There's a new governor, calls for bipartisanship, a budget to get hammered out with plenty of belt tightening, that hot-button issue of casino gambling, plus a bevy of other issues facing the 2008 session of the state's General Assembly. So when the legislature convened on Jan. 8, a visitor to the Capitol would have expected to see their elected officials tackling these matters from the get-go. Right?
While it may be expected, and the 138 elected to the House and Senate do indeed have their sleeves rolled up and are hard at work, the reality of Kentucky's even-year 60-day sessions is that not much happens until after the Jan. 31 filing deadline to run for a public office passes.
"It really paralyzes people until that passes," Rep. Jim Wayne (D-Louisville) said during the 2007 special session. "A lot of people just will not take any risk, and what ends up happening is we use that time for prep work for bills we know we will start the first part of February.
The poorly kept secret around the halls of the Capitol every two years is votes with any sprinkle of controversy wait until after a critic can become an opponent. Votes on the state's budget and issues such as 2004's ban on same sex marriage รณ and with all likelihood this year