FRANKFORT — With few days left for Kentucky Republicans to veto proof their bills, Democrats say the supermajority is railroading through changes to legislation without giving lawmakers or the public time to consider the issues or consequences.
“It’s unfortunately become a common theme, but it’s become much worse this session,” said Rep. Lindsey, Burke, D-Lexington. “We want Kentuckians to know that we reject this approach to governance, and we’re fighting for your right to simply know what your government is doing and to be able to voice your support or your concern.”
Burke spoke at a press conference called by House Democrats before the chambers convened Wednesday afternoon.
She pointed to HB 775 — a “shell bill” that in a day’s time ballooned from four to 107 pages proposing sweeping changes to state tax laws — as an example of “an appalling lack of transparency.”
Republicans rebuked the Democratic criticisms.
“We are in session for 30 days. This is day 26. The time is ticking,” said House Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, speaking on the House floor.
“I hear people complain about the process. ‘Oh, it’s being rushed,’” Rudy said. “That’s usually though when they just don’t like the results of what it is we’re doing. Time and time again, I’ve seen this body suspend the rules because, the process, we have to.”
On both ends of the Capitol Tuesday and Wednesday, Democrats sought to table bills, saying a pause would provide more time for study and consideration of what the bills would do.
‘System flawed’
In the Senate, Democratic Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas, of Lexington, attempted to get support for motions to table two Republican bills updated in Senate Committees hours earlier — House Bill 2, which would allow Kentuckians to sue the governor over taxes paid on gold and silver bullion, and House Bill 606, which deals with reporting requirements for some revenue bonds. But his motions failed in the GOP-controlled chamber.
Thomas argued the House bills could be heard on the floor Thursday, allowing time for stakeholders to review the new legislation.
Thomas renewed his party’s criticism of the Republicans’ rules packages adopted at the start of the session in January. At the time, Democrats in both chambers argued the rules would stifle debate and limit their constituents’ voices.
“I have said from the beginning of the session that I think your system is flawed,” Thomas said.
Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, also chided Republicans for pushing the bills through quickly. She said before voting on HB 606, she “did not get a chance to” review the changes before coming to the floor. The Senate committee substitute for HB 606 added various appropriations, including for development projects across the state.
Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, staunchly defended the Senate addition to House Bill 2, which was made in his Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee Wednesday morning to add a delay in state income tax filings for Kentuckians and businesses affected by recent statewide floods.
“Now I’m not sure today why we are so obsessed with money that those who are most disadvantaged currently in our commonwealth enjoy the scorn of the minority party in this chamber,” McDaniel said. “But here we are.”
‘No way to fix a bill’
Meanwhile, in the House Democrats tried to get Republicans to table HB 775, what initially began as a shell bill and was replaced with a 107-page committee substitute that includes changes to the state’s tax laws to make it easier for lawmakers to incrementally lower the state’s income tax rate in the future.
Several times as hastily approved committee substitutes to bills were being debated on the House floor, Democrats brought up complaints about the process which they said failed to provide enough time to understand the bills and the lack of public notice.
During the debate on a bill to regulate hemp-derived beverages — which was changed Wednesday morning for the second time within the last 10 days via a committee substitute — Rep. Anne Donworth, D-Lexington, questioned the timeframe for unveiling a committee substitute Tuesday evening and then voting on it in committee Wednesday morning.
“We had a nine o’clock committee meeting. That bill sub still was not available online at the time of the vote” in the House Licensing and Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee, Donworth said. “So people were still not able to see what it is that we were considering.”
Laura Leigh Goins, a spokesperson for the House GOP caucus, in a statement said the body has “made great strides to ensure transparency and operates within the rules of the chamber and the legislative process.”
“Claims to the contrary are nothing short of political grandstanding and always seem to accompany votes on issues the minority opposes,” Goins said.
House Majority Whip Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, during a panel discussion Tuesday evening in Frankfort hosted by the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, said the legislature is operating transparently. But he voiced support for publicly posting committee substitutes for bills at the time they’re provided to lawmakers, usually the day before being heard in committee.
Minority Floor Leader Rep. Pamela Stevenson during the Wednesday press conference that she and Rudy had agreed to meet after the end of this year’s session to discuss how to make a “more transparent” process for moving bills.
Minority Caucus Chair Rep. Al Gentry, D-Louisville, said Democrats are raising concerns to try to ensure that stakeholders and the public understand how fast-moving bills are changing. That way, he said, the need to “clean up bills” passed in succeeding sessions could be averted.
Without input from Kentuckians who stand to be harmed by legislation, Gentry said, “there’s no way to fix a bill.”
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license from Kentucky Lantern, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
McKenna Horsley covers state politics for the Kentucky Lantern. She previously worked for newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia, and Frankfort, Kentucky. She is from northeastern Kentucky.
Liam Niemeyer covers government and policy in Kentucky and its impacts throughout the Commonwealth for the Kentucky Lantern. He most recently spent four years reporting award-winning stories for WKMS Public Radio in Murray.
