(AP) ? A massive road construction plan received final passage in the Kentucky General Assembly on Thursday, paving the way for more than 1,000 projects political leaders say will provide a needed economic boost as the state recovers from recession. [...] in the House, a bloc of Republicans and a lone Democrat voted against it, complaining that the initiative had been developed in private discussions and that it approves tolls to help pay for the Louisville bridges. House Republican Floor Leader Jeff Hoover delivered a scathing floor speech that criticized the secretive nature of negotiations that led to the appropriations measure. In years past, legislative leaders have developed spending plans behind closed doors with shades down, hallways roped off and state troopers standing guard. A slow economic rebound led to a lean state budget that forces sharp cuts on most government agencies, leaves employees without pay raises again and erases a planned cost-of-living increase from the monthly pension checks of retirees. The measure calls for 8.4 percent cuts to most government agencies and programs because of lingering financial woes brought on by the recession. Gov. Beshear, a Democrat, used his line-item veto power Wednesday to strike some provisions lawmakers had tucked into the budget, including $200,000 for an actors' guild, $300,000 for a mystery writers' festival and a handful of other earmarks.
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