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Kentucky General Assembly opens 2006 session

What can we expect from this year’s General Assembly?

Turn your head toward the heavens and ye may find your answer.

The knowledge you seek may come in the form of a billboard.

A casino advocacy group, Kentucky Equine Education Project, is making a major push through billboards and newspapers to allow expanding gaming in the commonwealth.

The aim of its membership, in it’s own words, is “in the interest of preserving Kentucky’s equine heritage and strengthening the economy, the Kentucky Equine Education Project supports a voter referendum to amend the state constitution to all for full casino gaming for those holding licenses to operate racetracks in Kentucky.”

Kentucky Senate bill 4, which was prefiled by David E. Boswell of Owensboro, proposes the state Constitution be amended to allow casino gambling at Kentucky horse-racing tracks.

There is a lot of power behind KEEP, and some of their positions probably make a lot of sense to a lot of voters including the notion that the commonwealth is losing millions of dollars to Indiana casinos.

I’m not here to make an argument for or against more gaming in the state but as the General Assembly gets rolling, newspapers across the state should brace for the two-sided blitz to come.

Some of the more conservative regions of the state that don’t see a lot of revenue from the horse industry and charitable-gaming operators will line up for a fight with casino supporters.

It should be interesting to see if this proposal makes it all the way to a referendum. I’m a fan of controversy that puts two, usually opposing beliefs, together for a common cause - like temperance groups and bootleggers teaming up to fight legal alcohol sales in a county. When these two sides get together, usually it’s an informal bond with no real organization, it makes for good copy.

Here are some other interesting prefiled bills to follow:

• HB 103 – submitted by Mary Lou Marzian and Jon Draud.

This bill would impose a tax of 32 percent of the gross receipts of wholesale sales of smokeless tobacco, cigars, loose tobacco and pipe tobacco. Under the specifics of the bill, the money raised from the new tax would be used to establish a children's dental care fund and be divided up for other programs such as mental health and substance abuse services, Medicaid health care services, health insurance for state and public school employees, smoking prevention and cessation, public school construction or renovation for school districts with growth in enrollment, veterans' nursing homes, cancer research and postsecondary tuition assistance or the state’s general fund.

This is the kind of legislation that will probably go through without much of a public fight, but expect a lot of grumbling. It’s hard to defend opposition to any laws that could make smoking, dipping or chewin’ less attractive. This is that kind of bill that could spark some good “man on the street” coverage.

•HB 90 - submitted by Tom Burch D. Keene and Addia Kathryn Wuchner

This bill would put some restrictions on new drivers under 18. Under the proposal, minors would be issued an “intermediate license” for six months. Under the provisions of the bill, the intermediate driver could only have one teen passenger at a time, could not get any moving violations or legally drive between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.

Like the tobacco tax, this bill could provoke a lot of grumbling among readership. This legislation is a good opportunity to canvass local high school students who haul all their friends to cheerleading practice. You could find out how its passage could affect insurance rates. Are the cops in favor of it?

HB 86 – submitted by Charlie Hoffman

This bill would change current Kentucky law making seat belt usage a primary enforcement issue for police. This means if a cop spots you driving without using a seat belt, the officer can pull you over and issue a citation.

This proposal is probably generating as much grass-roots interest as any other bill facing the General Assembly. Reporters and editors can expect a lot of reaction from the community on this one. This bill could be a good source for local editorials.

These are just some of the issues the General Assembly will be facing over the course of the next 60-odd days.

The budget, which triggered so much controversy last year, is still on the table.

Which bills will become law?

Will Democrats and Republicans ever agree?

Will partisanship win out?

Who will emerge from the upcoming battles as the victor?

Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.

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