SPORTS BETTING
In the first month of legal retail sports betting, the state is reporting more than $10 million was bet through in-person establishments. As for online betting — that’s only been up and running since Thursday — the first four days amounted to a total of $68 million in betting. That's through mobile devices and in-person combined.
Beshear said the early snapshot suggests Kentucky will easily leapfrog years-old estimates made by the Legislative Research Commission regarding returns.
"What these numbers are telling me is Kentuckians are excited and they are enjoying the new freedom to bet on sports," he said, adding that bets are "much higher than originally projected."
A legalsportsreport.com analysis figures Kentucky bettors will likely wager between $2.3 billion and $2.9 billion annually.
Just a fraction of that will contribute to state coffers though, with Kentucky taxing in-track operations at just under 10% and online sports books at just over 14%.
MEDICAL CANNABIS
Legal medical cannabis may be more than a year away, but Kentucky officials are putting the pieces into place as the program takes shape.
The Beshear administration has established the office that will oversee the program within the Cabinet and Health and Family Services and an executive director has been named. The office has started to communicate about implementation of the new law on a website launched on Thursday. Updates on progress can now be found at kymedcan.ky.gov.
Also a nine-member board of physicians and advisors to provide medical and scientific recommendations for the program is in place. That group held its first meeting on Wednesday.
Asked whether more medical conditions might be added to the list approved for cannabis use, Beshear said the state law assigned authority on that matter to a group at University of Kentucky, but "that group has expressed concern... with them holding that role."
The governor said ongoing discussions are needed with the General Assembly about how conditions are deemed eligible for inclusion.
EV CHARGERS
Kentucky has approved deals with six developers across the state to build 16 new electric vehicle charging stations along 11 interstate highways. It's part of an effort to make the stations accessible at least every 50 miles on the commonwealth’s most heavily-traveled arteries.
The nearly $11 million commitment marks the start of the process, meant to begin making chargers a more common sight in Kentucky as the state seeks to becomes an EV battery hub.
Beshear said it marks progress in the charger rollout.
"Overall, we estimate 37 charging stations will be necessary to build out the first part of this plan," he said.
Initial sites include the Clark’s Pump Shop on Lexington Road in Versailles near the Bluegrass Parkway, Center Street in Madisonville, and Parish Avenue in Owensboro, among others.
The state foresees eventually identifying destination locations, such as tourist hot spots, that could benefit from charging stations.
