SPRING 2010 E-VOTER
Co-Presidents’ message:
We want to thank the presidents of the local Leagues and their delegates who participated in Council 2010 on April 10th. The meeting was ably hosted by co-presidents, Fran Arnold and Betty Hilliard, and members of the Hardin County League and took place at the Stone Hearth Restaurant in Elizabethtown.
At Council, we passed a budget for next year and we discussed Program for the 2010-2011 term. It was decided that we should try to conclude our consensus meetings on Energy and Energy Efficiencies by December 31, 2010. Most local Leagues have had at least two meetings on the subject, and individual members have accessed the suggested websites in order to prepare for consensus.
Two members of the State Study Committee, Elizabeth Crowe and Joan Lindop, gave us an update on the study and provided us with final consensus questions. After they are approved by the State Board, Local Leagues can begin planning for their own consensus meetings. We want to thank the Energy Efficiencies Committee for their leadership on this important subject.
The Nominating Committee, consisting of Fran Arnold, Ginny Krueger, and Elizabeth Crowe, put forth the following nominations for the position of Director: Richard Heine of Lexington, Carolyn Self of Hopkinsville, and Beverly Moore of Louisville. They were voted in as Directors in a unanimous vote. There are three more Director positions open and any member of the League who is interested in joining the State Board should notify either Nita or Terry of their interest in becoming a Director. We are also in need of a Secretary, which is a two-year term. The League needs committed Board members. Thank you for considering joining us on the State Board.
At luncheon, Nita and I discussed the Legislative session. (see complete report on the bills we were supporting in the next article). The League of Women Voters of Kentucky was honored with a Legislative Resolution, introduced by Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo of Lexington, which recognized the League on its 90th birthday for the outstanding work it has done in encouraging citizens to educate themselves on the issues and to vote. We were both in the gallery when the resolution was read and we were recognized by the members of the House. We were very honored to be the representatives of the League at this ceremony.
Nita Smith & Terry Naydan
The 2010 Legislative Session
This session was overshadowed by budget concerns. By the end of the session, both Houses could not agree on a budget and the Governor is planning to recall the Legislature to a special session in May. When last I checked with the Secretary of State’s office, 1230 bills were filed but many never saw the light of day. Many were killed when
they passed one house but died in the other. This happened to House Bill 70, the former felons’ voting rights bill. Even though our coalition held several rallies, and we all
testified at the House committee hearing, and the bill was enthusiastically passed by the House, it died in the Senate. It was never even discussed in Committee, as time ran out for bills to be acted upon. Our coalition is already planning strategy for next term’s session. We are not giving up on this one!
One of the Education bills that we supported, House Bill 160, the smooth transition from Community and Technical College to a Four-Year State College, passed and was signed by the Governor. House Bill 190, the preschool education grant program did not pass both houses.
House Bill 408, the environment bill which encourages greater energy efficiency, conservation, and the use of renewable resources to promote energy independence by diversifying the portfolios of energy sources used for generating electricity for Kentucky retail electric customers, also died. Even a replacement bill, HB 3, did not pass.
We were pleased, however, that Senate Bill 26, never passed. This bill would have eliminated the current requirement that, prior to construction of a nuclear plant in KY, the applicant must have a strategy for permanent disposal of the waste. It replaced it with only a requirement for a storage plan.
Finally, we supported Senate Bill 25, which would have required “527” committees to register with the Registry of Election Finance if they spent more than $5000 to influence the selection of a candidate for public office in KY or more than $5000 on a ballot question to amend the Constitution of KY. This bill did not pass.
All in all, we were disappointed by the volume of bills that never got a hearing during this session. However, we are pleased that the bills we did not support, did not pass. Our biggest disappointment was the failure of HB 70 to pass both houses. This was the fourth time a version of this bill passed the House, but did not pass the Senate. However, our coalition is moving on, and we will have strategy meetings before the next legislative session to prepare for objections to the newest version of this bill.
