Kenny Colston

Kentucky Tea Party groups are planning rallies Tuesday to protest the IRS targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups  for extra review.

Two of Kentucky's largest Tea Party groups will protests outside IRS offices in their respective areas: the Northern Kentucky Tea Party will protest in Cincinnati and Louisville's group will join southern Indiana groups to protest in Louisville.

Louisville Tea Party President Sarah Durand says the protests show that Tea Party groups won't stand by quietly while the controversy unfolds.

"So this is our way of saying something needs to be done, there needs to be more action taken and that we refuse to be silenced," she says.

The Justice Department is opening an investigation into the IRS reviews.

Tea party activist David Adams is once again suing Governor Steve Beshear over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This time, Adams is trying to block the expansion of Medicaid.

The expansion will give 300,000 people a chance to join Medicaid beginning next year. Beshear says that will make Kentuckians healthier and boost the state's economy.

Adams disputes that. His lawsuit challenges a decades- old law that gives Beshear the power to accept federal funds freely.

To help pay his legal fees, Adams says he's asking for help from other tea party activists.

"Anything like this, to do it right, winds up to be very expensive. We continue to go out and sell the effort to people and as they see we are actually on very solid legal ground for asserting consumer and citizens' rights on this, those efforts will just expand."

Adams also has a lawsuit pending to block the state-run health insurance exchange Beshear created by executive order a year ago.

A coalition of western Kentucky businesses and residents has formed in hopes of minimizing the fallout of an electricity rates deal between Big Rivers Electric Co-Op and western Kentucky aluminum smelters.

The coalition is worried the deal will lead to higher utility bills for residents and businesses.

Aluminum prices have been low in the past few years, and across Kentucky, aluminum smelters have sought to save money on their electricity bills.

Earlier this year, Big Rivers cut a deal with two Western Kentucky smelters, allowing them to buy their electricity on the open market. The smelters said the change was necessary to stay in business, but the deal cost the electric company more than half of its customer base.

To make up for that, Big Rivers is asking the Kentucky Public Service Commission to approve a 30 percent rate increase for its remaining customers.

Through a single piece of legislation, Sen. Rand Paul is hoping to cut a corporate tax and get more revenue for transportation projects.

Here's how: When American companies make money overseas and put it in foreign banks, they have to pay a tax to bring the money back to the U.S.  Paul is sponsoring legislation that lowers the tax companies pay to transfer foreign profits to America from 35 percent to 5 percent. Many of those companies keep that money overseas instead of paying the 35-percent tax.

The new tax revenue generated under Paul's proposal would be put into a transportation fund, which could benefit projects including the Ohio River Bridges and the Brent Spence Bridge in Northern Kentucky.

A  lot of money is sitting overseas, and a lower tax rate would entice companies to bring it home, Paul spokesman Dan Bayens said.

Kentucky's new exchange for people on the market for healthcare now has a name and  a website.

It'll be called Kynect—pronounced "connect." People can access it at kynect.ky.gov. A phone line will be running in August.

Kynect will be fully operational in time for October open health insurance enrollment.

Once running, Kynect will help Kentucky residents or employers find and compare prices for health insurance coverage. It's part of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Carrie Banahan, the health exchange's executive director,  says the online portal will work much like online shopping.