FRANKFORT —
Something very significant happened this week in Frankfort that I want to inform you about. I am a member of the Capital Projects and Bond Oversight Committee, usually a very low-profile committee charged with overseeing the expenditure of funds budgeted for capital projects. However, instead of a dry recitation of proposed bonds or purchases, committee members were faced with taking the first steps towards the implementation of what many know as “Obamacare.”
The Beshear Administration asked us to approve a lease costing $294,540 for a property they said would house Kentucky’s healthcare insurance exchange. Things took an even stranger turn when the question was asked, “What health insurance exchange?”At that point, representatives of the Finance Cabinet informed us, both Democratic and Republican legislators, that the governor had filed an executive order to create the exchange. But, the executive order was not filed with the secretary of state until after the meeting had started. No one knew! Obviously, this unleashed many more questions.
I learned that the facility would accommodate 210 employees, and I asked the governor’s representatives if these people would be new hires, and if so, would they enter our already strained public pension system.
Another senator asked if these planned health-insurance proposals would cover abortion services. Someone else asked what the budget was for the administration of the exchange.
Many on the committee were stunned that there simply were no answers to these questions.
Health cabinet officials told us that they were still developing the plans and couldn’t tell us what those plans would or would not contain or how much they or the program would cost the state.
In the end, the committee voted down the lease. Unfortunately, the governor announced late that afternoon that the Secretary of Finance would overrule legislative wishes and go forward with the lease. Let me be clear, there has been no legislative approval of the governor’s actions regarding Obamacare’s health-insurance exchanges.
Senate staff is researching what our options are. You can be sure that I stand committed to protecting your rights and your tax-dollars. Please feel free to contact my office with opinions, concerns or general thoughts about this or other topics at 1-800-372-7181. The General Assembly is on Internet at www.lrc.ky.gov.
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