Revenue estimates bumped up for this budget, if there ever is one

Educators prepare legislative agenda for school support

Career center initiative's goal: Develop staff for HMH

Editorial: Passing the test

Revenue estimates bumped up for this budget, if there ever is one

"We're showing the current fiscal year in the hole by $85 million," House Appropriations and Revenue Committee Chairman Harry Moberly said Wednesday.

Moberly, a Democrat from Richmond, said repeated requests for information from the administration have not brought the details requested. Even so, Moberly said Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher has moved more money into the beleaguered Medicaid program and promised additional spending in higher education and other areas.

"He's just spent more money in all the agencies," Moberly said.

Sen. Charlie Borders, R-Grayson, the Senate budget chairman, said he shared Moberly's pessimism about a budget even with larger tax projections.

"My gut feeling is we're going to be hundreds of millions of dollars short, even with the new numbers," Borders said.

Budget director Brad Cowgill said he does not know how the legislators could reach conclusions about potential shortfalls since the revenue projections have just been released and no total spending figures are available for the year.

"I don't know where the $85 million comes from," said Cowgill.

The official forecast from the panel of economists is much more optimistic about tax receipts this year and next than the outlook given to the 2004 session. From the original forecast presented in January 2004 to the estimates produced Wednesday, receipts are expected to be $280 million more this fiscal year and $208 million more next year.

"I'm glad to have the new forecast. It will help," Moberly said. "It doesn't mean that all our problems are solved."

The budget is still hanging because the General Assembly last year failed to put together a spending plan for the state. Moberly said a similar scenario may be on the horizon.

House Democrats last year complained that Fletcher's tax proposals came so late in the session they did not have time to tackle a whole package. Moberly said Fletcher has again withheld information about tax changes he would like the legislature to consider during the current session, which resumes on Feb. 1.

"I personally think time is wasting as we speak," Moberly said. "I was hoping we could have something to reach consensus on the tax plan even before we get there in February."

Cowgill said he has had several productive meetings with Moberly and other lawmakers and said Fletcher would outline the "parameters" of his budget and tax proposal on Feb. 2.

Fletcher and several of his top aides, including Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, fanned out across the state last week to generate support for tax changes. But no specifics of a plan or a proposed budget have been made public.

"We don't have the details we would like to have," Borders said.

Fletcher spokesman Doug Hogan said in an e-mail that the tax package will be similar to the proposal made in 2004, especially in the area of individual income tax, telecommunications tax and corporate levies.

Even with the increased revenues expected, Cowgill said the legislature faces some "fairly difficult decisions" about spending priorities because there will not be enough money to satisfy everything.

Educators prepare legislative agenda for school support

Legislators, however, say they must balance the different needs competing for state dollars.

“Hopefully, KEA is better prepared for this legislative session than we were in the fall,” said Hopkins County Education Association President Alice Noe. “It’s more than just the insurance issue. I think everyone knows that.”

Health insurance changes implemented by Gov. Ernie Fletcher led to statewide protests and a planned strike by the Kentucky Education Association. The resulting special session ended with health benefits for school and state workers being restored to previous levels.

Other issues expected to come up as legislators discuss the budget include state funding of public schools, tax reform, and possible changes to the salary schedule and SEEK funding formula.

“The list goes on and on,” Noe told the Hopkins County Board of Education Tuesday.

Kentucky Education Association is staging a “Public Education Bus Tour,” with meetings held throughout the state. HCEA members are being encouraged to attend today’s 5 p.m. meeting at Christian County High School.

“KEA is trying to come local,” Noe said. “We cannot all go to Frankfort.”

HCEA member Roger McDonald attended a recent meeting of KEA’s Government Relations Committee, where legislative priorities for future years were discussed.

“Our No. 1 priority, obviously, and what everything else stems from is adequate funding for education across the board,” he said. “Generally speaking, we know that pretty much it’s up for grabs again. We view what went on this fall as kind of the first round of an ongoing struggle to keep the benefits like they should be.”

In addition to compensation and benefits, teachers are concerned about funding for textbooks and technology, McDonald said. Unfunded mandates placed on school districts also pose a problem, he added.

“Last fall, when they were talking about insurance, we were able to focus attention on that issue,” McDonald said. “In the short session, the assembly’s going to have to come up with a complete budget.

“Having to compete for those dollars with all the other needs in the state is going to be a problem,” he said.

State Sen. Jerry Rhoads and state Rep. Eddie Ballard, both Madisonville Democrats, express optimism the General Assembly will soon reach agreement on a budget.

Last year, no budget was passed because of partisan differences.

While Fletcher hasn’t yet presented his budget proposal, Ballard thinks his plan will be much different than last year — partly because of increased revenues.

“I’m probably going to vote with him,” Ballard said. “He won the state by 100,000 votes and he won this county, so the people must want what he’s proposing. They’re the ones who elected him governor.”

His support, however, is contingent on funding for Madisonville Community College’s Energy and Advanced Technology Center and the Hopkins County Agriculture Center being included in the budget, he said.

Rhoads sees a greater sense of urgency among legislators to pass a budget because of the “sunset” date of June 30 the Franklin circuit judge placed on the governor’s spending authorization. He expects to see a tax modernization plan that includes a cigarette tax increase of 30-40 cents per pack, closing of some corporate tax loopholes, and reform of personal income tax rates.

He hopes the budget and tax modernization remain separate issues.

“I think there’s a lot of competition for the dollars,” Rhoads said. “The Medicaid program is in bad shape. But we can’t close these gaps all at one time. We’ve got to spread out the pain, basically.”

Budget cuts in higher education have led to spiraling tuition rates, he said.

“We’re going to have to slow that down, at least,” Rhoads said. “I’d say a major focus will be on higher education. I’m not sure there’s going to be a great deal of additional money available for K-12, although I am optimistic that we will pass a budget — and also tax modernization that will provide some additional revenues.”

The News-Enterprise
January 20, 2005

Career center initiative's goal: Develop staff for HMH

Hardin Memorial Hospital is looking for additional health care workers — and it's starting the search among its own employees.

"There's a big shortage of clinical folks," for the short term as well as the extended picture, said Tony Welch, vice president of human resources, as he addressed the hospital's board of directors Tuesday. "Not as many people are going into health care fields."

To make matters worse, the current work force is getting older. For example, Welch said, the average age of registered nurses in the area is 45. Many are going part-time or will be retiring soon, he said.

Welch announced the launch of NorthStar Health Career Center, a pilot initiative designed to encourage people to get information they need about potential health care careers and resources and support to complete training or education. The center was created at the hospital in partnership with Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and Lincoln Trail Workforce Investment Board.

Welch said the best candidates are right there — people who already work for the hospital in another capacity but may be underemployed. Initially, NorthStar will focus on existing hospital employees, but Welch said the plan is to offer the services to the public as the center continues to develop.

As an example of the kind of person the center hopes to help, Welch pointed to Rebecca Crain, who had been presented with the Fern M. Renfro Scholarship for Healthcare Professionals earlier in the board meeting.

Crain started working at HMH in 2000 in the transport unit, moving patients from one area of the hospital to another, before she moved into a secretarial position. Now she's a student at Jefferson Community College in the registered nursing program, and she's the pediatrics unit secretary.

"The concept is one-stop shopping," Welch said.

NorthStar offers counseling services, attitude and aptitude testing, job training, academic and professional development services, financial aid assistance and job placement.

"We want to make sure that anybody who wants the opportunity to excel in health care gets that opportunity," Welch said.

He acknowledged that it can be overwhelming to think about going or returning to college, and people may put off going to ECTC or other institutions of higher learning to even get information. NorthStar is part of HMH's human resources department, so it's close and employees should be able to feel comfortable visiting there, he said.

"We're trying to allow folks a less intimidating way to get back into school," Welch said.

Dr. Thelma White, president of ECTC, said the career center provides a safe atmosphere.

She told the board there had been quite a few displaced workers in the area last year, and a lot of them were looking for new career options — many in health care fields.

She said the hospital and ECTC always have had a good working relationship and this project provided an opportunity to enhance that relationship.

"The wonderful thing is it's been a crossroads of all our dreams," White said. "We have the best of these partners working together to address these allied health shortages."

Lincoln Trail has provided a grant of 20 laptop computers with wireless Internet capability to the center, so virtual classrooms can be set up practically anywhere in the hospital.

"You do have a can-do partnership here. There isn't much we feel we can't do," White said.

In November, the first staff orientation was held, and three more are scheduled in the next two months. The first of those will be Feb. 11, and there will be an official kickoff for the program before then, Welch told the board.

The human resources department is also developing a certification program for security workers, he said.

The Daily Independent
January 15, 2005

Editorial: Passing the test
Success of graduates on nursing exams sign of quality programs

A good way of judging the quality of an academic program is by how well graduates do on the examinations they must pass to enter the profession. By that standard, the nursing and licensed practical nursing programs at Ashland Community and Technical College are doing an excellent job of preparing students for the profession.

Graduates of the ACTC two-year program for registered nurses passed at a 92 percent rate during 2004, while LPN graduates, an 18-month program, achieved a 93 percent pass rate on the National Council Licensing Examination.

The Kentucky Board of Nursing expects an 85 percent pass rate for a program's graduates, and the national average is 85.9 percent on the RN exam, said Janie Kitchen, coordinator of ACTC's RN program.

The LPN program has a goal of a 90 percent pass rate, and it has achieved that for the past two years, said Phyllis Howard, coordinator of the program. In fact, it has done better than that. One hundred percent of its May 2004 graduates passed the exam.

A professional degree program - be it in law, medicine, accounting, education or any other programs that require passage of exams - is not meeting the needs of its students if a high percentage of its graduates fail the required tests. After all, what good is a law degree if you can't pass the bar exam?

Nursing students at ACTC are getting what they need to succeed in their chosen professions. Both the RN and LPN programs pass the test.