Joe Sonka
Enterprise Statehouse ReporterJoe Sonka is Kentucky Public Radio’s first enterprise statehouse reporter. He joined the team in October 2023.
Joe has covered Kentucky government and politics for nearly two decades. He grew up in Lexington and moved to Louisville in 2011, covering city and state government at LEO Weekly and then Insider Louisville. He became state government reporter for the Courier Journal in 2019 and was a lead reporter for the newspaper's 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on former Gov. Matt Bevin's controversial pardons just before leaving office.
You can email Joe at jsonka@lpm.org and find him at BlueSky (@joesonka.lpm.org).
-
A federal judge in New York ordered a freeze to most bank assets remaining of Addiction Recovery Care, the Kentucky provider currently under an FBI investigation for potential Medicaid fraud. -
A month after the Kentucky Supreme Court struck down a 2022 law that limited the power of Jefferson County’s elected school board, Senate Republicans are trying again with a new bill. -
The Kentucky House formed an impeachment committee to consider citizen petitions to remove three public officials, including Supreme Court Justice Pamela Goodwine. -
One of several GOP bills to limit property taxes on elderly homeowners with a constitutional amendment has cleared a Kentucky Senate committee. -
Republicans in the Kentucky Senate gave priority status to a bill that could return driver’s license renewals back to county offices, citing long wait times at regional offices. -
The candidate filing deadline passed Friday in Kentucky, with Democrats again leaving many General Assembly races unchallenged to the Republican supermajority. -
A naturalized citizen was inspired to run for the Kentucky House a day after GOP bills were filed to ban immigrants from public office, saying it’s “not the time to sit on the sidelines.” -
Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear revealed his budget priorities for the next two fiscal years in his State of the Commonwealth address, calling for major new investments in education and to address affordability. -
The Kentucky General Assembly opened the 2026 session in new temporary lodgings with no gallery for in-person viewing. Lawmakers’ top mission will be to pass a two-year budget. -
Kentucky’s federal delegation had mixed reactions to the military incursion into Venezuela, including criticism from the state’s lone Democrat and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie.
