Kentucky
Promised report on Kentucky single-bid paving contracts 8 months late
Last December, a committee of Kentucky lawmakers met to hear a presentation from legislative analysts that confirmed a longstanding concern with the way the state doles out road paving contracts: Single-bid jobs are costly.
According to the Legislative Research Commission analysts, most of the contracts awarded by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet from January 2018 through July 2023 went to companies that submitted the only bid to do the work.
Without competition, the analysts found that those jobs cost taxpayers more money than other paving projects that pitted two or more companies against each other to bid for the lowest price.
The presentation followed a 2021 Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting analysis which found that nearly a third of all road work contracts awarded between 2018 and 2021 went to single bidders — costing taxpayers $9.6 million more than state officials’ estimates.
The legislative researchers provided a list of policy recommendations they said could make the bidding process more competitive — like ending the practice of publishing a list of contractors who planned to submit bids for a project, which the analysts warned can stifle competition.
Brandon Storm, a Republican from London and chair of the oversight and investigations committee that heard the presentation about single bids, said a full report on the issue would be released in January 2024.
But lawmakers have yet to release the report. And Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials have implemented just one of six policy changes recommended by the analysts — they started using software to help detect collusion in the bidding process, according to a cabinet spokesperson who said the cabinet was working to implement other recommendations.
In the months following the committee meeting, Kentucky transportation officials have continued to award single-bid contracts, resulting in higher costs for the taxpayers, according to research from Andrew McNeill, president of the research organization KY Forum for Rights, Economics and Education.
McNeill has tracked Kentucky Transportation Cabinet bids for years, often arguing the state’s practice of awarding single-bid contracts is fiscally irresponsible.
He analyzed state transportation contracts awarded in the first six months of 2024 and found $142 million in work awarded to single-bid contracts, which he estimates is about $4.5 million more than state officials would have paid if multiple companies vied for contracts.
He based his estimation on research from the University of Kentucky in 2015 that determined that bids with two or more bidding companies resulted in costs that were 86.6 percent of the state’s estimated costs.
These numbers are similar to those presented to the legislature in December. Legislative analysts at that presentation said single-bid contracts cost 100.5% of the engineers’ estimate, while those with two or more bidders cost 93.3% of the estimates.
McNeill said wasting money on single-bid contracts takes away funding that could be used on other transportation needs across the state.
“These dollars are going towards these companies’ bottom line, because the Transportation Cabinet is either unwilling or incapable of designing procurements to generate competition,” he said.
Naitore Djigbenou, the spokesperson for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said in an email that “fostering a competitive bidding process for advertised projects has always been our goal and part of the Transportation Cabinet’s longstanding effort to continually benchmark procurement practices and results with other states.” Djigbenou said the cabinet has been working to implement five of the six recommendations from the presentation, and Djigbenou said those changes “are at various degrees of implementation.”
Chad Larue, executive director of the Kentucky Association of Highway Contractors, said he’d defer speaking to reporters until after the legislators issue their promised report.
The investigations and oversight committee has met twice this year, in June and July, respectively. The topic of single-bid contracts was not on either meeting’s agenda. Storm, the committee chair, said in an email to KyCIR that he anticipates the report will be released in August.
To McNeill, the delay raises questions.
“Why wouldn’t the legislature want the public to see the full report? Is there something in there that is more damning than what was presented in December? Are they simply more interested in protecting their friends in the highway contractor industry and their relationship with the Transportation Cabinet than they are with being transparent with the public?” he asked.
Power, problems and politics
Asphalt companies are powerful job suppliers that donate thousands to political campaigns. Online records maintained by the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance show asphalt company employees across the state donated $117,000 thousand in donations from employees of asphalt companies during the 2023 election cycle.
The industry also has a checkered past. Leonard Lawson, who founded paving company Mountain Enterprises, was accused of bid rigging and indicted on federal antitrust charges in 2008. He was acquitted of those charges along with two state transportation cabinet officials.
Federal investigators raided the Lexington offices of ATS Construction and its subsidiaries, companies owned by Leonard Lawson’s son, Steve Lawson, in 2017 as part of another federal antitrust investigation. Company officials did not immediately return a request for comment.
After the December committee meeting, the cabinet agreed to monitor contracts awarded for work in Fayette County and follow up if the pattern of single-bid contracts continued. According to McNeill’s review of the data for 2024, the cabinet awarded $52.8 million in single-bid contracts in Fayette County.
December’s hearing included some explanations for the lack of competitiveness in Kentucky’s road paving industry. Asphalt can only be transported for 30 to 40 minutes before it starts to set, so companies are limited to jobs close to asphalt plants. And asphalt plants are expensive, making it difficult for new companies to enter the industry. Researchers said about half of all asphalt contracts from 2018 to 2023 went to single bidders, with five companies winning 60% of single-bid contracts.
At the time, lawmakers seemed unbothered by analysts’ findings.
Sen. Reginald Thomas, a Democrat from Lexington, said he didn’t see the problem with the state’s contracting system.
“As I sit here and listen to all these different points, I’m trying to figure out, what’s the problem here?” Thomas asked. “There’s no indication the quality of the work is not fine.”
See Triple Crown winners in Kentucky Derby history
Take a look at the 13 elite thoroughbreds who have claimed the ultimate prize in horse racing: the Triple Crown.
Intrepido is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2026 Kentucky Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.
The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 25. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 2.
Intrepido will enter the Kentucky Derby off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4. He currently ranks 17th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 38.
Buy tickets here for Kentucky Derby 152
Color: Bay.
Bred in: Kentucky.
Sire: Maximus Mischief.
Dam: Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect.
Price tag: $385,000 at 2025 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
Owners: Dutch Girl Holdings (Michele Arthur); Irving Ventures (Ruben Isla). First Derby for both.
Trainer: Jeff Mullins. He’s 0 for 4 in the Derby, best finish with Buzzards Bay (fifth) in 2005.
Jockey: Hector Berrios. First Derby.
Record: 2-1-0 in six starts.
Career earnings: $342,800.
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 38 (No. 17).
Last race: Fourth in Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4.
Running style: Has displayed early speed but raced off pace in Santa Anita Derby.
Notes: Intrepido has done all of his racing in California, winning as a 2-year old at Del Mar and Santa Anita. This year, he finished second in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis before heading to the Santa Anita Derby. … Mullins is in the Derby for the first time since 2005 but had the morning-line favorite in 2009 with I Want Revenge. He was scratched the morning of the race because of an ankle injury. … Intrepido is a ridgling, which means he has at least one undescended testicle.
What they’re saying: “I didn’t (expect that),” Mullins said after Intrepido worked a quick 47.4 seconds for four furlongs on April 19 at Santa Anita Park. “But we often get what we don’t expect.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
Kentucky
Northern Kentucky Education Council honors NKY educators with 2026 Excellence in Education Awards
Sadiqa Reynolds was removed from the University of Louisville board of trustees last week, as the Kentucky Senate did not confirm her appointment before they adjourned the 2026 legislative session.
Reynolds, the former president of the Louisville Urban League, was appointed to a six-year term on the board last April by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
Under state law, gubernatorial appointees to boards must be confirmed by the state Senate during the subsequent legislative session in order to stay in that position. While the Republican supermajority filed and passed more than 50 resolutions to confirm appointees, none were filed to confirm Reynolds.
Reynolds told Kentucky Public Radio this week that she was not given any reason for why the Senate failed to confirm her, but suspected Republicans wanted her out due to her open criticism of the attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in education by President Donald Trump and the legislature.
“Attacks on education are attacks on our democracy,” Reynolds said. “There is no honor in following the lead of Kentucky Republicans when they are hellbent on destroying any gains we have made in this country.”
Reynolds added that it was “a badge of honor” to be rejected by Senate Republicans.
“Fascists refused to confirm me,” she said. “One little woman with one voice. I have never felt more powerful.”
Asked why Republican leadership did not confirm Reynolds, a Senate GOP spokesperson replied that “there was no resolution filed by a Democrat or Republican for the Senate to consider.”
Republican senators — who make up 84% of the chamber — filed all of the 50-plus resolutions to confirm Beshear appointees. Only one Senate bill filed by a Democrat was passed into law this session.
Senate Democrats did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the chamber not confirming Reynolds.
Scottie Ellis, the spokesperson for Gov. Beshear, replied in a statement that Reynolds “is an accomplished leader and University of Louisville alumna who cares about the direction of the school and served on its Board of Trustees with pride and integrity. Her removal is the latest politically motivated move by the Republican-led General Assembly, who are ultimately hurting UofL and its students with this baseless action.”
Asked to comment on Reynolds’ removal from the board of trustees, U of L spokesman John Karman said it was “not our decision,” adding that “the university is appreciative of Trustee Reynolds for her service and grateful for her contributions as a member of the Board of Trustees.”
Reynolds was critical not just of the Trump administration’s actions targeting DEI initiatives, but legislation passed into law by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2025 to ban all DEI initiatives at public colleges. She added that she pushed the university not to “overcomply” with such efforts and challenge them legally, or “at least explain the impact of compliance to the legislators and to the public.”
“People are so afraid to ask questions and challenge them, and I was not afraid,” she said. “Republicans have heard what I said and didn’t like it.”
Reynolds was not the only Beshear appointee to not be confirmed by the Senate. Though Republicans filed a resolution to confirm Michael Abell to the Fish and Wildlife Resources Commission, they did not vote on it before the legislature adjourned.
Responding to Abell’s removal last week, Ellis said the Senate GOP “once again refused to confirm a commissioner nominated by the Kentucky sportsmen and appointed by the Governor. This is now the eighth time they have done so. Kentuckians should be very worried about the operations at Fish & Wildlife.”
Reynolds was formerly a judge and top aide to former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, until she was named CEO of the Louisville Urban League in 2015. She left that position in 2022 to become CEO of the Perception Institute, a New York City think tank that counters bias and discrimination. Reynolds stepped down from that position last fall to focus fully on the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, a West End sports complex she pushed for while at the Urban League.
The Louisville Urban League president that succeeded Reynolds in 2022 was fired after four months, then filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit alleging she was wrongfully terminated for airing concerns about its finances and allegations of conflicts of interest involving the sports complex. A mistrial was declared in that case, and a new trial was granted last month.
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