Kentucky

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s schedule to restart the economy appears to contradict his administration’s own benchmarks for when it is safe to reopen.

Just ten days ago, Beshear said it would not be enough to flatten the curve before reopening. Following guidance from the White House, Beshear said Kentucky would need to see 14 days of declining cases before making any announcements.

“If we are there, that’s great, but remember what the White House has said and what we know is we actually need two weeks of going down,” he said.

But on Wednesday, Beshear announced a phased reopening of the Commonwealth while acknowledging confirmed cases of coronavirus have “plateaued,” but not yet declined.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced during his April 29 daily COVID-19 update the first phase of an incremental reopening of the commonwealth’s economy. Beshear held the briefing at the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort. 

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has vetoed the so-called “born alive” abortion bill, saying that doctors are already required to give life-saving medical care to infants that survive abortions.

The bill, which passed in the final hours of this year’s legislative session, also would have given Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron power to regulate abortions in the state and shut down providers during the coronavirus pandemic.

During his daily press conference on Friday, Beshear said that supporters of the bill sought to create divisions during the coronavirus pandemic.

  The Kentucky General Assembly overrode several of Gov. Andy Beshear’s vetoes, passed a constitutional amendment and advanced several other bills on the second to last day of this year’s session.

Gov. Andy Beshear has vetoed the voter ID bill that passed out of the legislature last month.

The bill would have required Kentucky voters to show an ID before casting a ballot, or else show a social security card or credit card and sign an affidavit promising they are who they claim to be.

It would have also created a way for people to get an ID for free at their local county clerk’s office.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is commanding nationwide attention for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the commonwealth. That praise recently transitioned into a new medium: internet memes. The Facebook group “andy beshear memes for social distancing teens” was founded March 20 and has amassed, as of March 31, more than 188,000 members. 

A new order by Gov. Andy Beshear forbids Kentuckians from leaving the state, in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

At the governor’s daily press briefing on Monday, Chief of Staff La Tasha Buckner said the new rule would permit residents to leave Kentucky only for work, necessary supplies, to see a doctor or take care of a family member, or if travel is required by a court. Beshear said law enforcement or county judges could enforce the order, but its effectiveness relies on Kentuckians.

“The reality is, the only way that we’re going to get people doing the right thing is because they agree to — is because they see it as their duty, and they know that their actions can harm other people,” Beshear said. “The moment that you go across the border […] and you have that extra contact, you can bring it back to a person in your family that’s working in a nursing home.”