Governor's 'Pride' cannot polish dull school performance

When it comes to education, Gov. Beshear says Kentuckians ''ought to be proud of what we've done.'' While such feel-good statements provide political cover for Beshear's buddies in the teachers union, the mystery remains: What, exactly, is there about Kentucky's academic performance to be ''proud'' of?

Click here to read the latest Bluegrass Beacon.

Show us the savings

Gov. Beshear claims his administration saved $86 million in Medicaid efficiencies last year. Enquiring Kentucky minds want to know: Where's the proof?

Click here to read the latest Bluegrass Bullet.

Governor's dropout proposal falls short of graduating

Gov. Beshear's desire to force kids to remain in school until age 18 gets a failing grade for many reasons. It fails to consider: the dramatic cost involved, the effect it would have on students who actually want to be in school and the fact that similar policies in other states generally do not result in dramatic increases in graduation rates.

Click here to read the latest Bluegrass Beacon.

Price tag for this year's special legislative session: $1.5 million

Even worse than the fact that this year's special legislative session was unproductive is how expensive it became.

According to numbers I obtained from the LRC, politicians have cost taxpayers nearly $2 million during the past two years just because they could not get their work done on time.

Last year's special session to address the budget and the state's road plan lasted six days and cost $380,000. The price tag for this year's 24-day session, which lasted from March 14 through April 6: $1.5 million.

These figures are based on the LRC's estimated cost of $63,500 each day legislators meet in Frankfort.

Since special sessions are called by the governor, who sets the agenda, it's worthy of note here that Gov. Steve Beshear did not abide by his own past rhetoric about agreement between the House and Senate before calling a special session.

This year's special session could have been avoided if the governor had agreed to the Kentucky Senate's bipartisan proposal to cut spending rather than insist that Kentucky borrow $167 million from next year's Medicaid budget to fill this year's Medicaid budget deficit. (Read more about Kentucky's Medicaid program here.)

Perhaps the governor would consider reimbursing taxpayers out of his hefty campaign war chest?

Education task force's report: More talk, few new ideas

The Governor's Education Task Force report proposes many ideas for ''breaking new ground'' when it comes to Kentucky's education system. However, a closer examination reveals that the task force's recommendations offer a lot of talk about the same old ideas. Most of its politically correct -- and politically safe -- proposals have been tossed around for the last two decades with little or no progress made in the commonwealth's education system.

Click here to read the latest Bluegrass Bullet.

Governor cites Prichard nonsense

Governor Steve Beshear treated the Boone County Education Foundation to nonsense education statistics a few days ago.

As reported by the Kentucky Enquirer in “Beshear touts education,” the governor touted Kentucky’s supposed dramatic improvement in the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing program compared to other states.

Well, as we’ve pointed out before, those rankings of NAEP performance, which the governor got from the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence – not a proper state agency – are mathematical nonsense.

Kentuckians deserve better data and a more reasoned evaluation of the performance of our education system.

Read more »

SEEK and ye shall find Medicaid money

What would happen to Kentucky schools' academic performance if Frankfort's politicians had the same degree of concern about low test scores and high graduation rates as they showed toward proposals to cut a minuscule amount of funding for one year to help shore up Kentucky's Medicaid budget?

Click here to read the latest Bluegrass Beacon.

House goes along with Senate's Medicaid plan; Beshear vows to veto spending cuts

The fact that the Kentucky House of Representatives voted tonight to accept the Senate Medicaid's plan is surprising. After all, Speaker Greg Stumbo said the House would not accept any spending cuts, particularly to education.

But wait, don't get your hopes up...

The House accepted the Senate plan only after Gov. Steve Beshear promised, apparently in a letter read today on the House floor today, to use his line-item veto authority to axe out spending and accountability measures is, unfortunately, not.

Apparently, the governor doesn't believe he can achieve the savings he promised. Otherwise, he would have gladly embraced the Senate's call for independent verification of what are sure to be future claims he will make about the great savings accrued from his managed-care approach to Medicaid.

Currently managed-care contracts are not even in place, and there is little chance the governor will be able to find the nearly $425 million in savings needed to plug Medicaid's budget by the end of next year.

Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, praised the Senate substitute for House Bill 1, passed largely along party lines on the Senate floor today (this after earlier versions had picked up bipartisan support).

"It is a responsible plan that trusts, but also verifies," DeCesare said in a statement. "The plan, which credits the Governor for savings already achieved, fully funds Medicaid services this year while protecting the taxpayer and holding the Governor accountable through independent evaluation of his actions."

The Senate plan would have enacted small spending cuts over the next fiscal year -- 1.74 percent, across-the-board reductions next year -- but did allow those cut funds to be reinstated once an independent accountant and representatives from the state's Consensus Forecasting Group had certified his claimed savings. In return, it allows some borrowing from next year's Medicaid budget to balance this year's checkbook. At least $139 million is needed to plug the hole.

The cuts would have amounted to $23.5 million for K-12 education and $23 million for higher education.

Also, it would have restricted the amount of debt restructuring (delaying payments on the interest, or, as this governor has even done, the principal payments on loans) to the amount originally agreed to by legislators in last year's budget session -- about $202 million.

Ignoring the wishes of the people's representatives, the governor not only has restructured nearly the entire amount, but the House version of the Medicaid fix would have allowed him to keep those monies.

Apparently, the governor thinks he can get by with this. However, the November election indicated voters were wary of "borrow-and-spend" policies in Washington. The question: Will the same folks who sent fiscal hero Sen. Rand Paul to Washington catch on in Kentucky?

Beshear's letter indicated that he planned to veto all of the legislation's safeguards, leaving him with the all the money and no accountability," DeCesare said.

"Besides being a cynical move, it leaves the people of this Commonwealth holding the bag again, because come next year even deeper cuts will have to be made," he said.

Of course, those cuts won't occur until after Election Day.

For more on Kentucky's Medicaid program, visit the Bluegrass Institute's transparency site here.

Why did Gov. Beshear go AWOL?

More now from Gov. Steve Beshear's recent interview with Tony Cruise on Louisville's WHAS-AM.

Here, Beshear is explaining why he went AWOL from the Capitol after calling lawmakers back into a special session to address Kentucky's Medicaid budget deficit at a cost of $63,500 per day:



Actually, I think what voters expect is for Beshear and those elected to lead by making the tough decisions, right?

Based on November's election, I would also say that those same voters, er, citizens the governor was trying to reach while flying around the state to try and drum up votes, er, animosity against lawmakers who had the audacity to propose spending cuts -- even to the bloated education budget -- aren't thrilled about Beshear's plan to borrow $166.5 million from next year's Medicaid spending plan to plug this year's holes.

Wasn't that election an expression of the outrage against Washington's "borrow and spend" policies? Now the Beshear administration is trying to take the commonwealth down that same path to economic failure.

I wonder: Will we see the outrage over that before the end of the year?

Independent auditor needed to verify Beshear's future Medicaid savings claims

One of the problems with the Medicaid "compromise" coming out of the Kentucky House of Representatives is that it lacks the strength of accountability needed to ensure that the savings promised, and then no doubt touted by the governor, actually are delivered.

Members of the state Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee were right today as they "peppered (Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Janie) Miller (right) with questions about how those savings will be documented."

The House is proposing allowing Beshear to stick to his original plan of borrowing $166.5 million from next year's Medicaid spending plan to balance the program's budget this year.

However, as the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, there's a caveat: "If the state can not demonstrate that it has generated more than $116 million in savings through managed care and other efficiencies by Aug. 15, there will be across-the-board cuts in most areas of state government by Oct.1."

But who will determine if these unlikely savings actually are achieved? It will be Miller and the administration's budget office, who have hardly been interested in stepping into the sunshine with all the information lawmakers -- much less you and I, the lowly taxpayers -- deserve to know.

Since it is our money, after all, shouldn't the plan demand an independent entity determine whether or not real savings have been accomplished?

BIPPS appearing on 84 WHAS to respond to governor's recent attack on the institute

Jim Waters, Bluegrass Institute vice president of policy and communications, will appear on 84WHAS in Louisville on Monday at 7:35 a.m. EDT to discuss the current legislative battle in Frankfort over how to balance the commonwealth's deficit-ridden Medicaid budget.

Waters will be a guest on the "Tony Cruise and the Morning Team" show. He will respond to Gov. Steve Beshear's recent attack (following) on Cruise's show earlier this week:

Here's the exchange:

Cruise: According to the Bluegrass Institute, you had promised $250 million in savings for the current two-year budget. That did not happen. Now, you’re going to pull another almost $170 million out of next year’s Medicaid budget to kind of plug a hole in it. Governor, in all honesty, is that a solution or a Band-Aid?

Governor: “Well Tony, first of all, the Bluegrass Institute’s stuff is a bunch of baloney. You know, that’s a right-wing think tank composed of one person that puts his blog up on the line all the time.”

Listen to the full interview (about 7 minutes long) here.

Governor ignores facts, attacks Bluegrass Institute

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Gov. Steve Beshear refuses to provide the answers or the leadership needed to solve the state’s Medicaid budget crisis.

This became clearer when he dismissed the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market government watchdog, by labeling it “a right wing think tank.”

Click here to continue reading the latest media alert.

Governor optimistic about the state of the Commonwealth

Tuesday evening, Gov. Steve Beshear addressed a joint session of the General Assembly in his State of the Commonwealth address.

The governor remained optimistic about the future of Kentucky. While acknowledging the difficult times the Bluegrass State has endured during the last few years, Beshear said the economy is improving and cited examples from his administration.

He distanced himself from Democrats in Washington, touting his commitment to cut spending while fairly assessing: "Kentuckians are rightly disgusted by a federal government that defines fiscal management as the speed at which you can print money."

The governor took a strong stand for Kentucky's coal economy, vowing to protect the industry from federal regulations and overreach.

The address was not without party politicking, as Republican gubernatorial candidate and current senate president, David Williams, looked on.

The governor noted that he supported Williams in Senate Bill 8, an electronic portal to help reduce complexity for Kentucky businesses. However, Williams did not conceal his feelings about the Beshear administration: "The man has no agenda."

He said the governor is not adequately addressing pressing fiscal issues in the commonwealth, referring to Medicaid costs, the pension crisis, and the tax code.

Watch the entire speech archived here.

Gov. Beshear invites Kentuckians to TEK Talk forums

From the Governor’s news release:

FRANKFORT, Ky.– In an effort to boost support of public education in the Commonwealth, Governor Steve Beshear and First Lady Jane Beshear will host TEK Talk community forums on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010. Kentuckians are invited to gather at 10 locations across the state to discuss Transforming Education in Kentucky (TEK). Gov. Beshear created the TEK initiative last fall to focus current education programs toward the unified goal of better preparing Kentucky students for success in the 21st century.

“The world has dramatically changed since the education reforms of 1990,” said Gov. Beshear. “Today, I’m calling on our communities to recommit new energy and provide new input for innovative strategies that will ensure the future of our children.”

Gov. Beshear is working in partnership with the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, the Kentucky Department of Education, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), the Prichard Committee, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, NewCities Institute and Kentucky Educational Television to provide this opportunity for the public to share its concerns and ideas.


Check the news release link above for the locations and contact phone numbers for the 10 regional discussion locations. Those discussions start at 7 PM Eastern Daylight Time/6PM Central Time.

If you can’t make it to one of the regional locations, KET will broadcast a summary of the event at 8 PM Eastern/7PM Central Time on the 17th. There will be repeat broadcasts by KET at later dates, per the news release, and it will be live streamed and then available in web accessible archives, as well.

We'll set up blog items after the event where you can comment on your impressions.