Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (https://kycir.org/category/government/page/2/)
The judge ordered the Labor Cabinet to pay more than $16,000 in legal fees and an $800 penalty because it disregarded legal precedent when it redacted the name of an employee who was accused of sexual harassment.
One candidate has made improving worker safety a talking point in his campaign for governor.
Union halls, churches and other groups have paid the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office for decades to use their voting machines and employees for their private elections. The state auditor’s office has questioned the program’s legality.
Kentucky law says seized money must be used for direct law enforcement purposes. A KyCIR review of $3.7 million in spending records shows agencies take varied interpretations of that law.
The merger proposal was presented as one possible antidote to the Labor Cabinet’s recent troubles.
House Bill 322 would restore the OSHA Standards Board and require it to meet more frequently.
Cabinet leaders said eliminating the Labor Cabinet would save money, streamline government and improve the functions of Kentucky’s Occupational Safety and Health agency, which has been under federal scrutiny since a critical audit released in August.
The Labor Cabinet has purchased equipment and raised salaries in its embattled worker safety program. The Cabinet hasn’t specified how much the raises would be.
Kentucky pays its entry-level safety compliance officers less than any of the surrounding states, according to a KyCIR review of salary data.
Hoover, the former Speaker of the House, has said he exchanged inappropriate texts but denied any sexual contact. The staffer said under oath that Hoover sexually assaulted her.