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Beshear details licensing IT overhaul, school safety checks, arts grants and childhood-cancer funding
Summary
In the Team Kentucky update Gov. Andy Beshear announced a June 8 launch for a new driver's licensing system and public portal, described a school carbon-monoxide inspection initiative that found 26 correctable issues in 125 buildings, awarded arts grants to 12 nonprofits, and announced $14 million in state childhood-cancer funding.
Governor Andy Beshear used Thursday's update to outline several executive initiatives aimed at improving government services, school safety and health funding.
Driver licensing: Beshear said a new computer system for driver's licensing (referred to in the briefing as BRIDAL) is on track to launch June 8. The system will introduce a public portal, "My Drive," to let Kentuckians pre-apply for licenses and access records online. To make the change, he said regional licensing offices will temporarily close June 4–5 to transfer systems and that walk-in hours will be available 8 a.m.–12 p.m. through June 18 to support the transition.
School carbon monoxide inspections: Beshear described a statewide effort to repurpose FEMA-distributed weather radios and to inspect school HVAC and kitchen equipment for carbon monoxide risks. "In these 4 months, a 125 building inspections have been completed in 21 school districts statewide," he said, and reported inspectors found 26 potential safety issues that were corrected with minimal disruption. He introduced a short video from Will Hodges, identified in the briefing as superintendent at Greene County Schools, and a speaker thanked Team Kentucky for completing inspections without interrupting instruction.
Arts grants and mental-health assistance: Beshear said Team Kentucky awarded $50,000 in grants to 12 nonprofit organizations to expand access to arts programming tied to mental-health support; he listed several recipients. He also highlighted the 988 mental-health lifeline, saying it has fielded 265,000 calls, texts and chats from Kentuckians since its launch and that nearly 17,000 Kentuckians received crisis services from community mental-health centers last year.
Childhood-cancer funding: Beshear announced $14 million in state funding for childhood-cancer efforts, including $10 million for research and $4 million for family support, and said the money came with bipartisan support from the General Assembly.
What’s next: Licensing offices will reopen June 8 under the new platform; the administration encouraged residents to use early walk-in options during the transition days. The briefing did not provide vendor contracts or procurement details for the licensing system or the long-term plan for distributing arts and cancer-research funds.
