2009 Interim Record

2009 Interim LEGISLATIVE Volume 20, No. 12 November 2009 RECORD Jobless trust fund hurting, lawmakers told Sports safety by Rebecca Mullins LRC Public Information implementation With a jobless rate of at least 10.9 percent, Kentuckians need unemployment benefits. But after borrowing over half a billion dollars right on from the federal government already to cover a shortfall in the state unemployment insurance trust fund, Kentucky realizes it must correct an imbal- schedule ance in the trust fund that has the state paying out millions more in benefits than it receives in rev- by Chuck Truesdell enue. LRC Public Information Education and Workforce Development Cabi- More than 8000 coaches and staff have com- net Secretary Helen Mountjoy told the state legis- pleted a school safety course required by the Gen- lative Interim Joint Committee on Labor and In- eral Assembly earlier this year, high school athletic dustry last month that the Governor’s Task Force officials reported last month. on Unemployment Insurance, now compiling a re- House Bill 383, passed during the 2009 Regular port on the issue, is preparing to recommend ways Session, mandated that at least one person at every Kentucky can continue to provide benefits to the high school sports practice and contest have com- unemployed while restoring stability to the trust peted the course by the beginning of this school year. fund and keeping Kentucky employers competi- Julian Tackett, the Kentucky High School Athletic tive. Association’s Assistant Commissioner, reported that The recommendations are expected to be Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Flat Lick, at left, talks with Rep. Tom by next school year, course completion will be a pre- made in time for consideration by the 2010 Ken- Riner, D-Louisville, at the Nov. 19 meeting of the Interim Joint hiring requirement for all coaches. tucky General Assembly, which begins meeting in Committee on Labor and Industry. KHSAA officials moved swiftly to put the on- Bud Kraft/LRC Public Information Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Expectations high for Louisville Zoo’s Glacier Run by Rob Weber would be up about $1 million. This truly is an invest- this project.” LRC Public Information ment in an economic project that will have a great The zoo has already raised about $23.5 million return and great dividends for the for the exhibit, but still needs to raise another $5.6 When completed, the Louisville Zoo’s Glacier local and commonwealth’s econ- million. It is asking the state to pledge $4 million to Run exhibit won’t just be a world-class home for po- In 2010, omy.” the project. lar bears, seals and sea lions. It will be an economic sea lions Portions of the Glacier Run “When we started six years ago, we requested boost for Louisville and the state, zoo officials told exhibit have already opened, $6 million. With the success we’ve had in other fund- and seals will members of the General Assembly’s Economic De- including a splash park. Last raising efforts and Louisville Metro stepping up be- velopment and Tourism Committee during the pan- be year, construction started on yond its original pledge, we now would be comfort- el’s Nov. 19 meeting. added to a replica of an arctic village able with a $4 million pledge from the state to allow “Every time there’s a new project, especially a the exhibit. that will include a schoolhouse us to complete the project,” Stewart said. “… We’re Rebecca Mullins/ big project, we get a real pickup in attendance of 15, In 2011, the that offers interactive learning going to complete this one way or another. But the 20, or 25 percent. We’re expecting that with Glacier experiences. In 2010, sea li- sooner we complete the project the more quickly we LRC Public Information Run,” said Gary L. Stewart, Louisville Zoo Founda- polar bears ons and seals will be added to see the economic benefits.” tion board member. exhibit will open. the exhibit. In 2011, the polar In response to a question from Rep. Jim Gooch, Annual attendance at the zoo is expected to top bears exhibit will open, said D-Providence, about the approach Glacier Run will 900,000 once Glacier Run is fully open. “A million in John T. Walczak, the zoo’s ex- take in educating students about the environment and attendance is not out of reach at all,” Stewart said. ecutive director. causes of threats to polar bears, Walczak responded In addition to raising revenue for the zoo, the Amusement venues need a new attraction every that the exhibit will offer scientific information, such rising number of visitors will provide a boost for city three to five years to avoid a drop-off in attendance, as the fact that the number of polar bears in the arctic and state government, Stewart said. “State tax reve- Stewart said. “And we can expect that kind of de- nue would be up nearly $2 million and local revenue cline if we don’t move ahead enthusiastically with Continued on page 2 THE KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY very good job at a very good price,” Sports, he said. Tackett noted that the course Zoo, was free for everyone who took the from page 1 course. from page 1 Members of the Interim Joint Committee on Education took the op- has declined from 26,000 ten years line course in place, Tackett said. The portunity to make other suggestions to ago to 20,000 today. “What we share legislation required the course to be improve student-athlete safety. Rep. with children is objective scientific in- taught by a medical professional li- Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, re- formation and we always leave them censed in Kentucky, but “there was marked that automated external defi- with a way that they can be part of the no program out there that fit all the brillators would be a wise investment solution to make the world a healthier criteria,” he said. for schools. place,” he said. The KHSAA worked with the Ken- “A thousand dollars for a small Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louis- tucky Medical Association to put to- school sounds like a lot, but compared ville, asked zoo officials for an up- gether its own course. to a child’s life, that’s nothing,” he date on the June accident at the zoo in The online program will allow said while pointing that an AED re- which a small train carrying visitors changes to be implemented quickly, quirement was considered but left out overturned and injured 22 riders. said KHSAA Commissioner Brigid of the final version of HB 383. “The accident is still pending Devries. Rep. Charlie Miller, D-Louisville, investigation,” Walczak said. “We’re “We tried to build it for the fu- agreed with a particular suggestion in- working completely and cooperatively ture” despite the rush to bring it online cluded in the report of the Sports Safe- with (state investigators). Right now, Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, speaks during the Nov. 19 meeting of the Interim Joint Commit- quickly, Tackett added. Most coaches ty Work Group. the ride’s not in operation. The out- have completed the online course’s “We need to have athletic trainers tee on Economic Development and Tourism. come of the future of the ride is pend- Bud Kraft/LRC Public Information seven modules in 5-7 hours, he said. in all our schools” he said. ing investigation.” Dr. Peter Bowles, who helped de- Among the other findings of the The closing of the train ride has “virtual lessons’ to classes across the sign the curriculum, said the program work group was that the current cur- resulted in about $200,000 in lost rev- state. is unique. “Kentucky is viewed as a riculum for high school coaches would enue for the zoo, Stewart said. Walczak responded that the zoo leader in this area,” he noted. “This is be sufficient if required for middle Rep. John “Bam” Carney, R- has offered distance learning and wants the only course that’s online in the en- school coaches as well. Campbellsville, noted that economic to expand its offerings, in addition to tire country.” Jefferson County Schools re- constraints are making it harder for offering a “Zoo to You” program that Bowles also noted that the work quired all middle school coaches to many schools to afford class field trips educates thousands of schoolchildren was done efficiently. “We’re doing a take the course, Tackett said. and suggested that the zoo provide in the state. Unemployment, from page 1 January. Mountjoy said Kentucky’s “low” “We have to look at a way that taxable wage base of $8,000 is the Sen. Julian this program can become solvent and same as Virginia’s, but that Virgin- Carroll, sustainable,” Mountjoy told lawmak- ia—along with Tennessee and West D-Frankfort, ers on the committee. “We know this Virginia—are among Kentucky’s sev- talks with Rep. Will is not the last recession, unfortunately, en border states that are not currently Coursey, that our borrowing money from the federal D-Benton, e c o n o m y government. Kentucky has borrowed during the The average will have to over $500 million from the federal November weekly benefit suffer.” government, and currently has the Labor and Industry payment last O n e highest unemployment rate of any of meeting. month was way that its border states, Mountjoy said. other states Kentucky can also increase its Bud Kraft/ $306 a week, LRC Public are improv- trust fund dollars by decreasing its Information with a ing solven- jobless rate, but Mountjoy explained maximum cy in their that will take time.

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