Committee Approves Transportation Budget

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...The Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee approved a $4.5 billion transportation budget Thursday after inserting language that would restore nearly $50 million for road construction projects that had been vetoed by Governor Steve Beshear. Appropriations and Revenue Committee Chairman Bob Leeper cited a "fit of conscience" for his push to put the $50 million in road projects into the transportation budget. Leeper said he felt the projects, all of which were in Senate President David Williams' district, had been unfairly stricken from the state's road construction plan. The spending measure now advances to the Senate floor for a planned vote on Friday.