General Assembly
5 Years, 1 Bill: Kentucky’s Black Lawmakers Shut Out Of Process
[N]o bills primarily sponsored by Scott, D-Louisville, have passed at all since she became the first Black, female legislator to be elected to the statehouse in almost 20 years. And, until this year — since at least 2017 — no bills led by Kentucky’s Black (and all-Democrat) legislators have passed, according to a data analysis by LEO Weekly.
Despite challenges, Kentuckians make an impact in Frankfort
You’ve made an impact during the 2021 General Assembly. Some of these impacts have been on legislation – a key meeting with a legislator that changes the course of a bill, or a push of calls and tweets that makes the will of the people more visible and harder to ignore. We also set a goal this session to continue to build the power we need. So many impacts have been in our own communities, talking with neighbors and networks about the bills that impact us, and the work of our legislators.
KY legislators rushed state tax breaks to Beshear’s desk worth hundreds of millions
Kentucky legislators hurriedly shoveled more state tax breaks toward Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk, adding to the many billions of dollars in state tax breaks already on the books.
Healthy Democracy Update - Phone and Text
In terms of legislative outcomes in this moment, our Healthy Democracy work is really struggling right now. Our bill to restore voting rights for people with felonies in their past (HB 232) has broad bipartisan support and we’ve helped recruit 16 co-sponsors to the bill, but it’s not even been assigned to committee.
Likewise, our endorsed bills around redistricting process, same-day voter registration, early voting, voting by mail, keeping polls open until 7pm, etc. have not gotten far.
In terms of our work, though, we’ve managed to build and use a lot of power by reaching out to constituentsdirectly through phone and text.
Action Alert for Redistricting
The following is an action alert from our allies at the League of Women Voters on Redistricting.
ACTION ALERT
Call Legislators today about House Concurrent Resolution 61 calling for an open redistricting process!
800-372-7181
Redistricting Congressional and KY House and Senate boundaries will happen during the 2022 legislature and once enacted, will be in effect for 10 YEARS! In the past, redistricting has been done behind closed doors!
HCR 61 calls for an open process with opportunities for public input.
Call House leaders and your own legislator today and ask them to hear and support HCR 61 and open up the process.
Call 1-800-372-7181 and ask legislators to:
Please assign HCR 61 to a committee and support its passage to create an open redistricting process. Kentucky deserves a transparent redistricting process with opportunities for public input.
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