Listen to the voters, Max Wise. KY wants solutions to problems, not another culture war | Opinion
Ah, Max Wise, Kentucky’s new Senate Majority Floor leader, who came in third in the Republican gubernatorial primary on the bold platform of scapegoating a handful of transgender children.
Max Wise, who obviously still sees himself as governor material, is now No. 2 in the Senate and recently told my Herald-Leader colleague Alex Acquisto that the top goal of Senate Republicans in 2025 is to pass laws banning diversity, equity and inclusion.
Can he be serious?
Never mind that most of the state’s spineless higher education leaders have already dropped whatever shadowy DEI initiatives they ever had. Diversity initiatives came from the good intention of helping marginalized groups get access to higher education; the opposition to them is veiled racism that pits people against each other. But in the end, very few people outside of GOP think tanks cares whether UK has a DEI office or not.
Clearly, though, our lawmakers are not serious people who learn from experience. Last year, their No. 1 issue was a constitutional amendment to allow public school funding to go to private schools.
That went well. Kentucky voters humiliated, mortified and disgraced the Republican supermajority with an absolutely blistering 30 point loss on Amendment 2.
Listen to the voters, Max.
They are telling you they love their public schools. They don’t think they are “woke,” but that they are underfunded. They want universal preschool, better teacher pay and the funding that was promised and partially realized under the Kentucky Education Reform Act.
Seriously, Max. Listen to the voters.
The week before Thanksgiving, I went to Wolfe County to talk to Nicky Stacy, founder of the Hazel Green Food Project. Every day, she scrounges for money and food donations to help meet the most basic needs of her community, who are still struggling from COVID and a lack of jobs.
Every time she opens, there is a line of cars a half a mile long of Kentuckians who DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.
But sure, diversity must be a bigger problem.
There are literally so many things that could be done to help Kentucky that don’t include demonizing people of color.
This week, I talked to Laura Carr of the Lexington Rescue Mission, a group that helps transition people out of homelessness and into homes and jobs. The biggest obstacles? Housing, transportation and childcare that keep people home and away from labor markets.
The legislature’s very own Housing Task Force found Kentucky is short 200,000 housing units. Why can’t solving that problem be Senate Bill 1 this session?
Here’s another idea. This week, Herald-Leader reporter Beth Musgrave wrote a story about the lack of transparency on where our property taxes go. In Lexington, it’s quite hard to follow the money.
The legislature could (and should) pass a bill to require all taxing districts to post all their information online.
Here’s another one.
Kentuckians keep voting for Republicans because they are conservative and want conservative policies. That includes keeping the government out of people’s healthcare, as they proved when they humiliated the GOP in 2022 by voting down a constitutional ban on abortion. It also includes exceptions to Kentucky’s abortion ban that will keep women from dying, as they have in other states.
This is not a healthy, wealthy, or let’s face it, wise place. Too many people are hurting, and it’s not because of diversity initiatives.
People didn’t elect Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in 2023 for a second time because they agree with all his policies. They did it because they think he cares about them.
Max Wise is in a position to help people like Nicky Stacy and all the other places that people are hurting.
Now I’m aware that with Trump’s slim reelection, Republicans think they can tack even harder to the right. That’s probably why the Senate elected Wise as floor leader instead of Julie Raque Adams, the pragmatic, caring Republican who would have brought too much diversity to the ranks.
But they really need to listen to the voters.
They have told you so very clearly what they want. Anyone can see very clearly what they need.
It would be so easy for Wise, who may not be serious, but is also not stupid, to start off his new leadership with a bold statement: We are going to help Kentuckians! Not just rich Kentuckians with less taxes, but everyone else who needs shelter, food, education and jobs.
Oh well. I guess forcing universities to move some employees around departments is what counts for leadership in Frankfort these days. The supermajority is a year older, but still not too wise.
Please, just listen to the voters.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 4:45 AM.
