307. Did you know today was a Holiday?

The Kentucky General Assembly was scheduled to meet for the 57th day of its 60 day Session today. But it didn't. It declared a Holiday instead. So, what were they celebrating? Was it the establishment of the forerunner to the NCAA, so done on this date in 1906? That would be appropriate given the role the University of Louisville has played in this year's NCAA brackets. Or maybe it was the acquisition and renaming of the United States Virgin Islands on this date in 1917? Daylight Savings Time was established on this date in 1918 (except in Indiana). It was on this date that LBJ announced that “I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.” I always liked the way LBJ always referred to himself as "your president," usually by tugging on a senator's arm in a griplock saying, "Your president needs you on this vote, Senator." Johnson's Great Society programs weren't the best-administered, but their intent was heart-filled and heartfelt and he was one of the most important Americans in the latter half the 20th century. Today is the 60th birthday of once (and possibly future) Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore. Maybe that was the Holiday they were celebrating. Who knows? They stayed behind closed doors in conference committees doing work that should have and could have been done long before the last working day of the Session. Whatever they were celebrating on this March 31 Holiday, I hope it was worth it.

The space below is reserved for an update on this year's Legislative Accomplishments.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

The Session will come to an end in two weeks. There is one more working day (the 57th one which was scheduled for today, now to be taken tomorrow on April Fools Day), then a break for the governor to consider which, if any, of the good works of the legislature he might want to veto, then two more days to override him. And then the Republicans, who have added nothing to the cause, will force a Special Session. They cost about $60,000.00 a day.

A final legislative thought. I always found curious the pair of words vote and veto, which are spelled with the same four letters, and are sort of opposites, except that you can't really have a veto without a vote first.