EKB News

KENTUCKY...
Governor Steve Beshear is ordering six furlough days for state employees in the next year. On July 13, we caught up with the leaders of the Kentucky Legislature who were in town for an economic summit by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to hear what they had to say about the pending furloughs. "Actually, he vetoed the portion of the budget which directed those saving to come from personal service contracts and other contracts with the government and we believe he should go to those sources before he does furloughs," said Sen. David Williams (R-Burksville), the Senate President. "It's his prerogative and he does have the authority." "In the other situation, we would have had to fire somewhere in the neighborhood of four to five hundred workers," said Rep. Greg Stumbo, (D-Prestonsburg) the House Speaker. "So every state worker that I talked with said we'd rather have a furlough than a massive layoff." The six days of furloughs will save the state about $24 million for Kentucky's revenue strapped budget.