“As my chief of staff, Adam continually demonstrated strong leadership skills and a passion for Kentucky,” Gov. Beshear said in a news release. “I can’t say enough about the role this young man played in making my administration both more efficient and effective. His service has made a positive difference in the lives of those my administration seeks to serve —the people of Kentucky.”

The administration wouldn’t comment on why Edelen is stepping down specifically, but he is considered a valued member of the governor’s team. The resignation is effective September 15.

The governor’s office has selected Mike Haydon, currently Beshear’s chief legislative liaison, to become the new chief of staff effective September 16.

The change comes over a year and a half after the chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky called for Edelen’s resignation and for Attorney General Jack Conway to investigate his activities in the governor’s office, citing a conflict of interest.

In January 2009, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Edelen friend and business partner Ralph Coldiron complained about his financial situation to Edelen in e-mails. It was later discovered that Beshear gave Coldiron a job in the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security and raised the pay from $80,000 to $100,000 even though state law prohibited him from doing so.

The newspaper also found out that Edelen was business partners in a land-development company with lobbyist Bob Babbage. The Herald-Leader reported Babbage had failed to disclose his business ties to the governor’s chief of staff in a mandatory financial disclosure form. Edelen and Babbage dissolved that partnership soon after the Herald-Leader story ran.

The failure of budget negotiators to approve a spending plan for state government now means Gov. Steve Beshear will have to call a special session before July 1. In previous years when the legislature failed to pass budgets, the governor was allowed to keep the lights on by creating their own informal spending plans.

In 2005, however, the Kentucky Supreme Court changed the law and ruled that governors cannot spend money without a budget unless required by the constitution or state law. That includes public schools, state prisons, and a militia, among other items for “safekeeping.”

The governor has released the following statement scolding the legislature for its failure to pass a comprehensive budget bill.

From Gov. Beshear:

“The people of this Commonwealth and I are disgusted by the total inability of the General Assembly to reach a budget agreement.

Instead, lawmakers decided to put their egos and personal priorities above the needs of Kentucky families – families that are struggling to pay their bills and hold on to their jobs in the worst recession of our lifetime.

Although they passed a legislative budget to fund their own salaries, they refused to fulfill their greatest duty – passing the people’s budget that funds our classrooms, teachers, health care programs, job creation efforts and keeping prisoners safely locked away.

Their failure not only puts these programs at risk, but means taxpayers will have to pay legislators overtime in a special session to do a job they should have already done.

The leadership of both chambers, after rejecting my budget proposal, said that writing their own budget would be their ‘defining moment.’

And it was.  A moment of abject failure.

Because of the complexities of finance and bond issues, as well as the need to plan for significant reductions in the next fiscal year resulting from the national economy, we must have an executive budget in place by June 1.

Therefore, I call upon the General Assembly to begin immediately working on a budget compromise, and continue until they come to a successful and responsible resolution, because I will call a special session in May.”

Earlier today, LEO Weekly’s Jonathan Meador pointed out that it was peculiar for Beshear to scold state lawmakers considering his own budgetary gimmicks at the beginning of the session.

Of the paltry 55 bills produced by the general assembly this session and signed into law by Gov. Steve Beshear, virtually none of them address the commonwealth’s most dire problems — measures to expand health care access to children, strengthen anti-domestic violence laws, reduce pollution from surface-top mining, and (most dire of all) adequately balancing Kentucky’s $1.5 billion budgetary shortfall without cannibalizing essential social services have all failed to reach the governor’s desk this year.

Good grief: The Democratic primary for U.S. Senate has gotten so petty that Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo’s allowance to pay for housing in Frankfort has become a political football.

Jobless stress: The unemployment rate in the 13-county metro area, including Southern Indiana, hit 12.1 percent in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report also shows that 76,000 people in the Louisville area were unable to find work in this lingering recession.

Pope Opera: Comedian Jon Stewart slammed the Pope over the ongoing sex scandals in the only way The Daily Show satirist could.

Confederate States of America: The south has risen again thanks to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who has stirred a controversy by declaring April, Confederate History Month. Interestingly, McDonnell urged his fellow Virginians to “understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War,” but not slavery. Even the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which endorsed McDonnell’s gubernatorial candidacy saw the dishonesty in the proclamation and said, “a hole lies in the statement’s heart.” The governor has since apologized for omitting human bondage from the executive order.

“High-speed Internet access is a vital tool for economic development, education and job creation,” Beshear said in a statement. “This grant is a major step toward increasing Internet services in unserved or underserved areas in the Commonwealth so that all Kentuckians have access to the world through connectivity.”

The state will receive approximately $1.6 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and an additional $500,000 for broadband planning of improvements and expansion activities over the next five years. Specifically, the statewide assessment will include data on the availability, speed, location and technology type of broadband services. The Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) in cooperation with state universities and community colleges will verify and field audit the collected information to ensure accuracy.

While I’m sure we all respect Sen. Carroll’s 175 years of service to the commonwealth (did you know he helped Daniel Boone pick out the curtains for the old Capitol?), his logic (or lack of it, evidenced here) regarding America’s glorious and efficient two-party system is troublesome: Instead of trying to change Kentucky’s closed primary system — which has the effect of entrenching corrupt, senile “legislators” whom will remain nameless for the purposes of this post —  Carroll suggests that independents should instead seek to create their own party and leave him the hell alone.

We shouldn’t have to break out the Groucho Marx quotations to understand this, but the independent’s raison d’etre precludes party affiliation. Or, to put this in language that Sen. Carroll would understand:

YOU ARE KILLING ‘MERICA NOW GO TO BED YOU SILLY OLD FART.

Few institutions outside of the Ku Klux Klan, FOX NEWS and the He-Man Women-Hater’s Club reward this demographic more handsomely than our own state legislature. Although the form of these rewards vary wildly — from good ol’ boy coal funding and golf course kickbacks to crafting legislation upon a medieval philosophical viewpoint without the slightest of repercussions — none can be more sweeter, or more fulfilling, than the reward of biological volition: To be able to do with one’s body whatever one deems appropriate, so long as it’s (1) not gay or (2) is secretly gay.

Unfortunately, if you happen to be a female in this state, then your biological freedoms will be drastically reduced by men whom have overwhelmingly passed senate bill 38, which was “introduced” by GOP meatpuppet Sen. Elizabeth Tori, R-10.

Put simply, SB38 mandates that any woman seeking an abortion must receive an ultrasound because (as we all know) women obviously neglect thinking through such serious and heartbreaking dilemmas due to their collective lack of penis and testicles, which (we also know) is the source of good judeo-christian morality. Had women been bestowed these magical law-making parts, then perhaps they might possess the mental acumen required in matters of life, death and other things that happen inside a uterus before they get knocked up or raped.

Like the mental acumen of the Kentucky senate, a body that isn’t afraid to make the hard choices for women and their unborn children. Nevermind that it’s demeaning, disrespectful and dishonest to masquerade a bill that undercuts a patient’s right to choose as an expansion of patient protection when, in fact, it isn’t. (As one of the few dissenting voices, Sen. Kathy Stein, D-13, put it, “We can read between the lines.” … especially if those lines appear on an HD ultrasound monitor with a 73hz refresh rate, so you can see your fetus’ disappointment in real time!) As evidenced, baiting-and-switching is a familiar political tactic. Were the Kentucky senate not comprised of sexist illiterates we’d still be dealing with egalitarian illiterates anyway, which we’re not, even though one can dream of progress, so I guess in all possible universes they would’ve voted for it regardless.

Of all the myriad problems facing this sickly commonwealth (a zombie economy, urban/rural poverty, budgetary shortfalls-galore, rampant income inequality, unattainable education and health care, actual zombies, etc.) our lawmakers have rightly ascertained that the biggest threat to Kentucky’s very existence is the amount of money we’re losing by not milking extra cash from poor pregnant women – especially when it is so much easier to do than messy boring tax-reform.

Sure, the lives of poor pregnant women are already hard enough — what with being poor and pregnant and a woman in a state that seemingly respects none of those things — but if poor pregnant women aren’t forced to get an extraneous medical procedure costing an average of $300, then they’ll just use it to buy crack or food or whatever poor people do wit their money.

That’s $300 that isn’t going toward a medical provider of some kind; $300 that isn’t going to buoy the $1.5 billion shortfall by any stretch;$300 that won’t buy David Williams, Greg Stumbo or the invisible ghost of Kentucky democracy, Alben Barkley, a new summer home.

What $300 will provide is an opportunity for women to view the fetus and, perhaps via SB38′s brand of legislated guilt, forgo the procedure altogether — because that’s what Jesus would want them to do (after being coerced and controlled by the state apparatus). Or maybe they will just look away from the ultrasound monitor because salt rubbed into wounds usually hurts more.

Robbing from the poor to give to the rich isn’t anything new, especially in a state that tries to fix massive holes in its budget by taxing to hell alcohol, tobacco and lower-income workers. Perhaps with a Christian-side hug from Lady Luck, Kentucky will enjoy an expanded gambling provision that will siphon whatever money is leftover after booze, smokes and diapers have been purchased. But stealing candy from a baby before the baby is even born has to earn Sen. Tori & Co. a few words of commendation. So why don’t you call (502) 564-3188 and tell them what a bang-up job they’re doing fucking everything all to hell for everybody.

Just make sure you’re a man, because all phones in Frankfort short-circuit when they come within three feet of a vagina.

The ‘wunderkind’ files: Marketing himself as “a progressive choice,” Louisville Metro Parks employee Mike Slaton officially filed to run as a candidate for the Kentucky House of Representatives 41st district seat. The Democratic primary battle will pit the more liberal Slaton up against 27-year incumbent Rep. Tom Riner, who is known to mix piety and politics.

Commuter college: Hat tip to WFPL’s Gabe Bullard over at The Edit for finding this interesting piece: The Daily Beast did some calculations and of America’s worst commutes, Louisville ranks 49.

State of the State: Gov. Steve Beshear will deliver his State of the Commonwealth Address tonight at 7 p.m., and he’s putting the finishing touches on the budget address. The fiscal forecast doesn’t look good according to the administration, which says the state faces a $1.5 billion deficit.

God’s Top 10: Last week, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a lower court order that had barred the 10 Commandments from a Grayson County courthouse citing the separation of church and state. In the 2-1 decision, the appeals court ruled that posting the Ten Commandments did not violate the U.S. Constitution, because it was part of a display of historical documents, including the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact and the Bill of Rights.

Sales and use taxes, combined with the individual income tax collections, make up approximately 75 percent of total General Fund revenues, and they continued to exhibit considerable weakness in December, falling $54.8 million compared to the previous year. For the first half of the fiscal year these taxes are off a combined 6.8 percent.

Among the major accounts:

• Sales and use tax receipts fell 8.2 percent in December, and are off 5.6 percent for the year.

• Corporation income tax receipts declined 36.0 percent and are down 36.6 percent for the year.

• Individual income tax collections fell 11.4 percent.  Both withholding of payroll taxes and estimated tax payments showed considerable weakness in December. Year-to-date receipts are down 7.7 percent.

• Property tax collections rose 14.2 percent, and are up 5.2 percent for the year-to-date.

• Cigarette tax receipts increased 77.4 percent, and are up 74.7 percent for the year, consistent with the recent trends following the rate increase in April 2009.

• Coal severance tax receipts decreased 5.9 percent in a continuation of the recent trend downward, posting an 11.1 percent decline year-to-date.

For a detailed list of all receipts, click here. (Warning: PDF File!)

2,000 Cats: It might be hard for Cardinal Nation to tip its hat to a rival, but the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team became the first NCAA program to reach 2,000 wins. Give the boys of Lexington credit, it has accomplished something that the programs in North Carolina, Duke, Kansas and Indiana have not. The Wildcats’ historic victory came after a 88-44 rout over Drexel.

Steve-o pleas: Former Kentucky Lt. Gov. Steve Henry is expected to accept a plea agreement to resolve three alleged criminal violations of state election-finance laws in connection with his unsuccessful 2007 campaign for governor.

Kissing cousins: For all the jokes about Kentucky inbreeding, marriage between first cousins is illegal in the Bluegrass. The taboo is allowed, however, in California, New York and Washington, D.C., which are considered more “progressive” parts of the country.

Dollar day in Kentucky: The economists who forecast the state’s finances and advise Gov. Steve Beshear and legislative leaders shaved their initial estimates on the budget deficit, but it’s still grim. The commonwealth faces a projected deficit of $100 million this fiscal year and nearly one billion dollars in the next biennium.

The state is projecting a $1.3 billion budget shortfall over the next two years.

“While this estimate is unofficial at this time, we are very concerned about the ability of revenues to meet budgeted levels,” Lassiter said in a press release. “The Beshear Administration remains committed to tight fiscal management as the Commonwealth endures what we hope is the tail end of this persistent economic downturn.”

With the start of the General Assembly session around the corner, expect lawmakers to grumble about necessary budget cuts while looking for new revenue streams. At an event hosted by Greater Louisville Inc., the Louisville Metro chamber of commerce, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear reportedly told business leaders that the state should “continue to look at increasing our cigarette tax.” The budget director’s report highlighted that the cigarette tax receipts grew 53 percent due to the previous rate increase that went into effect in April 2009.

The governor also put added pressure on Senate Republicans to pass legislation that would legalize video lottery terminals at race tracks.