CATLETTSBURG —
With the gubernatorial election still 15 months away, it is much too early to predict whether the Republican team of Senate President David Williams and Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer will nix Gov. Steve Beshear’s bid for re-election with Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson as his running mate, but we do know this: Williams’ early entry into the race for governor just about guarantees little will be accomplished during the 30-day 2011 General Assembly. If you think the constant partisan bickering in the General Assembly has thwarted progress in Kentucky — and it has — just wait until the man who has ruled the Republican-controlled Senate with an iron fist for more than a decade is challenging the governor’s bid for a second term.
Be assured that every major intiative Governor Beshear proposes will die in the Senate without a vote, while the Democrats who control the House of Representatives will support their governor by rejecting any Senate-passed bills supported by Williams. This has nothing to do with the merits of the proposals of Beshear and Williams and what is best for Kentucky. It is just that the Democrats in the House do not want to do anything to help Williams and the Republicans in the Senate will continue to turn thumbs down to Beshear’s major ideas.
Williams and his GOP colleagues already have sucessfully thwarted Governor Beshear’s proposals to expand gambling in Kentucky, even though expanded gambling was a major plank in Beshear’s successful campaign to unseat former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.
When Kentucky for the second time did not receive funding through the U.S. Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” program, Williams was quick to blame Beshear for not pressuring Democratic legislators to endorse Senate-approved legislation to allow charter schools in Kentucky. No doubt Senate Republicans again will be pushing charter school legislation in 2011, but with Williams playing politics with this issue in 2010, he has greatly reduced the already long chances of any charter school bill being adopted by the 2011 General Assembly.
The same can be said for Williams’ proposals on tort reform, school testing and any other issues the senator proposes. By the same token, any legislative proposals by Beshear seems certain to die in the Senate.
Partisan bickering already has caused the General Assembly to three times end its 60-day sessions without enacting a budget. Fortunately, the budget is not on the agenda for 2011.
Expect the General Assembly to accomplish nothing of significance in 2011, but legislators may find time to name bridges after constituents and debate what should be the official soft drink or candy bar in Kentucky.
The 2011 legislative session will occur while the race for governor is in full swing. While at this point Beshear and Williams are heavy favorites to win their parties’ nominations for governor, we’ve learned to take nothing for granted. After all, at this point a year ago, we thought Secretary of State Trey Grayson and Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo would be vying this November for Jim Bunning’s seat in the U.S. Senate. While we knew Attorney General Jack Conway could defeat Mongiardo in the Democratic primary about all we knew about Rand Paul a year ago is that he was th son of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., a former candidate for president.
While we don’t see any outsiders emerging to seriously challenge the nominations of Beshear and Williams, stranger things have happened. And neither Beshear nor Williams have done Conway and Paul any favors. By already launching their campaigns for governor, they are diverting attention — and campaign contributions — from this November’s Senate race and guaranteeing that the next campaign for governor will be exceedingly long.
Editorials
More bickering
Partisanship sure to increase during 2011 General Assembly
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Focus on music
There will be no new trophies for winning marching band competitions for the Boyd County High School band. Nor will band members be spending as many summer days in the hot sun in band camp and autumn Saturdays taking long bus drives to compete in band festivals in distant communities.
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Memorial Day
Unlike our other wars, the American people were never asked to sacrifice for the war in Iraq and the one still ongoing in Afghanistan. They have been wars fought by an all-voluntary military and by the “weekend soldiers” in the National Guard and in the Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve
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Still more cuts
If you believe the cuts mandated by the two-year state budget that will take effect July 1 will have little impact on services, consider this.
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Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.
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Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.
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After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.
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A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.
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Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.
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A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.
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Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.
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Focus on music
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