year.

It's already seemed like a year, right?

Well, so much to have kept track of and, and waiting for information about impeachment.

We know real quickly that they did in the Senate, the Senate president announced who would serve for as I don't know what you call that, is that a jury of senators?

>> Yes.

So that will be the Senate impeachment Committee, basically.

And so what their role will be to will be to have a hearing in this veto period session that we're in right now.

When the Senate comes back, that's when we'll see all the senators kind of take part in that jury kind of thing.

So actually, an interesting note about that, too, is that the Senate could, even though they will have to meet on the 60th day, the Senate actually has the power to keep meeting past that 60th day to just focus on impeachment.

So, you know, depending on how quickly we see things move in this veto period session, we might even see lawmakers still in Frankfurt pass that 60th day later this month.

>> We sure could.

And just to give folks some context, this is the impeachment articles of impeachment that were sent down for Fayette Circuit Court Judge Julie Goodman, and we've covered that extensively so well.

Thank you, McKenna, for breaking it all down.

And we know we'll be seeing you soon on comment, but we do hope that you get some rest this weekend.

Okay.

Take good care.

>> Thank you.

>> Yesterday we told you about a section of House Bill 757, passed by the Kentucky General Assembly just recently that calls for a statue of U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell to be placed in the state Capitol Rotunda.

If the money to pay for it can be raised by private means, state Senator Chris McDaniel said.

It's a tribute to McConnell's long service to Kentucky and the nation.

Well, Kentucky reporter Tom Laithtech asked Governor Andy Beshear about it yesterday.

The governor said he didn't think a living person should be honored with a statue.

Here's more.

>> I will also tell you that with everything going on in our country right now, Mitch McConnell could have prevented it.

Mitch McConnell was that person who could have stepped forward after impeachment and prevented this new term where we have tariffs that are making things cost too much for our families, where we're in a war with Iran that hasn't been explained to our people or to Congress, where gas is spiking at such a significant level.

So I'm not in favor of it, though I never say what I'm going to do with the bill until I actually either sign or veto it.

But, Tom, I'm guessing you can probably guess which one between those.

>> Senator McConnell reacted to the statue idea with this statement that says, quote, I'm honored and humbled by this decision, and I'm grateful to the General Assembly for the recognition.

End quote.

Senator McConnell was in Barron County today to speak on federal funding for a new project.

A press conference was held in Cave City, where plans are underway to build an agricultural exposition center.

McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured $20 million in the budget for the new facility.

This will be his final term in Washington, as you know.

And McConnell was asked how he would advise his replacement concerning support for rural Kentucky.

>> Well, first first let me say this.

This area is not without influence.

Congressman Guthrie is chairman of a very important committee in the House.

Very smart, very plugged in.

One of our other congressmen, Congressman Comber.

I think he's running for governor, so I expect he'll become your new best friend.

And so I think there's still going to be elected officials who are interested in helping.

With regard to my successor, it's it's a fact that I started the ground zero.

Hopefully they get better quicker as quickly as possible, but I think the initiatives may originate in the House.

>> Now, we should note that First District Congressman James Comer has not declared he's running for governor.

The new AG Expo will be located next to the Cave Area Conference Center.

It will have seating for 3000 people and will host rodeos, tractor pulls, cattle and equine events, among other plans.

The Barron County judge executive says the project has been in discussion for many years, and she's grateful to see it moving forward.

>> It is very personal to me because, you know, I take great pride in representing Barron County and being able to sell everything that we offer here.

This is a wonderful place to to create opportunity, and I feel like that's my job as county judge executive.

And I'm very thankful to Senator McConnell for hearing that, just like he told me just then and told the mayor as well that, you know, there's a lot of projects that are out there that people are trying to push or that want for their community.

And he said, our proposal and our everything that we've done with this project was the most impressive.

And he he takes great pride in being able to invest right here in Barron County.

>> A board representing the county and city, along with neighboring Hart County and the Extension Office will be in charge of operations.

They hope to break ground next spring.

[MUSIC] The Kentucky Expo Center and the Kentucky Convention Center bring in close to 5 million visitors to Louisville every single year, with a statewide economic impact of more than $430 million.

Now, there is a new proposal to connect the two venues, one in downtown and the other at the fairgrounds near the airport.

Our Kelsey Starks sits down with Kentucky Venues c e o David Beck to learn more about his idea for a tunnel for driverless cars.

>> See, we have clients using properties, both properties at the same time.

And so we need the hotels, we need the airport, we need the restaurants, we need entertainment.

So that's why we're looking at new transportation opportunity to connect our two facilities.

And we're hopeful that we'll be able to start that planning process this year and have a plan for moving forward with that.

>> Yeah, let's talk about that.

I mean, this was when it was first proposed a couple of years ago at Tunnel along I-65.

Everybody was like, what in the world is this?

It is an outside of the box kind of thought.

Is, is that still on the table?

>> It is the we have three phases of renovations.

Phase one, the first building, phase two.

The other phase three included concepts of planning to see whether or not it's justified.

I have visited other cities.

I've been looking at it for over three years now and I think it is doable.

I've been in this town for many years and we've talked about light rail.

Light rail has value, has benefit.

But I'm told that if we restart tomorrow, it would take 8 to 10 years.

It might cost 3 to $4 billion to do it.

Three different companies interested in this process.

It can probably be done in 24 months.

Something around $275 million.

So it's worth exploring.

What I want to do is make sure it's just not a dream.

It was a plan that we know factually.

If it's something we need to be doing and where should we put it.

Between the International Convention Center, one of our properties, our two garages to the Exposition center, just a little over three miles.

So if you went down Third Street, parallel with Third Street or Third Street, you're a little over three miles.

I see it being beneficial for the airport.

I see it being beneficial for University of Louisville Churchill Downs, which has two locations kind of across the street from us and both of our facilities.

And so I think a lot in our community would see transportation is important.

It is for government services, it is for workforce development.

It's good for medical services, it's good for entertainment, it's good for tourism, it's good for economic development.

And that would be another factor that would not just be used for tourism, not just between our two properties.

My goal would be that it be something the public could use.

If you've got your convention badge, you could probably write a three, but otherwise it could be a connector.

Your office here, downtown.

If █you got a flight, just leave your vehicle here.

Take the tunnel out to the airport and you're there in 5 or 6 minutes and don't have to repark and save resources and doing that in time.

And people between our two properties.

Now we have to depend on bussing, getting them back and work.

That works pretty well.

I have an office in both buildings.

I got to always navigate.

Which way am I going back down 65 Third how am I going to get back to the two properties?

Because one accident and then we'll be experiencing later on this year with I-65 being closed for the bridge, repairs the overpasses, and we need that.

Safety is first and foremost, you got to have a safe road system.

So we welcome we need that.

But that's going to disrupt traffic flows here in this community.

I think that would call attention to the higher level degree, how this other connector could be beneficial to us.

>> What's your vision of what that looks like?

Is it a rail system?

>> It's an underground.

The cities I visited use it.

It's underground, which reduces the maintenance cost.

It's not as expensive as people think about that.

Even in the three years, 3 to 4, we've been looking at it.

The technology has improved substantially and it would be vehicles underground that would be electric vehicles.

They will drive themselves and you'd get in, go and get in and out your luggage or whatever you're carrying or just it's a passenger.

So it's not that complicated.

There's videos that show it.

We had talked about putting a smaller tunnel under Phillips Lane at KEC, just as a demonstration project, to show how quick it can be done and the benefits of doing that.

>> Are you still thinking about doing that?

>> We're still looking at what the possibilities are.

The goal we are now is to start the planning process here, and a lot of people are interested in it.

A lot of our government leaders locally, statewide and in DC think, let's try.

Let's look at it and say, okay, it's a good concept.

Let's get a good solid study.

And I've seen studies that have great value, and I've seen studies that were done in two weeks.

I want a thorough study so this doesn't fall on its face.

I'll make sure we do it the right way.

What I think might work, where I think it might need to go, the study will give us that direction and guidance on how it should be done.

>> Some exciting possibilities there, and you can learn more about the Tunnel proposal and other changes happening at the Kentucky Expo Center with guest David Beck and host Kelsey Starks on InsideLouisville.

Streaming now online on demand at KET dot o r g.

[MUSIC] This is the Holy Week and Easter weekend, and there are many Easter related activities planned all across Kentucky and much more to do.

Our Toby Gibbs tells us more in this.

Look at what's going on around the Commonwealth.

>> Corbin is about to raise the roost as it celebrates its heritage as the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken with Colonel Fest next week.

The two day event features live entertainment, a Colonel Sanders look alike contest, a fried chicken eating contest, vendors rides, kids games and more.

The finger licking fun starts next Friday.

From the chicken to the egg.

If you like your egg hunts a little more challenging, head to the barren River State Resort Park for an extreme egg hunt this weekend.

[MUSIC] The hunt is for teens and adults or families with younger children cooperating as a team.

Once the search is complete, head back to the lodge and get your picture taken with the Barron Bunny.

[MUSIC] Take a trip back in time by taking a trip to Maysville this Saturday for the annual Old Washington Festival.

The festival includes historical demonstrations, live music, food, local artisans and activities for the family.

[MUSIC] Downtown shops and museums will be open during the festival.

It's a mix of the old and the new at the Kentucky Flea Market.

Spring Fling kicking off next Friday in Louisville.

Browse more than 500 booths filled with antiques, collectibles, jewelry, clothes, toys and other items from vendors across the country.

The market runs through Sunday.

They're getting amped up in Benton as the city gets ready for its Tater Day Festival, a four day celebration of the sweet potato.

The family friendly event includes a parade, fireworks show, rides, live entertainment, demolition derbies and a sweet potato pie eating contest.

[MUSIC] The spectacular festival kicks off tonight.

Music legend Bob Dylan is bringing his Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour to Kentucky with a stop in Louisville.

Next week, Dylan will perform songs from Rough and Rowdy Ways, his 39th studio album and first album of original music in almost 15 years.

The concert takes place next Monday at the Louisville Palace.

We started with chickens and we're ending with chickens and the Lawrenceburg Chicken Swap.

The annual event brings together poultry enthusiasts to swap a wide variety of chickens, ducks, turkeys and other poultry and browse farm supplies and homesteading essentials.

[MUSIC] The event also includes other family friendly activities, and that's a look at what's happening around the Commonwealth this week.

[MUSIC] I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you Toby, and we won't cry foul over that lineup.

It was right around a year ago when Kentucky dealt with tornado's winds and flooding in Frankfurt and other parts of the state.

We'll take a look back at that deadly severe weather one year later.

That's Monday night on Kentucky edition.

We hope you'll stick around tonight for comment on Kentucky.

Coming up in about an hour, Bill Brian and three Kentucky reporters will talk about the state budget and other big news.

As the Kentucky General Assembly session winds down.

That's coming your way at eight eastern, seven central right here on KET.

And thank you so much for being with us here on Kentucky edition all week long, and we hope you have a great weekend and come back and see us again.

Six 3530 central four Kentucky edition where we inform, connect and inspire.

Subscribe to our Email Newsletters and watch full episodes and clips@ket.org.

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Once again, we appreciate you being with us all week.

Come back safely on Monday night and join us again then.

Have a great one.

I'm Renee Shaw and