The state legislature's Tobacco Task Force will hold public meetings in four Kentucky communities on how to spend money from the national tobacco settlement. Sen. Joey Pendleton, a Hopkinsville Democrat and chairman of the task force, said state Agriculture Commissioner Billy Ray Smith and representatives from the offices of Gov. Paul Patton and Attorney General Ben Chandler will attend the meetings. The federal government, however, may request that about 70 percent of that payment be paid back for Medicaid reimbursement costs. The 1998 General Assembly approved a bill that would give legislators authority over spending money received in the settlement. Here is the schedule for the task force hearings.
All times are local.
7 p.m. Jan. 28, Hopkinsville Community College auditorium. 1 p.m. Jan. 29, Budget Host Inn in Horse Cave. 7 p.m. Feb. 3, Maysville Community College's Calvert Student Center. No portion may be retransmitted, republished or reused in any form without written permission from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky Connect.