Posted April 21st, 2010 5:58 am

The Herald-Leader in an editorial gave an impressive listing of what could have been, if Kentucky had a functioning legislature.

Among the failures beyond the budget, unemployment insurance fund repair and school dropout age raising:

■ Interest rates on payday lending didn’t get capped at a reasonable level — again.

■ Executive branch ethics statutes didn’t get updated — again. And they won’t until the legislation’s sponsor, Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, quits trying to hold statewide candidates to a higher standard on accepting campaign contributions from potential state contractors than he’s willing to impose on legislative candidates.

■ A persistent felony offender statute that contributes to Kentucky having the fastest-growing prison population in the country didn’t get reformed.

■ Neither did legislative pension rules. So, veteran lawmakers still can bump their benefits up 100 percent or more by accepting high-paying judicial or executive branch appointments for as few as three years.

■ Juvenile courts and child abuse records will be no more transparent than they were when the session began.

■ Legislation that would have restored full funding for the safety and security measures for social workers contained in the Boni Bill enacted three years ago died in the House when abortion-related amendments were attached to it.

■ The same tactics helped kill legislation that would have removed the requirement that makes some families pay premiums for the K-CHIP health insurance program for children.

■ No budget means no authorization for covering smoking cessation with Medicaid. Meanwhile, the Senate stripped the funding from legislation creating a colon cancer screening program.

■ Independent Kentucky voters remain shut out of a crucial part of the elective process after legislation that would have given the state open primaries died.

■ And the state’s resort parks still can’t serve visitors a cocktail before dinner or a glass of wine with it.
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Never to be forgotten and never to be left off the list is Damon Thayer’s continued obstruction of restoration of rights for felons who have paid their debt to Kentucky. Jesse Crenshaw’s legislation would have meant Kentucky would no longer be one of two states in the entire country that permanently denies rights to felons.

Republican Kentucky Senate President David Williams has proudly reached his goal for the legislative session of making sure absolutely nothing is accomplished. Perhaps Kentuckians’ pent-up energy and desire to accomplish something will result in some blistering senate race defeats of those who have enabled Williams in this year’s elections.

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