"Governor Steven Beshear, Commonwealth of Kentucky"

When he ran for office as the first West Kentuckian to run for Governor in over 30 years, Governor Beshear may not have realized that the lessons he learned from childhood about business from his father, a preacher and undertaker, would come to serve the State of Kentucky

He and his staff are spending a lot of time in western Kentucky these days. During his campaign, he promised if he were elected that West Kentucky would have a seat at the table and would receive its fair share of attention from Frankfort, which had been missing for years. He's spent a lot of time fulfilling that promise.

Though he runs as a Democrat and believes in the strengths of our partisan election system, he made a point of expressing the need for bipartisan leadership between elected officials. Elected officials need to leave partisan hats at the door to come together to do good work toward progress, to push forward to the future.

Governor Beshear offered the following updates on state level work:

Budget: He and his team inherited a deficit and have built a plan to eliminate a projected $1 billion shortfall for the next 2 years, in a time our country is experiencing an economic slowdown. It was a daunting task to cut $1 billion from an $18 billion budget, but they balanced the budget, as is required by the State Constitution. This cut will affect a lot of people, but he reminded us that just as in tough times in our persona lives, we need to cut back, tighten the belt, balance our check book, and work through it. He is optimistic that the state will come through it. While there will be some "bones and muscle" cut, this is an opportunity to combine tasks at the state level and operate more efficiently.

Public Pension: During his term, they have tackled the tough public pension issue by passing pension reform legislation to ensure that public employees are guaranteed a sound pension system.

Employment: Governor Beshear has as a top priority the creation of more and better jobs for our state. He was effective in bringing Toyota to the State during his previous term at the state level years ago and sees relationships with Japan and Japanese business as a potential opportunity to create more work. He and his team are also exploring partnerships to expand Kentucky's role in the future of the biotechnology field. West Kentucky has some of the best potential in the Commonwealth with its good people and strong education systems and we need work together to form stronger partnerships between Kentucky government and the businesses here.

Energy: The energy crisis is not going to end until we take it into our own hands. We are being held hostage by foreign energy providers and it is time now for this country to become energy independent. Gov. Beshear, along with local officials, is cautiously optimistic in their exploration of the creation of a coal-to-liquid plant in McCracken County. This project would create thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs to operate the plant. There are also opportunities in the development of alternative fuel and nuclear energy production as well. Energy is going to play a huge role in the economic development in this part of the state.

Tourism: Tourism is vital to the local economy in Paducah, with the Quilt Museum, the river industry and the arts. There's lots going on and officials are going to maximize the potential. The Governor is looking forward to a time when the bright children of West Kentucky will be able to be educated here and remain here to raise their families.

Today, Governor Beshear and his team approved a $500,000 grant to the City of Paducah to continue the construction of Paducah's Greenway Trail connecting Perkins Creek, three public parks, new boat links, and the downtown and Lowertown Arts districts. This funding will help support the construction of the middle section of the trail from Noble Park to US45. Building infrastructure like this is a priority because it adds to the potential for economic development. Governor Beshear is grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to making Kentucky a better place to call home.