Governor Beshear Takes Budget Plan on the Road

From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeighKentucky Governor Steve Beshear is on the road this week, pitching his budget-balancing plan. Fiscal questions are being raised about the governor's travels.Tonight, Governor Beshear holds a town hall meeting in Ashland. Wednesday he travels to Hazard and Thursday he’ll be in Dry Ridge. He’s already been to Henderson. He’s taking his pitch for budget cuts and a 70-cent increase in the state’s cigarette tax to the people.But in tight budget times, wouldn’t videoconferencing be a cheaper way to relay his message?"There’s a lot of ways I can communicate with folks and I think face-to-face communication is extremely important," says Beshear. "I want to look them in the eye, tell them where we are, what we’re proposing and what our options are and I want to hear from them."The governor says he’s just trying to get the ball rolling in the discussion over fixing the state’s 456-million dollar revenue shortfall. He says time is of the essence and the sooner lawmakers address the deficit, the better.The next regular legislative session starts January sixth.