Politics

This year's vice presidential debate at Centre College is shaping up to be a policy wonk's dream. 

Both Vice President Joe Biden and newly-minted Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan are longtime lawmakers who are steeped in policy. 

“I think it will be a substantive debate, meaning that these are both serious policymakers and they both have substantial voting records and careers to discuss, even though Congressman Ryan is relatively young at 42, he’s been in Congressman since January 1999,” says University of Louisville professor Jasmine Farrier.

Lieutenant Governor Jerry Abramson's assertion that the Fancy Farm picnic is no longer a relevant political event has inspired a growing backlash.

In remarks reported by CN2, Abramson dismissed the picnic, saying it's too rowdy. But Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who emceed this year's event, says when statewide officials skip the picnic, as Abramson did this year, it hurts the church and community that put the event on.

"Fancy Farm just isn’t about politics, it’s a church charity event and it’s a huge economic draw for people in Western Kentucky,” Comer says.

In an interview with the Lexington-based Lane Report, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said the city needs to diversify its tax base to help combat budget shortfalls.

About 80 percent of Metro Government's revenue comes from occupational and property taxes, which have stalled due to the economy. The mayor had to fill a $20 million deficit in his last fiscal plan while the tax base has grown at a slower rate and a structural imbalance gets wider.

Lately Fischer has been pushing a local option sales tax, adding cities need more options to raise revenue. In the one-on-one interview, he cited a recommendation from Governor Steve Beshear's Blue Ribbon Tax Commission is that cities share in the state’s sales taxes as well.

From The Lane Report:

EL: Would you raise the sales tax, ask for a share of the current state sales tax, or would you have a local-option sales tax on top of the current sales tax?

GF: Whether it’s a private business or the business of government, a more diversified revenue stream has better odds of staying level or growing. Kentucky cities do not have a sales tax component to their revenue stream. The second possibility is the local-option sales tax: where the citizens of a city can vote on a specific project, for a specific time period, paid for in a specific way. Most all of our competitive cities have that option as well; Kentucky cities do not. So when you see capital investments being made by other cities in their arts district, recreation center or forensic crime lab, frequently they are funded by a local-option sales tax.

In its first official public action, Louisville's Violence Prevention Work Group has put out a call for volunteers for a new crisis response team.

As the name implies, the response team will be sent to crisis situations (typically crime scenes) to work with bystanders, family members, witnesses, etc. and help alleviate the trauma. The team would ideally help prevent the actions that spurred the creation of the Violence Prevention Work Group in the first place.

Louisville Metro Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin, D-2, is asking the city Ethics Commission to dismiss a complaint filed against her by a state watchdog group.

The embattled city lawmaker is also making the argument that The Courier-Journal is behind the complaint.

Last month, Common Cause of Kentucky Chairman Richard Beliles cites a series of articles that reported on Shanklin's discretionary spending. It alleges Shanklin violated the Metro Government code of ethics by using her office to benefit herself and her relatives.

Governor Steve Beshear's office has confirmed that Beshear's Chief of Staff, Mike Haydon, has died. A cause of death wasn't immediately available.