Question

Legislative issues np organizations are working on in Kentucky

Answer 1

Kentucky General Assembly members chose the term “commonwealth” to describe Kentucky. While there is no legal difference between a commonwealth and a state, Kentucky’s early leaders perhaps wanted to assert an independence of ideals and governance. By definition, a commonwealth is a political unit founded on law, united for the common good, and with supreme authority vested in the people. This ultimately defines Kentucky: government by the people and for the people.

Of Kentucky’s three branches of government— executive, judicial, and legislative—the legislative is the one closest to the people and the one into which Kentuckians have the most direct input. Consequently, it is beneficial to both the legislature and our citizens that the work of the General Assembly be understood and the legislative process be used to its full potential.

Kentucky changed rapidly during its early years as a state as its population increased dramatically. More people meant an increased need for an organized and evolving government. Throughout history, the Constitution also has been amended by the people to address specific issues. The state’s Constitution provides for three branches
of government: legislative, judicial, and executive. The legislative branch enacts laws; the judicial branch interprets laws; and the executive branch administers laws. In addition to making the state’s laws, the legislature also enacts a state budget and levies taxes.

Legislative Sessions
Regular Sessions
Kentucky’s Constitution requires the General Assembly to meet in Frankfort every year on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January.

Even-Numbered Years
• Begin January
• Number of legislative days*
• not more than 60
• End no later than April 15

Odd-Numbered Years
• Part 1 – Organizational

Component – Begin January
• Part 2 – Begin first Tuesday in February
• Number of legislative days not more than 30
• End no later than March 30

A legislative day is a calendar day with the exception of Sundays, legal holidays, and any day on which neither chamber meets.

Extraordinary
(Special) Sessions

Only the governor may call a special session and it may only address subjects specified in the governor’s call. Though only the governor may call a special session, it is the legislature that determines the process and decides when the session will end. Although there is no time limit on special sessions, they are usually brief.

Districts

Kentucky follows a bicameral form of government consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Legislators are elected by the citizens of their designated legislative area—district—to be their voice in government. The Constitution requires the General Assembly to divide the state into 38 Senate districts and 100 House districts as nearly equal in population as possible. The General Assembly must review the districts at least every 10 years and redivide them if necessary.

Senators

The Constitution establishes terms and qualifications for legislators. A senator must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of Kentucky, and must have lived in the state at least six years immediately preceding an election. A senator must live in the district for at least one year prior to election. Senators are elected for four-year terms, with half the Senate elected every two years.

Representatives

A representative must be at least 24 years old, a citizen of Kentucky, and must have lived in the state for at least two years and in the district for one year prior to election. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, with the entire House elected every two years.

Leadership

The leadership of the Senate and House are defined by both the Constitution and by the legislative traditions of the General Assembly. The Constitution requires that members of the Senate elect a President and that members of the House elect a Speaker. The members of each chamber also elect a President Pro Tempore and a Speaker Pro Tempore. The traditions of the legislature allow for the members to elect additional legislative leaders— floor leaders, caucus chairs, and whips—who are selected by their political parties’ caucuses during the organizational phase of odd-year sessions. These leaders are responsible for seeing that the interests of their respective party caucuses are served.

Constitutional Officers

The Constitution also mandates a number of constitutional officers to carry out some of the clerical and support activities for the General Assembly. Among these are the chief clerks elected by each chamber. The clerks and their staffs, assisted by the staff of the Legislative Research Commission, are responsible for recording the minutes of each session, roll calls and votes, and bill calendars; recording committee assignments; certifying the passage of bills and resolutions; keeping equipment inventories; and keeping the official Journal of each chamber. Clerks and LRC staff see that amendments are incorporated into bills before they go from one chamber to the other. They also make sure that final copies signed by the presiding officer in each chamber contain the exact wording approved by the House and Senate. The sergeants-at-arms clear unauthorized persons from the floor of the House and Senate before each session and as otherwise directed. They also clear the galleries if there is a disturbance.

The Legislative Process
Standing Committees

Standing committees play a vital role in the legislative process. Both the House and the Senate are organized into separate standing committees to facilitate the most efficient use of time and resources while considering individual pieces of legislation. Each legislator is assigned to serve on at least one standing committee. These committees collectively may consider more than 1,000 pieces of legislation during a session and decide which should advance to the full House or Senate. In each chamber, the Committee on Committees assigns bills to one of its several standing committees. Assignments are determined by the subject of each bill. Rules adopted at the beginning of the organizational session list subjects that fall within each committee’s jurisdiction. The Committee on Committees also selects the chair, vice chair, and members of each standing committee. The chair of each committee, in consultation with leadership, determines which and in what order bills will be considered. A committee may schedule a public hearing on the subject before acting on specific legislation. Supporters and opponents of a particular bill are often invited to address a committee. Committees may send bills to the full House or Senate for consideration with or without proposing changes (amendments) to the bill. Bills may also be retained in the House or Senate committee.

Order Of Business

The exact order of business varies slightly between the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both chambers follow parliamentary procedure for conducting business.
Below is a typical day’s chamber proceedings.

• Invocation
Each day begins with a prayer. At the beginning of each legislative session, resolutions are adopted inviting area ministers to offer the invocation.

• Pledge Of Allegiance

• Roll Call
The clerk calls the roll to see if the constitutionally required number of members are present to conduct business.

• Reading And Approval Of The Journal
A motion is usually made that the reading of the previous day’s actions (the Journal) be dispensed with and approved.

• Second Reading Of Bills
Bills on the Calendar are given their second reading, by title only, and sent to the Rules Committee.

• Report Of Committees
The clerk reads committee action on bills.

• First Reading Of Bills
The Constitution requires all bills be “read” on three separate days. These bills are read by title only. A favorable committee report constitutes the first reading of a bill. Bills that have received a first reading are placed on the Calendar for the following day

• Orders Of The Day
The Rules Committee posts legislation in the Orders of the Day. The majority floor leader calls bills from the Orders of the Day for debate, amendment, or other floor action.

• Third Reading And Passage Of Bills
It is usually the majority floor leader who makes a motion that a bill be given its third reading, by title only, to open the floor for debate on the bill.

• Introduction And Reading Of
New Bills And Resolutions The clerk numbers bills and resolutions as they are received and reads new ones by title and sponsor. Bills and resolutions are identified by number throughout their consideration.

• Report Of Referrals Of
Bills To Committees The clerk announces to which standing committees bills have been referred by the Committee on Committees.

• Motions, Petitions, Communications,
And Announcements A member may present any matter he or she wishes to have considered that can be appropriately characterized as a motion, petition, communication,
or announcement.

• Adjournment
The presiding officer asks if there is any further business. If not, upon motion, the chamber adjourns.

Adjourning And Convening

Each chamber decides individually every day it is in session when to adjourn and when to convene for the next working day.

Chamber Decorum

The rules of each chamber state that members are not to address each other on the floor by name. Senators must refer to each other as “The senator from (a particular county or district).” House members refer to their colleagues as “The gentleman (or lady) from.” Senators address the presiding officer as “Mr. (or Madam) President”; and House members, “Mr. (or Madam) Speaker.” Members who use objectionable language on the floor may be called to order by the chair.

Bills

Only a member of the General Assembly can introduce legislation. Legislators, however, often introduce bills suggested by citizens or various organizations. Bills vary in length from a single paragraph to hundreds of pages. The Constitution requires that a bill relate to only one subject, which must be stated in the title. Bills that do not follow this rule may be ruled unconstitutional. The Constitution prohibits special laws applying only to one city, town, county, or person. All bills must begin with these words: “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Some bills pass with few changes (amendments) and little discussion. Others are subjected to intense examination and undergo major changes before becoming law. Amendments may be proposed by a committee or a legislator, but amendments must be
approved by the full House or Senate before they are incorporated into the bill. If a committee changes a bill significantly, a committee substitute may be adopted. Once adopted, a committee substitute is considered as the original bill for purposes of further amendments. Bills are introduced by legislators delivering them to
the Senate or House clerk. Below is the basic process a bill must follow to be denacted into law (Kentucky Revised Statutes):

• Introduction And Committee Referral
A bill may be introduced in the Senate or House. However, a bill that raises revenue must be introduced in the House. Each bill is assigned a number, read by title and sponsor, and referred to a standing committee by the Committee on Committees.

• Committee Consideration
Committee meetings are open to the public except when exempted by the Open Meetings Law. When there is sufficient interest in a subject, a public hearing may be held. A bill may be
reported out of committee with one of the following expressions of opinion: favorable; favorable with committee amendments; favorable with committee
substitute; unfavorable; or, in the Senate, without opinion. A committee can essentially kill a bill by failing to act on it.

• First Reading
When a committee reports a bill favorably, the bill has its first reading and is placed on the Calendar for the following day.

• Second Reading; To Rules
The bill is read by title a second time and sent to the Rules Committee. The Rules Committee may recommit the bill (send it back to a committee) or place it in the Orders of the Day for consideration.

• Third Reading And Passage
“I move that House Bill 100 be taken from its place in the Orders of the Day, read for the third time by title only, and placed upon its passage.” This motion, usually made by the majority floor leader, opens the floor for debate. Following debate and amendments, a final vote on the bill is taken. To pass, a bill must be approved by at least two-fifths of the members of the chamber (40 representatives or 16 senators) and a majority of the members present and voting. If the bill contains an ppropriation or an emergency clause, it must be approved by a majority of the members elected to each chamber (51 representatives and 20 senators). During sessions in odd-numbered years, legislation that appropriates funds or raises revenue requires a three-fifths majority to pass (60 representatives and 24 senators). Proposed constitutional amendments also require a three-fifths majority to pass.

• What Happens Next?
If a bill is defeated, that is the end of it unless two members who voted against it request it be reconsidered and the request is approved by majority vote. If a bill passes one chamber, it is sent to the other chamber, where it follows much the same procedure. Both chambers must agree on the final form of each bill. If either chamber fails to concur in amendments made by the other, the differences must be reconciled by a conference committee of senators and representatives. Compromises agreed to by this conference committee must be approved by both chambers.

• Enrollment
After passage by both chambers, a bill is presented for signature by the enrollment committee. The bill is signed by the presiding officer of each chamber and sent to the governor (or to the secretary of state if a constitutional amendment).

• Governor’s Action
The governor may sign a bill, permit it to become law without signing it, or veto it. A veto may be overridden by a majority of the members of both chambers. Kentucky’s governor must veto a bill in its entirety, except for an appropriations bill, for which the governor has line-item veto authority. The governor has 10 days (excluding Sundays) to act on a bill after it has been received.

• Becoming Law
The Constitution specifies that an act becomes law 90 days after the General Assembly adjourns, unless the act contains a delayed effective date or an emergency clause. In the latter case, the act must be approved by a constitutional majority (half of the members elected, plus one) and becomes effective immediately upon its approval by the governor.The fastest a bill can pass through both chambers of the General Assembly and receive the required three readings in both chambers is five days. Most bills take longer to complete the process, however.

Bill Status

During a session, citizens can call the toll-free bill status line for legislative updates. The telephone number is posted on the LRC website during sessions and is also published across the state by the media.