Senate Recedes Amendment Restoring Vetoes in Transportation Budget

by Josh James, Kentucky Public RadioThe Kentucky Senate has backed off of an amendment that would have restored funding vetoed by Governor Steve Beshear in a transportation budget after the House of Representatives refused to consider the changes.Before asking that the chamber drop the amended version, which kept $50 million dollars worth of spending in his district, Senate president Davis Williams accused House leaders of taking the lion's share of the road funds.“I don't feel like the person that's really been victimized in this situation," he said. "I think the members of the house, the house majority, ought to take a look, every two years, at what happens in the road plan.”The transportation budget passed without the amendment, leaving the governor's vetoes in place and accomplishing half of the business the legislature was called back to Frankfort to tackle. Meanwhile, last-minute negotiations could breathe new life into a bill aimed at limiting prescription drug abuse and so-called "pill mills." House and Senate leaders are trying to hash out a compromise that could pass both chambers.