75. On the 2007 Session of the Kentucky General Assembly

Today's entry is a copy of an email letter I have sent this morning to my two representatives in Kentucky's legislature, as well as to about fifteen other legislators I count as friends. Additionally, I copied it to our Jefferson County Clerk Bobby Holsclaw, the Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Jerry Lundergan, and the Jefferson County Democratic Party Chair Tim Longmeyer. It is a letter of disappointment.

*****

Hon. Tom Riner, my state representative
Hon. Gerald Neal, my state senator
other friends in the legislature
March 28, 2007

This is a letter the jist of which is something I have written to some of you in the past, after the close of a previous session of the General Assembly.

I've made some entries in the last few days on a couple of the political blogs in the Commonwealth which have included my disappointment in the lack of successes achieved in this year's legislative session. It is my opinion that since the adoption of the constitutional amendment creating annual sessions, less work has been accomplished in more time, and more time equates to more money.

I didn't support that amendment when it was on the ballot, as it has been my usual practice not to support any amendments to the Constitution, unless they have been proposed by a Constitutional Convention, as opposed to the legislature. While there have been one or two exceptions over the years, I feel my votes, including those where I was in the minority, have been well-cast.

At the close of this year's session, as with many in the past, the media has been replete with stories of what didn't get passed, as well as the flurry of activity in the final hours to get things passed, activity which no doubt leads to bills being passed and amended by language never completely read or fully understood by those charged with voting yea or nay on them.

While there is a lot for which to be disappointed, as someone involved in the political processes at the precinct level, one of the greatest is the legislature's mishandling of the Run-Off provision in the gubernatorial contests. Most troubling is the unfunded mandate you have, by your lack of agreement, placed on local governments in each of the Commonwealth's 120 counties. In this instance, you have mandated an election while providing only 40% of the costs, by some estimates. As you may or may not know, we have approximately 500 voting precincts in Jefferson County. On the second election day you have mandated by your failure to fully address this issue, each of those precincts will require a voting location and four staff positions for the conduct of the Run-Off. In my roles over the years on the Democratic Executive Committee, me as well as many, many others work more than a few unpaid hours, in coordination with the County Clerk and her staff (on the Democratic side, that would be Cindy Brown) to ensure those positions are filled allowing for the proper administration of an election. This may seem like a simple task, but experience proves otherwise. In addition to those precinct staffers, there are many County Clerk staffers at the Board of Elections from well before the polls open at 6:00 am to well after they are closed twelve hours later, assisting voters and ultimately counting votes. And this process is repeated in the other 119 counties. Again, by your inability to arrive at a resolution on this very basic matter in a republican form of government, you have passed on to local government a burden you solely created.

There are many other issues and disappointments which will be addressed by others no doubt, and I will leave that to other writers.

In my blog entries, I have made two proposals. The first is to amend the Constitution to return to a Biennial Session. The second is to move the filing deadline in Legislative races to the Tuesday after Adjournment of the Session. Each of these actions would bring some needed efficiencies to the General Assembly. And, should the Biennial Amendment appear on the Ballot, I would break my habit and cast an "Yea" vote for once.

Respectfully,

JEFF NOBLE
514 S. Campbell Street
Louisville, KY 40204-1011