Government

Lawmakers will return to Frankfort Aug. 19 for what legislative leaders and the governor for a five-day special session to pass new legislative and judicial district maps.

Gov. Steve Beshear said the maps will be drawn using the same 2010 U.S. Census data that lawmakers used to craft new congressional maps in 2012. That will include counting the more than 8,400 federal prisoners. That had been in question after House leaders proposed a map this spring that didn’t count those prisoners.

Secretary of State Alison Lundergran Grimes – a Democrat who hopes to take Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s job in November – mentioned a Hodgenville woman in her campaign’s kickoff speech July 31.

Grimes told a story about Mary Lowe-Jackson, who she said was ignored by McConnell when she tried to visit him in his office.

Grimes said Jackson had an appointment but was told McConnell did not have time to meet with her.

Smokeless tobacco users who buy chewing or “spit” tobacco such as Kentucky-produced Red Man and Mammoth Cave, can expect to pay a bit less starting in August, when Kentucky’s tax on chewing tobacco decreases from roughly 41 cents per pack to 19 cents.

House Bill 361, passed on March 22, is mostly remembered for establishing medical review panels that can potentially lower liability costs for long-term care facilities, but the bill also contains a provision that changes the tax on chewing tobacco from a percentage tax to a unit tax.

New laws approved during the Kentucky General Assembly’s 2013 regular session go into effect on June 25.

That means laws against human trafficking will soon be strengthened. More DNA testing will be allowed as evidence in post-conviction felony cases.

And school districts can start deciding whether they want to raise their compulsory attendance age to 18, though the 2015-16 school year would be the first year any changes could actually impact students.