The Frankfort LINK

Kentuckian David Royce lost his son to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, that’s killing Americans an alarming rate. 

Speaking to the  House and Senate’s Health Services Committee last week, Royce said that Kentuckians don’t have to keep dieing and he challenged to continue to fight the epidemic. 

As Kentucky continues to fight the opioid epidemic, the state is  is set to get $842 million in settlement from the opioid abatement settlement program.

While that settlement is substantial, it’s just a drop in the bucket of what is needed compared to the overall scope of the problem, according to Bryan Hubbard, chair and executive director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission.

Presenting the latest information on the settlement to a joint meeting of the House and Senate’s Health Services Committee, Hubbard outlined the details of the settlement said he hoped to see improvements in treatment programs coming from the money. 

Chair of the House Health Services Committee Rep. Kim Moser (R-Taylor Mill) said that she is happy with the progress the state is making, but there’s more work to be done. She also talked about the fight against opioids in northern Kentucky. 

This week, the Kentucky Supreme Court held its investiture services for its new justices and chief justice. 

On Monday, new Chief Justice Laurence B. VanMeter was sworn in by former Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., who held the position for 14 years. Gov. Andy Beshear, Senate President Robert Stivers, and Speaker of the House David W. Osborne spoke at the ceremony. 

Elsewhere in the capitol, Gov. Andy Beshear weighed in on a lawsuit filed over charter schools. 

On Jan. 6, the Council for Better Education and two boards of education filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Circuit Court against the Department of Education over House Bill 9 — the charter school bill passed by the legislature last year. 

The Dayton Independent Board of Education and Jefferson County Board of Education joined the lawsuit, which seeks to block the implementation of House Bill 9 — the bill that created a funding mechanism for charter schools and the state's pilot charter school program. 

As part of the pilot school program, Northern Kentucky and Jefferson County are required to approve a charter school. 

Educators and the Department of Education have questioned the law's constitutionality since its passage last spring. 

On this episode of the Frankfort LINK, Politics and Government reporter Mark Payne talks about Gov. Andy Beshear's State of the Commonwealth Address and the Republican response to the address.

He interviews Sen. John Schickel (R-Union) and Rep. Stephanie Dietz (R-Edgewood) about President Joe Biden's visit to talk about $1.6 billion in funding for the new Brent Spence Bridge.