May 16 Local News Williams Says He Had “No Idea” About Farmer’s Alleged Misdeeds Kentucky Senate President David Williams says he had no idea what trouble his former gubernatorial running mate Richie Farmer was causing as agriculture commissioner. During an interview on Kentucky Sports Radio Wednesday, host Matt Jones asked Williams about the abuses of power and resources that were uncovered in a recent audit of Farmer’s time in […] By Kenny Colston May 16 Local News Williams Says He Had “No Idea” About Farmer’s Alleged Misdeeds Kenny Colston
Apr 19 Local News Senate Committee Restores Vetoed Projects In Road Funding Bill A Kentucky Senate committee’s amendment to the state transportation budget could take the special session off course. Lawmakers are in special session in part to pass a funding mechanism for the state road plan. But Senate President David Williams declined to take up the issue until Governor Steve Beshear acted on the unfunded road plan […] By Kenny Colston Apr 19 Local News Senate Committee Restores Vetoed Projects In Road Funding Bill Kenny Colston
Apr 18 Local News Road Plan Vetoes Won’t Delay Special Session, Williams Says Kentucky Senate President David Williams says Governor Steve Beshear’s latest action on the state road plan will not lead to an extended special session. Governor Steve Beshear has changed the two-year road plan to give projects in Williams’s district a lower priority. Those were the only modifications the governor made. Williams had promised not to […] By Kenny Colston Apr 18 Local News Road Plan Vetoes Won’t Delay Special Session, Williams Says Kenny Colston
Apr 18 Local News Beshear Signs Road Plan, Vetoes Projects in Williams’s District Governor Steve Beshear signed Kentucky’s six-year road plan this afternoon and vetoed several projects in the state’s two-year road plan. According to a release from Beshear’s office, the line item vetoes in the two-year plan are only in Senate President David Williams’s district. This comes on the heels of a public feud between the two […] By Kenny Colston Apr 18 Local News Beshear Signs Road Plan, Vetoes Projects in Williams’s District Kenny Colston
Apr 18 Local News Grayson: Beshear and Williams Are Embarrassing Kentucky Former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson criticized both Governor Steve Beshear and state Senate President David Williams, saying their ongoing rivalry is embarrassing the commonwealth. “It’s a continuation of the last several years of the governor not being able to develop strong positive relationships with not just the Republican-controlled Senate, but also the Democratic-controlled […] By WFPL News Apr 18 Local News Grayson: Beshear and Williams Are Embarrassing Kentucky WFPL News
Apr 17 Local News Williams Again Asks Beshear to Act on Road Plan Kentucky Senate President David Williams is renewing his call for Governor Steve Beshear to act quickly on an unfunded road plan that cleared the legislature last week. The road plan outlines the state’s transportation projects for the coming years. Beshear called lawmakers back to Frankfort for a special session after they failed to approve funding […] By Kenny Colston Apr 17 Local News Williams Again Asks Beshear to Act on Road Plan Kenny Colston
Apr 16 Local News Beshear, Williams Rivalry Could Influence November Legislative Elections Kentucky lawmakers will begin a special session today that could become election fodder for legislative candidates on both sides of the aisle this fall. This is the seventh straight year lawmakers have gone into special session, which costs the state sixty thousand dollars a day to fund. And Democratic Governor Steve Beshear and Republican Senate […] By Kenny Colston Apr 16 Local News Beshear, Williams Rivalry Could Influence November Legislative Elections Kenny Colston
Apr 13 Local News Williams Says Beshear Needs to ‘Tone Down’ Rhetoric Republican Senate President David Williams says Democratic Governor Steve Beshear needs to tone down his rhetoric over the upcoming special session. The two men butted heads yesterday when the Senate didn’t pass two of the session’s critical bills. The Senate adjourned, effectively killing a bill that funded the state’s road plan and one that would […] By Kenny Colston Apr 13 Local News Williams Says Beshear Needs to ‘Tone Down’ Rhetoric Kenny Colston
Apr 13 Local News Beshear Continues to Blame Williams Over Deadlock A blame game over important legislation leftover in the 2012 General Assembly is turning into a repeat of last year’s gubernatorial election. Democratic Governor Steve Beshear and Republican Senate President David Williams are arguing over who is to blame for state lawmakers adjourning their regular session without passing key bills. A bill to crack down […] By Kenny Colston Apr 13 Local News Beshear Continues to Blame Williams Over Deadlock Kenny Colston
Mar 29 Local News Lawmakers Reach Early Morning Budget Compromise After a night of discussions, Kentucky lawmakers have finally reached a budget agreement. Negotiations on a budget compromise began Monday. By Tuesday, talks had stalled. Lawmakers were unable to work out differences over funding school construction, paying for indigent care at University Hospital in Louisville and reducing bonded debt. House and Senate leaders resolved their […] By Kenny Colston Mar 29 Local News Lawmakers Reach Early Morning Budget Compromise Kenny Colston
Mar 26 Local News Plan to Create Scholarship Fund for Appalachian College Students In Trouble A proposal to create a scholarship fund for far eastern Kentucky college students could be in jeopardy. The Appalachian scholarship fund was intended as a compromise, after a measure to move the University of Pikeville into the state system couldn’t garner enough support. In the House’s version of the budget, lawmakers funded the scholarships with […] By Kenny Colston Mar 26 Local News Plan to Create Scholarship Fund for Appalachian College Students In Trouble Kenny Colston
Mar 23 Local News Stumbo Says Budget Compromise Should Be Easy House Speaker Greg Stumbo says his chamber’s priorities for the next two-year budget are not that different from the senate’s. Both chambers have passed their own budget bills for each branch of state government. The two sides must now work out a compromise. Stumbo says he doesn’t have many concerns with the Senate’s changes and he […] By Kenny Colston Mar 23 Local News Stumbo Says Budget Compromise Should Be Easy Kenny Colston
Mar 22 Local News Senate Passes Budget Bills, Must Compromise With House After hours of closed-door meetings, the Kentucky Senate approved budgets for the three branches of state government Thursday night. The House previously approved its own versions of the budgets. The Senate kept the House’s legislative plan intact but modified the executive and judicial budgets. The two chambers must now form a conference committee to work […] By Kenny Colston Mar 22 Local News Senate Passes Budget Bills, Must Compromise With House Kenny Colston
Mar 13 Local News Stein Calls Out Williams for SEC Tournament Trip Adding more fuel to their burning rivalry, state Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, continued her criticism of state Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, over his recent trip to New Orleans for the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference basketball tournament during the legislative session. The Senate changed its schedule and did not take up any legislation last Thursday or […] By WFPL News Mar 13 Local News Stein Calls Out Williams for SEC Tournament Trip WFPL News
Feb 27 Local News Kentucky Lawmakers Still Have Long To-Do List Although two major issues have been nearly resolved, Kentucky lawmakers still have a full agenda this session. Redistricting and expanded gambling dominated the first half of the session. The gambling bill was defeated last week and redistricting was settled by the Kentucky Supreme Court. But that doesn’t mean the legislative work is over. Lawmakers still […] By Kenny Colston Feb 27 Local News Kentucky Lawmakers Still Have Long To-Do List Kenny Colston