"Session Was Marked By Achievements, Cooperation."
Session was marked by achievements, cooperation
By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The 2009 Kentucky General Assembly session ended Thursday with what was, compared with recent years, a gentlemanly disagreement over whether to go home or press on, perhaps to the wee hours, and finish work on a handful of bills.
The House, controlled by Democrats, decided to follow its rules and adjourn -- thus thwarting the Republican-controlled Senate's desire to continue working.
The small dust-up somewhat obscured the fact that lawmakers and Gov. Steve Beshear had accomplished the session's defining task in February -- passing legislation to balance the budget that included tax increases on cigarettes and store sales of beer, wine and liquor.
And merely by adjourning during daylight (a day early, in fact), the General Assembly surely improved an image tarnished by the bedlam of the 2008 session, when lawmakers had to stop the legislative clocks and work past midnight on the final day.
In short, this year's session had its share of accomplishments.
"It was a very productive session if you look at the last two or three sessions (and) what was accomplished," said House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. "You've got to credit House and Senate members and the governor's office for working together."
In addition to passing the politically tough tax bill, lawmakers acted to keep the gas tax at its current level, preventing it from falling along with gas prices. And that allowed lawmakers -- with the help of federal stimulus funds -- to pay for a strong road construction plan.
They also scrapped the controversial Commonwealth Accountability Testing System for public schools and ordered a new test and accountability system to be phased in over a three-year period. And they launched a program to offer an intensive, secured treatment program for drug offenders as an alternative to prison -- a way to help deal with the soaring inmate population.
"There was a remarkable amount of substantive work accomplished for a so-called short session, particularly when you think of how difficult the circumstances were as we began," said Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield, who has pushed for the education and drug-treatment bills for years.
A spirit of cooperation among the House, Senate and governor contrasted sharply with the distrust that ruled recent sessions. And cooperation lasted until nearly the end, when it finally collapsed in Thursday's disagreement between the House and Senate over whether to consider some bills.
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Major players attributed the results partly to the financial crisis -- a projected $456 million revenue shortfall -- that forced action to balance the budget and partly to the fact that Beshear, a rookie with an unrealistic agenda last year, had a year of experience under his belt.
"I inherited a situation in Frankfort that had been here for years in terms of partisan gridlock," Beshear, a Democrat, said in an interview Friday. To break that, he said, "I had to build trust and build relationships -- individual relationships with legislators. And that takes time."
The key accomplishment of the session was the budget-balancing legislation, which included politically tough votes to double the state's 30-cent-per-pack cigarette tax and put the 6 percent sales tax on package sales of alcoholic beverages.
Lawmakers approved it in February so the taxes could be imposed soon enough to help state revenues this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Beshear emphasized that the budget-balancing plan avoided cuts in basic school funding and other programs to protect public safety and the needy.
Scores of other bills passed, but the session ended without lawmakers using their two final days to pass several key bills -- including one to create an authority that could authorize tolls to fund the Louisville bridges project.
Also ignored at the end was a bill to expand types of tax breaks and incentives the state could offer to attract and retain jobs.
The reason was that the House decided to stick to its rules and consider only gubernatorial vetoes on the last two days.
Stumbo said House members from both parties strongly supported the decision.
"The last session (in 2008) left a terrible taste in everybody's mouth," Stumbo said. "They wanted to make a statement: 'We're not going to do business that way.' "
But Kelly said the few significant bills still pending had been debated at length and could have been negotiated to passage in the final two days without confusion or late hours.
"It's hard for me to say I was disappointed in anything in this session," he said. "But it will certainly be a disappointment if there is an economic development opportunity that we lose" because the incentives bill did not pass.
Likewise, after touting the accomplishments, Beshear said of the session's conclusion, "I'm disappointed we weren't able to do more. Several important bills were left on the table despite broad support in both chambers."
Whether cooperation or confrontation will dominate future relations is likely to be known soon.
State revenues are likely to fall far short of budgeted requirements in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Beshear may have to call a special legislative session as soon as June to tackle that problem.
By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The 2009 Kentucky General Assembly session ended Thursday with what was, compared with recent years, a gentlemanly disagreement over whether to go home or press on, perhaps to the wee hours, and finish work on a handful of bills.
The House, controlled by Democrats, decided to follow its rules and adjourn -- thus thwarting the Republican-controlled Senate's desire to continue working.
The small dust-up somewhat obscured the fact that lawmakers and Gov. Steve Beshear had accomplished the session's defining task in February -- passing legislation to balance the budget that included tax increases on cigarettes and store sales of beer, wine and liquor.
And merely by adjourning during daylight (a day early, in fact), the General Assembly surely improved an image tarnished by the bedlam of the 2008 session, when lawmakers had to stop the legislative clocks and work past midnight on the final day.
In short, this year's session had its share of accomplishments.
"It was a very productive session if you look at the last two or three sessions (and) what was accomplished," said House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. "You've got to credit House and Senate members and the governor's office for working together."
In addition to passing the politically tough tax bill, lawmakers acted to keep the gas tax at its current level, preventing it from falling along with gas prices. And that allowed lawmakers -- with the help of federal stimulus funds -- to pay for a strong road construction plan.
They also scrapped the controversial Commonwealth Accountability Testing System for public schools and ordered a new test and accountability system to be phased in over a three-year period. And they launched a program to offer an intensive, secured treatment program for drug offenders as an alternative to prison -- a way to help deal with the soaring inmate population.
"There was a remarkable amount of substantive work accomplished for a so-called short session, particularly when you think of how difficult the circumstances were as we began," said Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield, who has pushed for the education and drug-treatment bills for years.
A spirit of cooperation among the House, Senate and governor contrasted sharply with the distrust that ruled recent sessions. And cooperation lasted until nearly the end, when it finally collapsed in Thursday's disagreement between the House and Senate over whether to consider some bills.
Advertisement
Major players attributed the results partly to the financial crisis -- a projected $456 million revenue shortfall -- that forced action to balance the budget and partly to the fact that Beshear, a rookie with an unrealistic agenda last year, had a year of experience under his belt.
"I inherited a situation in Frankfort that had been here for years in terms of partisan gridlock," Beshear, a Democrat, said in an interview Friday. To break that, he said, "I had to build trust and build relationships -- individual relationships with legislators. And that takes time."
The key accomplishment of the session was the budget-balancing legislation, which included politically tough votes to double the state's 30-cent-per-pack cigarette tax and put the 6 percent sales tax on package sales of alcoholic beverages.
Lawmakers approved it in February so the taxes could be imposed soon enough to help state revenues this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Beshear emphasized that the budget-balancing plan avoided cuts in basic school funding and other programs to protect public safety and the needy.
Scores of other bills passed, but the session ended without lawmakers using their two final days to pass several key bills -- including one to create an authority that could authorize tolls to fund the Louisville bridges project.
Also ignored at the end was a bill to expand types of tax breaks and incentives the state could offer to attract and retain jobs.
The reason was that the House decided to stick to its rules and consider only gubernatorial vetoes on the last two days.
Stumbo said House members from both parties strongly supported the decision.
"The last session (in 2008) left a terrible taste in everybody's mouth," Stumbo said. "They wanted to make a statement: 'We're not going to do business that way.' "
But Kelly said the few significant bills still pending had been debated at length and could have been negotiated to passage in the final two days without confusion or late hours.
"It's hard for me to say I was disappointed in anything in this session," he said. "But it will certainly be a disappointment if there is an economic development opportunity that we lose" because the incentives bill did not pass.
Likewise, after touting the accomplishments, Beshear said of the session's conclusion, "I'm disappointed we weren't able to do more. Several important bills were left on the table despite broad support in both chambers."
Whether cooperation or confrontation will dominate future relations is likely to be known soon.
State revenues are likely to fall far short of budgeted requirements in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Beshear may have to call a special legislative session as soon as June to tackle that problem.
Labels: Kentucky politics
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 10:30 AM
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