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?

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?

Listen in today as WLAP's Leland Conway shines light on gov's 'baloney' (comment)

Long-awaited transparency bill signed by governor

Listen in today during the 4 p.m. (EDT) hour as WLAP's Leland Conway, host of "The Pulse," no doubt will have some fun with Gov. Steve Beshear's opinion of the Bluegrass Institute.

In an interview with Louisville's 84 WHAS morning talk show host Tony Cruise earlier this week, the governor called the Bluegrass Institute a "right-wing think tank" and its research "a bunch of baloney."

That was in response to Cruise's question about whether the governor's plan to address the Medicaid budget gap this year was just a "Band-Aid," especially considering the fact that Beshear had failed to achieve $250 million worth of promised savings in the current budget.

Beshear followed with his attack on the institute, but never answered the specific question.

The governor's probably not too happy with the fact that he had to sign Senate Bill 7, sponsored by Sen. Damon Thayer, which amazingly passed the House on March 8 with a 95-0 vote and was signed by Beshear on Thursday, the day after he attacked the institute.

SB 7 requires all three branches of Kentucky government -- executive, legislative and judicial, to put their checkbooks online so that taxpayers can see just how quickly the commonwealth is running out of Band-Aids.

Hmmmm. I wonder why the Beshear administration didn't make as big of a fanfare about the signing of this bill as they did the other fluff, mostly meaningless -- or liberty destroying - legislation that usually gets most of the attention? Of course, the governor knew that not signing the bill would be the equivalent of political suicide.

Wasting money to argue about money

Frankfort is a mess right now.

The General Assembly's "special" session carries a price tag of $63,000 each day.

Governor Steve Beshear is traveling the state by plane to defend his plan to borrow $166 million from next year's budget to cover this year's Medicaid budget shortfall. Traveling by plane is not cheap.

Kentucky's citizens, taxpayers, are tired of politicians spending more and more money to argue about money. The first place the Governor and General Assembly should look for funds to fill the Medicaid gap is the money they are wasting in special session and the travel, security, and staff costs associated with flying all over the state.

What is more frustrating is that the governor believes he is doing his duty by traveling around. When asked to defend his state sponsored travels, the governor replied:

"The government is paying for the governor of this commonwealth to do his duty to go out in this state and inform the citizens of this state on what the state senate is attempting to do to the children of this state and the folks who need health care in this state"

I don't remember reading anything about going out in the state to barnstorm in the state constitution. In a time when citizens are required to tighten their belts, so should the government.

Can we even call them 'special' sessions anymore?

Currently the Kentucky General Assembly is burning through a little over $60,000 of taxpayer money each day because it couldn't accomplish its job in a timely manner. This extra time is most often referred to as a "special session."

We should change that terminology.

Are these sessions really "special"?  There have been "special" sessions in eight of the past 10 years. That is not special, that is a demonstrated lack of ability to get the job done and a show of disrespect to the citizens of Kentucky.

Special session short

While Kentucky's state legislators remain embroiled in a conflict over the Medicaid budget deficit, commonwealth taxpayers are footing the bill. The special session runs a tab of $63,000 per day.

The Bluegrass Institute has covered the debate in our weekly column here and on the Bluegrass Blog here. To stay updated on the special session, follow our live tracking on Twitter.

For a quick summary, watch this recent video CN 2 put together highlighting the current debate.

Specials sessions are not free of charge

So, once again, because our elected officials in the Kentucky General were not able to do their jobs in the time allotted to them by the Kentucky Constitution, governor Steve Beshear is ordering them into a special session to come to terms on a solution to the state's Medicaid problem.

Once again, the taxpayers foot the bill at $60,000 each day of the special session.

That price tag sure isn't helping Kentucky's budget problems, is it?

Contact your legislator and tell them to be responsible with Kentucky's money.

Maybe more than rhetoric in possible spring session?

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has announced that he plans to call a special session later in spring to deal with the current lack of a budget.  In addition he is doing a of campaigning to discuss what life would be like without a state budget: a government shutdown.

Beshear recommended to lawmakers that they not raise taxes as well as not increase state debt.  This sounds like a desire to be accountable and fiscally responsible.  I can only hope that this rhetoric carries through to action in the special session.

Charter school legislation is also a possible topic of discussion for a special session making this a potentially interesting spring in Frankfort. Let's hope the state legislature can do it's constitutionally mandated job this time as we pay them more money since they couldn't get it done during the regular session.