Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson has vetoed an ordinance passed last week by the Louisville Metro Council that would set new pay and other labor standards for construction projects that receive taxpayer subsidies of more than $500,000.Abramson says the measure would undermine job creation by imposing new mandates on private investments, such as prevailing wage and quotas for hiring local workers.The measure now goes back to the council, which will need 18 votes to override Abramson's veto."I didn't start this ordinance, I didn't recommend this ordinance, I didn't have anything to do with drafting this ordinance, I didn't have anything to do with interacting on this ordinance. So the council will go back, they'll review the situation and decide whether there's something they want to change or decide whether its time to spend their time on creating jobs instead of developing obstacles that will keep jobs away from our hometown," Abramson said.One of the bill's Democratic co-sponsors, Councilman Rick Blackwell, says he doesn't know yet if he'll seek an override of the measure or try to re-work the bill's language.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.