Fletcher said he was due back from his trip to Spain, Italy and Germany on Oct. 3.

That's two days before the Legislature is expected to return to Frankfort and consider revisions to the governor's proposed 2005 state health-insurance plan.

While Fletcher will be out of the country, he said he'll be in touch.

"We'll be able to continue to do things," Fletcher said. "We've got to realize that travel is much different than it was years ago. Through technology we can have a virtual presence here, and that's what we'll do."

This week, the governor announced plans to call the General Assembly into a special session to craft a new state 2005 state health-insurance plan. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have said they expect to begin devising alternatives to the governor's plan before the special session begins.

Fletcher's announcement earlier this month to overhaul the plan prompted a public backlash throughout the state, and the Kentucky Education Association voted in favor of an Oct. 27 strike if the state plan is not sweetened.

State Democratic Party Chairman Bill Garmer seized on Fletcher's trip, saying the state would be better served if the governor remained at home.

"The governor needs to step up and show leadership on this issue and not turn his back by going on a European junket," Garmer said in a news release.

But attracting more jobs to Kentucky could help alleviate some of the state's financial stress, Fletcher said.

"The real solution of the problems that we're facing is creating jobs in Kentucky," Fletcher said. "And, I'm not going to stop working on creating jobs for Kentucky because that is the real solution for our health care concerns, for our Medicaid concerns, for our educational funding, our post-secondary educational funding."

Accompanying Fletcher will be Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Gene Strong, state budget director Brad Cowgill and Commissioner for New Business Development John McCarty. Since taking office, the governor has also been on economic-development trips to Japan and Chile.

Kentucky currently has 158 European companies from 15 countries, employing more than 27,000 workers, Fletcher said.

Strong said they planned to talk with 10 Spanish companies, up to 10 Italian companies and 15 to 20 German businesses. They ranged from manufacturing operations to pharmaceuticals, he said.

"These companies that we're meeting with are not low-wage," Strong said. "These are capital-intensive investments that would provide high-end opportunities for Kentuckians."