In Kentucky, bipartisanship gets some things done

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — While Congress struggles to reach consensus on most issues, state lawmakers in Kentucky work in short order to pass bills despite being one of seven legislatures in the country with divided government.

Republicans control the state Senate while Democrats control the state House of Representatives. Despite their differences, the two sides agreed to deregulate the telecommunications industry, borrow $130 million to build a cancer research building and establish new rules for oil and gas drilling in a state on the front lines on the debate over fracking.

But a bill fighting the state’s heroin epidemic has strained those political relationships as the two sides fight about who will take credit for one of the state’s most high profile issues in an election year.