"Voting Rights Bill Will Be Heard In Frankfort Tuesday (9/22)."
PRESS ADVISORY
Voting Rights Bill Heard in Frankfort Tuesday (9/22)
Legislation, to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society will be heard by an interim joint legislative committee on Tuesday, September 22nd at 1 p.m. in room 171 of the Capitol Annex in Frankfort.
Voting Rights legislation has easily passed the House in the last three General Assemblies – with increasingly larger and larger margins. Earlier this year, the bill passed 83-14, including 62% of House Republicans voting yes. The bill has stopped in the Senate and never been allowed to be heard – most recently in Senator Damon Thayer’s State and Local Government Committee.
Tuesday's hearing could be a key step to its passage next year in the General Assembly, as some Senate members of that committee will be hearing testimony about the bill for the first time.
A large coalition of organizations has been working for the last six years to restore voting rights to former felons in Kentucky including labor, grassroots, professional, labor, and religious organizations.
Right now, Kentucky remains one of only two states that disenfranchise all former felons, allowing them back only if they secure a pardon from the Governor. This means that 186,000 Kentuckians – or 1/17 of our voting age population - can’t vote.
The Kentucky Voting Rights Coalition supports restoring voting rights to citizens who have a past felony conviction upon completion of their sentence because it is fair, increases democracy, and even reduces crime by reducing recidivism rates (nationally, former felons who vote are half as likely as those who don’t to recidivate).
Speakers Testifying
Raul Cunningham, Louisville NAACP
Ed Monahan, Public Advocate, Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy Pat Delahanty, Catholic Conference of KY Teena Halbig, League of Women Voters
Former Felons available for quotes and commentary by phone Tayna Fogle - 859-270-9470 Janssen Wilhoit - 859-967-7250 George Moorman - 859- 806-9388
Background information contacts
Father Pat Delahanty – 1-502-494-3298
Dave Newton, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth - 859-420-8919
For more background information, visit http://www.facebook.com/l/072fe;www.kftc.org/votingrights
Released by the Kentucky Voting Rights Coalition - KY NAACP, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, KY AFL-CIO, League of Women Voters of Kentucky, Catholic Conference of KY, AFSCME Council 62, KY Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Addiction Recovery Advocates of Kentuckiana (ARAK), KY Council of Churches, People Advocating Recovery (PAR), KY Mental Health Coalition, Fairness Campaign, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Kentucky, KY Domestic Violence Association, Central KY Council for Peace and Justice, Lexington Diocesan Council for Peace and Justice, Fayette Chapter of The Women’s Network, American Civil Liberties Union of KY, Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass (TIA), KY Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (KBC-LEO), KY Jobs with Justice, KY Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Voting Rights Bill Heard in Frankfort Tuesday (9/22)
Legislation, to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society will be heard by an interim joint legislative committee on Tuesday, September 22nd at 1 p.m. in room 171 of the Capitol Annex in Frankfort.
Voting Rights legislation has easily passed the House in the last three General Assemblies – with increasingly larger and larger margins. Earlier this year, the bill passed 83-14, including 62% of House Republicans voting yes. The bill has stopped in the Senate and never been allowed to be heard – most recently in Senator Damon Thayer’s State and Local Government Committee.
Tuesday's hearing could be a key step to its passage next year in the General Assembly, as some Senate members of that committee will be hearing testimony about the bill for the first time.
A large coalition of organizations has been working for the last six years to restore voting rights to former felons in Kentucky including labor, grassroots, professional, labor, and religious organizations.
Right now, Kentucky remains one of only two states that disenfranchise all former felons, allowing them back only if they secure a pardon from the Governor. This means that 186,000 Kentuckians – or 1/17 of our voting age population - can’t vote.
The Kentucky Voting Rights Coalition supports restoring voting rights to citizens who have a past felony conviction upon completion of their sentence because it is fair, increases democracy, and even reduces crime by reducing recidivism rates (nationally, former felons who vote are half as likely as those who don’t to recidivate).
Speakers Testifying
Raul Cunningham, Louisville NAACP
Ed Monahan, Public Advocate, Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy Pat Delahanty, Catholic Conference of KY Teena Halbig, League of Women Voters
Former Felons available for quotes and commentary by phone Tayna Fogle - 859-270-9470 Janssen Wilhoit - 859-967-7250 George Moorman - 859- 806-9388
Background information contacts
Father Pat Delahanty – 1-502-494-3298
Dave Newton, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth - 859-420-8919
For more background information, visit http://www.facebook.com/l/072fe;www.kftc.org/votingrights
Released by the Kentucky Voting Rights Coalition - KY NAACP, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, KY AFL-CIO, League of Women Voters of Kentucky, Catholic Conference of KY, AFSCME Council 62, KY Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Addiction Recovery Advocates of Kentuckiana (ARAK), KY Council of Churches, People Advocating Recovery (PAR), KY Mental Health Coalition, Fairness Campaign, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Kentucky, KY Domestic Violence Association, Central KY Council for Peace and Justice, Lexington Diocesan Council for Peace and Justice, Fayette Chapter of The Women’s Network, American Civil Liberties Union of KY, Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass (TIA), KY Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (KBC-LEO), KY Jobs with Justice, KY Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Labels: General information
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 5:29 PM
1 Comments:
This is such important legislation. No taxation without representation!
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