FRANKFORT — The chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party is calling for an investigation into the financial dealings between a political nonprofit called Kentucky Strong Inc. and its president state Sen. Julie Raque Adams. Democratic Party chair Colmon Elridge called on the state attorney general and the Legislative Ethics Commission to launch investigations in response to the Kentucky Lantern’s report that Kentucky Strong has been totally financed in recent years by interests that lobby the General Assembly. The nonprofit’s only expenses over that time have been payments totaling $80,500 to Adams, who is a Louisville Republican. The transactions highlighted by the Lantern all came from financial reports Kentucky Strong was required to file with the Internal Revenue Service. Lobbying interests fund small political nonprofit — and a Republican state senator Elridge said, “As chair of the Licensing and Occupations Committee, she (Adams) took and continues to take, money from the very industries she is tasked with regulating. … This looks like textbook pay-to-play. The ethics commission and attorney general should investigate immediately, especially as her decisions on energy, health care, and the horse industry have an immediate and critical impact on Kentuckians’ finances.” Kentucky Strong was created in 2015 by Adams and two other Republican women from Louisville to train Republican women to seek and hold public office. Adams did not immediately respond on Monday to an email from the Lantern or a phone message left with the spokeswoman for the Senate Republican Caucus seeking a response to Elridge’s statement. Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office also did not immediately respond to a message from the Lantern seeking a response to Elridge’s statement. Ethics Commission Executive Director Steven Pulliam responded with an email that said the commission “has jurisdiction to investigate possible violations upon the filing of a complaint, and preliminary investigations of those complaints are confidential.” The Lantern reported Monday that since Jan. 1, 2023 Kentucky Strong reported paying just 12 expenses, each a payment to Adams totaling $80,500.  The story also reported that since late 2022 the only contributions Kentucky Strong has received came from lobbying interests. The largest of those contributions were: $50,000 from Revolutionary Racing, which operates Sandy’s Racing Gaming, in Ashland; $25,000 from Churchill Downs; $15,000 from LGE and KU Energy; and $15,000 from Charter Communications. Adams told Kentucky Lantern she has worked to justify her pay by recruiting and training “pro-business women candidates,” accepting speaking engagements, and doing all of the group’s fundraising. She called her compensation “nominal” and said it allowed her to be “reimbursed for my time, gas expenses, breakfasts/lunches with candidates and various website hosting fees and miscellaneous expenses.” She did not reply to emailed questions seeking examples of the larger out-of-pocket expenses she has paid for Kentucky Strong. YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT The post KY Democratic chair demands investigation of GOP state senator’s payments from nonprofit appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less