This has been a fun and fast session there has been numberous things achomplished but also some things that werent accomplished. The 2009 session definately did not go out with a boom like the 2008 session. The House of Representatives created a new rule that they would not vote on bills after 5 pm on the last day. The rule also stated that they would just vote on Veto bills and allow the Speaker to perform signings. The reason for this rule is so the same thing would not happen as it did last year. Last year bills were sent over from the Senate at 11pm and the Representatives had no time to read over the bills so they were voting on things they werent informed about. They even stopped the clock illegally so that they could have more time to vote on the bills. So this rule was beneficial bc it gave the Representatives time to vote on bills so they would not be rushed. The Senate was upset with this rule because they had legislation that they had put off that could now not go through.

One incredible accomplishment this session was the passing of Senate Bill 1. This bill has been sent through the legislative process for three years in a row and still never passed because a compromise could not be made. Finally, this year it was signed into law. This bill is about the restructing of the CATS program and the education system, so that students would be better equipped for college and there future. The Democrats added the admendment that would not allow it to go into effect till 2011 but still a compromise was made and that is historical for a divided legislature. Another important bill pertained to the recovery of inmates who had addictions. This bill inacted that they be put in a program until well, which will cut down on the inmate return. All in all, I believe it was a sucessful session.

The second full week of session and already so much has happened. The alcohol and cigarette combined legislation passed through the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee and was sent to the Orders of the Day. This controversial bill had an almost split vote being 9-7 for it. The majority of constitutes that live in Senator Givens area are against the bill completely, but the majority of constituents in urban areas are split on the bill. The constituents in urban areas are wanted higher taxes on cigarettes and no extra taxes on alcohol and this means that a large amount of citizens do not like the mechanics of the bill. This bill almost came as a shock to me because Republicans tend to always strike down legislation pertaining to tax increases especially on agricultural products but because of the shortfall of the budget even Republicans are voting yes on this bill. But, I’m sure there will be debates on the floor as the bill moves on to the General Assembly.

The other piece of legislation that is thoroughly being debated is dealing with Education. Senator Winters has proposed legislation for early high school graduation and Senator Shaunessy is very hesitant about the bill because it cuts out a large portion of extra courses and courses outside of the main curriculum. So this bill passed on the floor but there was Admendments attached on from Senator Shaunessy. Also, I am sure there will be thorough debate in the House. The other Education legislation is on the removal of CATS testing and the replacement of an shorter achievement exam. Senator Winters feels that the students of Kentucky are not thoroughly prepared for college and the curriculum that comes with college courses and one reason behind this is that the CATS testing does not do a accurate job at determining this. This legislation has yet to make it through the Senate but continues to dominate the regular conversations.

We are coming to the last few weeks of session and it has flown by. This week was slower than normal for Senator Givens I assume because all the major pieces of legislation have been voted on unlike last year when it was not till the last day when they decided they wanted to vote. On Tuesday during session there was only one bill voted on.  This past Thursday a large number of bills were on the consent calendar but there were also a couple voted on. One of the most important dealt with the filing of running for an office the date was moved from Januaray to April. At first a large majority of Democrats didnt vote on the bill then after one of the three recesses they all came back and asked the Speaker Pro-tiem to record there vote as a yes vote with out changing the outcome of the bill. This was the most important piece of legislation.

The other interesting part of my day was went I was sent to go fetch Representative Turner from the House to come and speak with Senator Givens. Not knowing that Rep Turner was upset with Sen Givens after a while of searching I finally find Rep Turner. I told him that my Senator would like to speak with him and I got a couple choice words to respond back to Sen Givens. Come to find out the reason for Rep Turner being upset was because Senator Givens did not call his bill up in Sen Ag Committee. Senator Givens then proceeded to use me as practice for the conversation that would occur between him and Rep Turner. He ended with Im the chair  of the committee I can not look at certain types of legislation if I desire not too. One thing that I have really noticed this time is that people in leadership positions have a large amount of power and when needed they will use it.

Back Again

By emelli6

Frankfort is a place of wonders. After interning in the long session last year I knew that it was not the end for me in my interest in politics. The long session in Spring of ’08 taught me so much about the political system in general and Kentucky’s political system in particular. Last session started out slow and ended with a bang. I was priveledged to be interning at such a critical time in our state’s history. I watched as Representative Greg Stumbo and Speaker Jody Richards battled for power and who would be the next Speaker of the House. I also watched as David Williams put down a strong hand against a cigarette tax, casinos, and Governor Breshear himself. I was even there to experience the last day of session which itself was historical as President of the Senate David Williams had the clock stopped at 11:58 so that the Legislators could get through more bills. I had heard of this happening in the past but to see it happen right before my eyes was unbelievable. So, as I said at the beginning there was no turning back, I was addicted to politics. After my internship and Spring Semester ended I then began to help campaigning for Mitch Mcconnell, Brett Buthrie and other Republicans running for office.

I knew that I wanted to intern again so when the opportunity came available I jumped on it. I wanted to get a different perspective than I had in the previous session so I decided I would intern for a Senator. I called the Senate President’s office and I ended getting an internship with Senator David Givens from my area. I know that this session will be different for me because this time I am with the majority versus last session when I was in the minority. I have already seen how important having power is and I look forward to seeing it being displayed even more.

A Bill goes through a long process to become a law as we have seen in many “School House Rock Videos” as a young child. There are many obstacles that are not explicitly stated but simply inferred though traditional or a political norm. I have come to encounter this very detailed and complex cycle in my two years of internship at the Kentucky state capitol. One metaphor that is commonly used when talking about the creation of a bill and what it goes through to become law it that of a sausage being made.  “There are two things you don’t want to see being made-sausage and legislation (Rosenthal 346).”

                 When a bill is first drafted it often times can be too narrow only telling the logistics of the bill not going into detail or specifics. In the book Engines of Democracy there is a large section on the complexity and detail that a bill must have before it is sent to the floor. To go from this broad generalization to a complex form of legislation “scrutiny and modification in the committee (Rosenthal 363)” is required. One example seen of this during the session this time was when Senate President David Williams had half of his interns working on a piece of Education legislation dealing with homeschoolers. This legislation was thoroughly scrutinized and followed with a conclusion that more information was needed before an effective vote can be taken on it.

                Other factors that can affect a bill in an indirect way are truly political for instance they are partisan conflict- sometimes conflict between the House and the Senate, and disputes between the Executive and Legislative.  One example of Partisan conflict is between the House and the Senate for the Kentucky General Assembly. The House is controlled by the Democrats and the Senate is controlled by the Republicans. This alone makes the normal conflicts that agreeing legislatures might have even more strong. For example, members of the House are allowed more leeway to specialize because they have less responsibility. This is a huge difference I have discovered this spring internship.  When I was in the House there were many discussions on the issues at hand on the contrary in the Senate constituent population is larger and there is less senators to distribute the legislation too. The Senate and the House rival for influence, especially when it comes to dealing with money such as the budget.

                One of the biggest rivalries and stopping point for many bills last year was when it was required for the Executive and Legislative branches to compromise. This session I have yet to encounter any large legislation that has caused the two branches to split on their vote and their support but the budget has yet to be finalized so I believe there will be some division.  The Senate President and the Speaker of the House can be just as powerful as the governor as we send from time to time last session. I believe this session, because of the compromise being seen so far, the partisan conflicts in each individual assembly and between the two branches will be minimum.

 

Source:

Rosenthal, Alan. Engines of Democracy: Politics and Policymaking in State Legislatures. Eagleton Institute of Politics-Rutgers University. 2009.