KFTC Blog | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

KFTC Blog

AT&T bill getting a hearing Thursday. Call today!

Posted by: Kentuckians For The Commonwealth on March 5, 2013

SB 88, known as the AT&T bill, is slated for a hearing in the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee t

Rowan members setting the record straight on coal use and highway alternatives

Posted by: Annie Adams on March 4, 2013

The Rowan County chapter has been raising public awareness about the debt the coal industry owes to eastern Kentucky and the voice citizens should have in making decisions that affect local residents.

On February 26, members of the chapter had published two substantial commentaries in The Morehead News that urged residents to take control of the resources and processes that are rightfully theirs.

Responding to an editorial that erroneously claimed that “Kentucky coal has taken a beating from the federal government and environmentalists and, as a result, statewide production is down sharply,” Sue Tallichet rightly countered that the production of relatively cheap natural gas, the depletion of “‘economically recoverable’ coal in central Appalachia,” and the abundance of “surface-mined coal from the West’s Powder River Basin” have all “resulted in a sharp decline in the  demand for central Appalachian thermal coal used for generating electricity."

Instead of worrying how the “last gasp of eastern Kentucky’s coal mining” benefits the industry and its “friends,” Tallichet argued, we should be focusing on the people and the land that will remain long after the companies have gone.

Think About Running for Public Office Next Year

Posted by: Dave Newton on March 4, 2013

download3There are no scheduled Kentucky elections in 2013, so KFTC is putting a lot of the effort we would have put into massive voter registration and mobilization and we'll instead focus on planning and training for the big elections ahead in 2014.  

Next year, we'll have a big US Senate race, our 6 US House seats will be up for election, plus 19 of the 38 state Senate races, all 100 state House races, plus many local county and city races. 

KFTC encourages our members and allies to consider running for public office themselves in 2014 - and we will host a candidate training later in the year to help people prepare to run.

Keep burning up those phone lines for Voting Rights!

Posted by: Dave Newton on March 4, 2013

HB 70, our bill to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society, still has a fighting chance.  KFTC members and allies are continuing to burn up the phone lines calling legislators to try to get a hearing this Wednesday on the same day as our big lobby day.  

The bill is assigned to the Senate State and Local Government committee, chaired by Senator Joe Bowen, who represents Owensboro, Daviess, and McLean counties.   He has been tentatively supportive of this legislation, but will need a good push to make sure he hears the bill this week.  If you're from this area or know others who are, please do everything you can today and tomorrow to make sure Bowen hears from constituents asking him to allow HB 70 to come to a vote on Wednesday.  

Take Action

Please take two minutes and call the legislative message line, 1-800-372-7181, leaving a message for your own senator plus "Senate Leadership" and "Senate State and Local Government Committee members." A good, simple message is "Please support HB 70." The line is open until 11 p.m. tonight.

And this Wednesday (March 6th) is our big Voting Rights Lobby Day and Rally in Frankfort. We're planning on having 200-300 people at the capitol to send a powerful message to lawmakers. We will be lobbying in the morning and holding a rally in the rotunda starting at 1 p.m. with former felon speakers, music, and more. We especially value having more former felons there to talk about their own experiences

Learn more about the day and register to attend here.

Lexington-Fayette urban county government comes out in support of restoring voting rights for former felons

Posted by: Ondine Quinn on March 3, 2013

As folks already know, HB 70, Representative Jesse Crenshaw's bill that would restore voting rights to most former felons who've served their time, has passed the Kentucky House seven years in a row, each year with broad bipartisan support. Most recently the vote was 75 to 25. Unfortunately when it's arrived in the Senate it hasn't received a hearing or vote. KFTC members and allies are working diligently to educate the Kentucky Senate about HB 70 and the positive effect it would have on communities across the commonwealth. And chapters have begun to develop strategies for involving their local governments.

Starting approximately a year ago, the central Kentucky chapter began lobbying their city council to pass a resolution in support of voting rights for former felons. 

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council is made up of 12 members who represent city districts, including three at-large council members of which one is the vice mayor. One of the chapter's first meetings was with Vice Mayor Linda Gorton who said that if KFTC members were serious about passing a resolution through the council then they should make a good faith effory to meet with every council member (and the mayor) to educate them about the issue.

So that's what chapter members did, and over the last year they met with nearly every member of the council, including Mayor Jim Gray and his aides to explain how the LFUCG could help towards building a more vibrant and healthy democracy. The lobby meetings were a great experience for chapter members because not only did it give them practice talking about the campaign but it helped them get to know how their city government worked and who the council members were. Their meeting with council member Ford went incredibly well, he was very supportive, so they asked him immediately if he'd sponsor the resolution, to which he agreed.

Their lobbying efforts paid off when last Thursday the city council voted unanimously to pass a resolution stating that not only do they believe that people who’ve served their time deserve the right to vote again, but also that the General Assembly should give the citizens of the commonwealth the chance to vote on the issue.

KFTC members and allies packed the council chambers and folks gave over an hour of testimony in support of the resolution.

KFTC member and former felon Tayna Fogle talked about her past as both a UK basketbal player and a person who fell into drugs. "I served a ten year prison sentence, I did my time. I made a mistake but I am not a mistake."

KFTC member Tedi Smith-Robillard, who received a pardon from the governor, shared with the council her commitment to justice. “I am 73 years old and until the day I die I will work for justice and for people to have the right to vote."

The resolution while symbolic (the city Lexington city council can’t change Kentucky’s constitution or give people their voting rights back), does send a powerful message to the General Assembly.

"We are counting on you to do the right thing. - Rev. Joseph Owens at the Lexington city council meeting.

Click here for a copy of the council meeting docket which contains the language of the resolution (number 41)

Fairness, new energy, membership and fundraising keep Shelby members busy

Posted by: Lisa Aug on March 3, 2013

On new energy, fairness, and fundraising and membership, KFTC Shelby County members are taking actions to move the chapter's goals forward.

  • New Energy: Carlen Pippen is working closely with the Public Service Commission on pushing Shelby Energy toward transparency. He also met with local Rep. Brad Montell regarding Shelby Energy's proxy voting policy, which Rep. Montell – a member of Shelby Energy himself – deplored as undemocratic and promised to help work to overturn.

Jobs and cost-savings possible from renewables and efficiency, panel told

Posted by: KFTC on March 2, 2013

Compelling testimony about the benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency incentives and programs was delivered to the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee on Thursday morning.

“This [bill] is a recognition that there are alternatives;,” said House Bill 170 sponsor Rep. Mary Lou Marzian. “It’s about jobs , jobs, jobs. We need to start looking at the future and building on what we have in terms of renewables and bio-fuels … [and] making Kentucky residents and Kentucky businesses less vulnerable to rising energy costs.”

Our Voting Rights bill is moving! Call in today and join us next week!

Posted by: Dave Newton on February 27, 2013

gIMG_3798Yesterday, HB 70, our bill to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society, was assigned to the Senate State and Local Government committee. The chair of this committee in previous years has prevented the bill from being heard, but the new chair, Senator Bowen, is tentatively supportive of this legislation. And he is much more likely to hold a hearing on the bill if he hears from you.

CKY members discuss the impacts of budget cuts on kids, and learn how to negotiate with people in power

Posted by: Ondine Quinn on February 25, 2013

DSCN0232Central Kentucky chapter members had a packed agenda for their February monthly meeting. Before the official meeting started, community member Will Bunge led a discussion about the ways that budget cuts were affecting Kentucky's kids, especially kids in foster care. As a former foster child himself, Will talked about the importance of supporting efforts that would make the foster care system more just, that supported folks receiving kinship care and about the possibility of alternative foster communities. He and his partner Susan are interested in starting a not-for profit alternative foster care community in Frankfort. If you're interested in learning more about their project, you can get in touch with them at (502) 523-1674 or amatmartialarts@gmail.com

During the chapter meeting, CKY Organizer Beth Howard led a great training on how to negotiate with "power people." She explained the different ways that people in authority might try to get out of making commitments in meetings or change the topic of conversation. She taught chapter members valuable skills on how to recognize these tactics.

Poll: Kentuckians support restoring felon voting rights

Posted by: Dave Newton on February 25, 2013

Bluegrass Poll | Kentucky supports restoring felon voting rights

From The Courier Journal

A majority of Kentucky voters say they favor amending the state constitution to allow convicted felons to regain their right to vote once they serve their full sentences.

A poll of 616 registered voters taken Feb. 19-21 by SurveyUSA for The Courier-Journal found that 51 percent favored such an amendment, while 38 percent opposed it. The poll question had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Many Kentuckians appear to share the view of Thomas Vance, 62, a disabled retired Air Force master sergeant who lives in Alexandria. In a follow-up interview, Vance said denying felons the vote after they serve their sentence is “piling on.”

“It is just not fair,” he said. “If I did my time, that should be the end of it.”

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