While U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Congressman Brett Guthrie were in Owensboro on Monday for a Republican Party event, the Owensboro Times questioned them on how national debates in Washington are affecting Daviess County — from healthcare and farm policy to energy and support for low-income families.
Paul and Guthrie were the featured speakers at the Daviess County Republican Party’s annual Stumps at the Orchard, held Monday night at Reid’s Orchard. The gathering drew local officials, candidates, and community members for a mix of campaign-style speeches and networking.
Outside of the podium remarks, both lawmakers spoke with OT about key federal issues that could impact local communities like Owensboro and the surrounding area.
Paul, who lives in Bowling Green, said Kentucky farmers continue to feel the impact of tariffs and regulations and emphasized his ongoing efforts to defend hemp as a viable crop.
“You know, one of the things that I worked on for a long time now was legalizing hemp as a crop, and our hope was that it would be a new cash crop,” Paul said. “For Kentucky, it’s not as successful as we’d like it to be, but there are people growing it, and you can make more in a limited fashion growing hemp than you can make for corn or for soybeans. So there are probably some people in Daviess County and the surrounding counties that hemp is something that is profitable for them … I’m working very hard to make sure that they do not change the law to make hemp illegal.”
Paul also addressed concerns from Owensboro Health and other hospitals, along with RiverValley Behavioral Health, about the impact of federal budget proposals on Medicaid.
“I ended up voting against the bill this summer that has a lot of those changes in it, but I think it’s unknown what’s going to happen to healthcare. Some of these things don’t kick in for a few years,” Paul said. “My goal would be to say that some of the able bodied people that don’t have any physical ailments, don’t have a chronic disease — we need to get them into the workforce where they have private insurance. If we keep on this rate, my fear is that we’ll get to a point where there is no coming back.”
Guthrie, who serves as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told OT that the region is well-positioned for energy-related growth.
“I believe the energy revolution is going to come because we’re going to focus on it this next year and a half of my chairmanship of Energy and Commerce,” Guthrie said. “I think this area is poised. We have sites, and there are some opportunities here to really generate energy, which drives data and technology.”
He also noted Owensboro’s ongoing growth.
“It’s always great to be back,” Guthrie said. “I was downtown a little bit today, and it’s just amazing how beautiful it is and how many changes have happened.”
Guthrie said he is working to protect funding for community programs while also pursuing regulatory relief for farmers and small businesses.
“Those bills are now being worked on,” he said, referring to LIHEAP, the Community Services Block Grant, and more. “A lot of people depend on those programs. We understand it. We have to be responsible, but we also know that people depend on those programs. So, I think there’s going to be a reasonable … funding that these programs can continue to serve the most vulnerable. And that’s what we want to happen.”
On agriculture, he added, “We have the farm bill coming up. So what can we do to make things better for you in terms of ag, and I mean in terms of regulatory reform, so that you don’t feel like you’re under … can help relieve some of the pressure.”
Both lawmakers also stressed the importance of civic participation. Paul noted that “if you’re involved with a party and you vote in a primary, your vote is about five times more potent,” while Guthrie emphasized that, despite divisions, “America’s strength has always come from working through disagreements to leave the next generation better off.”
