Kentuckians reject Amendment 1, don’t want lawmakers to spend more time at Capitol
It appears that Kentuckians don’t want the legislature spending any more time in Frankfort than the state’s 1891 Constitution allows.
With 88 percent of the ballots reported in unofficial results, a majority of voters rejected the unusually lengthy Amendment 1, which would have let the legislature extend its winter sessions beyond their current mandatory end dates and call itself back for special sessions later in the year without the governor’s authorization.
The Associated Press declared the amendment defeated shortly before noon Wednesday.
No community opposed Amendment 1 more than the state capital. Franklin County, where Frankfort is located, showed 72 percent voting against it, according to unofficial results. Roughly two-thirds of voters in urban Jefferson and Fayette counties also rejected the amendment.
The Kentucky legislature long has wanted more power over state government. It used to meet only for 60 days in even-numbered years until lawmakers narrowly convinced voters in 2000 to revise the state Constitution and allow annual sessions. That, too, was an Amendment 1 on the statewide ballot.
In asking for this year’s Amendment 1, the Republican-led General Assembly said it wanted the power to thwart Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear more easily without having to wait once a year for its alternating 60-day and 30-day winter sessions.
Specifically, they pointed to Beshear’s controversial executive orders in 2020 when he required Kentuckians to wear masks in public and he temporarily closed many public places, including businesses and churches, to curb the spread of COVID-19. Legislative leaders were angry at that time because they had no input into Beshear’s orders.
“In the summer of 2020, the people of this commonwealth lost their minds over the fact that we had a dictatorial governor who was acting unilaterally without listening to the elected people’s branch of government,” Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said in January while arguing for a bill related to Amendment 1.
However, critics accused lawmakers of attempting a “power grab.”
The Kentucky Constitution allows governors the authority to run the state’s affairs most of the year, with a part-time citizens’ legislature getting the opportunity every winter to adopt new laws and overrule the governor if it disagrees with him.
“This seems to have worked for us,” said the Rev. Leon Clark Williams, chairman of The People’s Campaign, in a recent interview. The People’s Campaign, a Lexington civil rights group, was one of the organizations opposing Amendment 1.
“When you think about the notion of the legislature being able to call itself into session whenever it wants, that could make for a lot of complications,” Williams said.
Opponents also called Amendment 1 a “cash grab” by part-time lawmakers who wanted to fatten their public salaries and pensions by extending their time in Frankfort. Rank-and-file lawmakers get $188.22 daily during sessions, while those in leadership posts get more. They also get a daily expense allowance of $166.10 during sessions.
Amendment 1 was largely overlooked this year in the much bigger controversy over Amendment 2, the ballot question over Kentucky women’s constitutional right to abortion.
As of the Oct. 26 campaign-finance reports, most of the several hundred thousand dollars spent to publicize Amendment 1 was spent in opposition, largely funded by Democratic Party allies, including school teacher and labor unions.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 9:17 AM.
