And Yet Another View: "Legislature Failed In Key Areas".
Legislature failed in key areas
By Al Cross
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The General Assembly has gone through several phases in the last 40 years. It has entered another, as shown by Thursday's one-day-early end of a session that lawmakers said was unusually productive and harmonious -- but ended with some important business unfinished.
The good news about early adjournment was that it confirmed the end of a highly partisan phase that began when Republicans took control of the Senate in 2000. The partisanship had ebbed in recent years, but this time, it was rarely visible.
The bad news is that as the legislature builds collegiality and reasserts its independence from the Governor, it is again proving that it can be highly self-serving and unaccountable -- and repeatedly resists relatively minor measures that could open the door to more accountability and transparency.
The major bills left behind would have offered new economic-development incentives and created a way to build the new Louisville bridges. Lawmakers should have suspended the rules as usual and dealt with those issues Thursday and Friday, the days reserved for consideration of gubernatorial vetoes. But as some mentioned Thursday, Gov. Steve Beshear can put those into a special session that will likely be needed to deal with worsening budget problems.
The House's primary public rationale for sticking to the rules was that it wanted to restore what those in Congress call "regular order," after a 2008 session that didn't meet the adjournment deadline and spawned a lawsuit. Some House Democrats also feared that Republican Senate President David Williams would put them in another of his procedural boxes and give them the choice of looking bad or passing a bill they disliked.
That would have spoiled lawmakers' good feeling about the session, and the good reviews they apparently got from constituents -- even after raising taxes on tobacco and alcohol -- for "coming together with an open hand and not a closed fist," as Williams put it in a KET interview with other leaders.
The fear of a final-day foul-up was probably outdated. Williams, interested in running for the U.S. Senate next year or perhaps governor in 2011, was no longer the Bully from Burkesville, but the Cool Cat from Cumberland County. He worked out differences with Beshear. Iin new House Speaker Greg Stumbo he had a Democratic adversary who matched his legislative experience and skill, and as the session drew to a close they showered praise on each other.
"Senator Williams was wonderful to work with," Stumbo said on Lexington's WKYT-TV. "He gets a bum rap a lot of times. He is a progressive thinker." On KET, Williams handed out compliments to several House Democrats.
Editor's comment: "The House's primary public rationale for sticking to the rules was that it wanted to restore what those in Congress call "regular order," after a 2008 session that didn't meet the adjournment deadline and spawned a lawsuit."
I think that rules MUST mean what they say, otherwise they need to be done away with. So I applaud Greg Stumbo for insisting that [House] rules mean what they say, though I wish the General Assembly could have accomplished more, rather than "doodle" their way through, and leave many worthy tasks unaccomplished!
To continue reading, click here.
By Al Cross
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The General Assembly has gone through several phases in the last 40 years. It has entered another, as shown by Thursday's one-day-early end of a session that lawmakers said was unusually productive and harmonious -- but ended with some important business unfinished.
The good news about early adjournment was that it confirmed the end of a highly partisan phase that began when Republicans took control of the Senate in 2000. The partisanship had ebbed in recent years, but this time, it was rarely visible.
The bad news is that as the legislature builds collegiality and reasserts its independence from the Governor, it is again proving that it can be highly self-serving and unaccountable -- and repeatedly resists relatively minor measures that could open the door to more accountability and transparency.
The major bills left behind would have offered new economic-development incentives and created a way to build the new Louisville bridges. Lawmakers should have suspended the rules as usual and dealt with those issues Thursday and Friday, the days reserved for consideration of gubernatorial vetoes. But as some mentioned Thursday, Gov. Steve Beshear can put those into a special session that will likely be needed to deal with worsening budget problems.
The House's primary public rationale for sticking to the rules was that it wanted to restore what those in Congress call "regular order," after a 2008 session that didn't meet the adjournment deadline and spawned a lawsuit. Some House Democrats also feared that Republican Senate President David Williams would put them in another of his procedural boxes and give them the choice of looking bad or passing a bill they disliked.
That would have spoiled lawmakers' good feeling about the session, and the good reviews they apparently got from constituents -- even after raising taxes on tobacco and alcohol -- for "coming together with an open hand and not a closed fist," as Williams put it in a KET interview with other leaders.
The fear of a final-day foul-up was probably outdated. Williams, interested in running for the U.S. Senate next year or perhaps governor in 2011, was no longer the Bully from Burkesville, but the Cool Cat from Cumberland County. He worked out differences with Beshear. Iin new House Speaker Greg Stumbo he had a Democratic adversary who matched his legislative experience and skill, and as the session drew to a close they showered praise on each other.
"Senator Williams was wonderful to work with," Stumbo said on Lexington's WKYT-TV. "He gets a bum rap a lot of times. He is a progressive thinker." On KET, Williams handed out compliments to several House Democrats.
Editor's comment: "The House's primary public rationale for sticking to the rules was that it wanted to restore what those in Congress call "regular order," after a 2008 session that didn't meet the adjournment deadline and spawned a lawsuit."
I think that rules MUST mean what they say, otherwise they need to be done away with. So I applaud Greg Stumbo for insisting that [House] rules mean what they say, though I wish the General Assembly could have accomplished more, rather than "doodle" their way through, and leave many worthy tasks unaccomplished!
To continue reading, click here.
Labels: Kentucky politics
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 12:58 PM
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