Kentucky

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.”

  With Kentucky’s economy slowing to a trickle during the coronavirus pandemic, the state’s already cash-strapped coffers and services are going to take a big hit.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Tuesday 39 new coronavirus cases in the state, including one young adult who attended a "coronavirus party," apparently held to flout social distancing guidelines.

"This is one that makes me mad, and it should make you mad," Beshear said of the case that occurred after the person attended a party of people in their 20s, who health officials say are as a group less vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Governor Andy Beshear confirmed 103 cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky in today’s update. Beshear said this increase was expected as more tests are administered and more labs come online.

Updated at 5:53 p.m. ET

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has become the first senator to test positive for the coronavirus. His staff says he is asymptomatic.

In a statement released on Sunday, Paul's deputy chief of staff, Sergio Gor, wrote:

Kentuckians will be able to use more documents to obtain REAL ID licenses under a bill nearing final passage in the state legislature.

The measure would add property tax bills, current driver’s licenses and postmarked mail less than a year old to the list of documents Kentuckians can use to prove their identities to get the enhanced-security ID cards.

The bill comes as Kentucky is scrambling to get more citizens outfitted with REAL IDs and setting up regional offices around the state for citizens to obtain them.

When local health officers issued simultaneous orders on March 16 for all residents of seven counties in the San Francisco Bay area to "shelter at their place of residence," Arnab Mukherjea thought it was "a bit draconian" for him as well as his wife and two young children.

Kentucky is delaying its May primary elections by more than a month, the latest in a series of crowd restrictions announced to try and limit the spread of coronavirus.