KY lawmakers return Tuesday to tackle tough issues like a state budget and gambling
Kentucky legislators return to Frankfort Tuesday for the second part of this year’s law-making session and several weighty issues of great consequences await them.
A $12 billion state budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1 must be prepared.
Vetoes by Gov. Andy Beshear of bills that limit his emergency powers must be addressed.
Lawmakers will be asked to legalize gambling on historical horse racing, which the Kentucky Supreme Court recently ruled unconstitutional under current laws.
Other major legislation also under consideration includes racial injustice, restoration of voting rights, election protocol, medical marijuana, conversion therapy and a constitutional amendment to give the General Assembly more flexibility in its schedule.
To handle the heavy workload, legislative leaders have changed the session’s schedule.
Lawmakers were to meet four days in January but they extended the first part of the session to take in eight days. That gives them 22 more meeting days in this year’s session that cannot have more than 30 meeting days.
To give them more working days — and daily pay — leaders have placed “drafting” days in the revised calendar. For example, lawmakers will meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week but Friday will be a drafting day. Drafting days are when lawmakers do not meet but can continue their work on bill drafts.
The session is to run through March 30, and lawmakers are paid every calendar day they are in session, including weekends and holidays.
The Budget
The primary business will be preparation of a one-year, $12 billion state budget to take effect July 1.
The legislature usually passes a two-year budget in even-numbered years but the cornonavirus pandemic that started last year forced lawmakers last March to quickly approve a one-year continuation budget and then end their session.
When lawmakers this year left the Capitol Jan. 13 for their break, they had formed a conference committee made up of members of the House and Senate to come up with a compromise budget.
“Chances are good we will get the budget done in February,” Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said Friday.
Beshear had presented his budget plan in early January. His version included pay raises for teachers and other public employees, a small increase in education spending and money for school construction. Legislative leaders said they expected their budget would be more conservative.
With super majorities in both chambers, Republicans will have their say in how much of Beshear’s budget plan gets used.
No public work has been done on the budget during the break. House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, D-Louisville, said Democrats have not been included on any meeting about the budget while lawmakers were in recess.
“I haven’t heard of any developments on that,” said Jenkins.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, did not respond to repeated requests by the Lexington Herald-Leader for comment about the budget and the second part of the legislative session.
Vetoes
The Republican-led legislature started this year’s session by taking aim at the Democratic governor’s emergency powers.
Lawmakers approved and sent to Beshear legislation that limits his authority to issue and enforce emergency orders to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Beshear vetoed the measures. On Jan. 20, he sent a letter to Stivers and Osborne seeking a compromise. Beshear said his preference was to hold off on such legislation until the deadly pandemic is history. However, if the legislature disagrees, he said, a compromise should be reached.
The Kentucky Supreme Court last year upheld Beshear’s COVID-19 restrictions. Legal action may occur if the legislature overrides Beshear’s vetoes without any compromise on the legislation.
Rob Weber, spokesman for the Legislative Research Commission, said lawmakers have until the end of this year’s session to consider overriding any vetoes.
But Thayer said he expects the legislature will override Beshear’s vetoes on Tuesday. He said he could not speak on any attempts by the governor to reach a compromise on the legislation.
Gambling
Action is expected to start soon on legislation to keep historical horse racing operational in Kentucky.
Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, said Thursday he will file a bill next week to address the Kentucky Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in September that some historical racing games were not legal.
Schickel said his bill will deal with pari-mutuel wagering “and ensure that historical horse racing facilities are able to continue operating, while employing Kentuckians, generating state tax revenue and strengthening our signature equine industry.”
The Family Foundation, a conservative group based in Lexington, opposes historical racing. It claims a constitutional amendment is needed to offer the wagering, which resembles using a slots machine for gamblers. Beshear disagrees.
A constitutional amendment would need 60 percent of the vote in each chamber and approval by voters in November 2022.
The issue attracted more urgency with the recent announcement that Keeneland’s Red Mile historical horse racing facility has shut down because of the Supreme Court decision.
Schickel said his bill will be co-sponsored by Stivers, which should give it a big boost. The Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee is to consider it at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4.
Thayer said the measure “has a very strong chance of passage” in the Senate. He also said historical horse racing will not be coupled with efforts to legalize sports betting in Kentucky. Jenkins said she would like to see both issues discussed in the House.
Racial injustice
Thayer said Stivers plans to file legislation next week dealing with no-knock warrants.
Police obtain such warrants from judges that allow them to enter a private premise without announcing their presence. Judges issue them when police say announcing their presence may give suspects time to destroy potential evidence or harm them.
Louisville police had a no-knock warrant last March during a raid on the apartment of Breonna Taylor. It was approved based on her prior association with a drug case suspect. During the raid, Taylor was shot and killed by police. Her death led to national protests.
Rep. Attica Scott, D-Louisville, already has filed a bill to end no-knock warrants.
Thayer also said there is interest in Senate Bill 10, a measure sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem David Givens, R-Greensburg, that would set up a bipartisan commission on race to look at inequities in areas like health, education and criminal justice and offer solutions.
Voting rights
The League of Women Voters of Kentucky is pushing passage of House Bill 232, sponsored by Republican Rep. Jason Nemes of Louisville, that allow Kentuckians to vote on a change in the Kentucky Constitution to make restoration of the right to vote automatic upon completion of a felony sentence.
Only three states ban persons from voting who have completed their sentence, said League President Fran Wagner.
Under Beshear, nearly 180,000 Kentuckians who completed their sentences for nonviolent felony convictions have had their voting rights restored. But Kentucky still imposes a lifetime voting ban for felons who do not receive an executive pardon.
Other Bills
There will be no shortage of bills for lawmakers to consider this year. It is not certain how many will win their approval.
The list includes making changes in how elections are conducted, especially allowing more early voting and use of no-excuses mailed-in absentee ballots; making medical marijuana legal; banning conversion therapy, a controversial and discredited practice aimed at turning LGBTQ people straight; and making changes to pension benefits for newly hired teachers.
Also receiving attention is a constitutional amendment proposed by Osborne to give the legislature more control of how long it can meet.
Now, regular sessions must end on specific dates — April 15 in even-numbered years and March 30 in odd-numbered years. House Bill 4 would give lawmakers the option of adding up to 10 additional days to a session and spreading those days out over the year.
Critics say it would make the part-time legislature full time.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 1:55 PM.
