KY Senate Kisses Horse Industry Good-Bye

What a disappointing vote yesterday in the Kentucky Senate:  citizens will not get to vote on whether Kentucky should expand gambling to aid the horse industry.

At least there was a vote; last go round, Senate President David Williams killed the bill in committee, in an alarming lack of transparency. Yet many are left with the nagging suspicion that this was a rigged vote -- timed to ensure defeat.

David Williams opposes gambling in Kentucky, although it is well known that he personally likes to gamble:  gambling for me, not thee. He has no credibility on the issue and should have just let Sen. Damon Thayer handle the whole thing.  Indeed, given Williams' resounding defeat in his bid for governor, he has little credibility on any issue.  Why is he still Senate President?  Are people still afraid of him after that disastrous election? Sure, he's a brilliant man, but wouldn't a less polarizing leader be more effective?

What is discouraging about the Senate vote is that it is anti-democratic.  Ordinary Kentuckians deserved a chance to have their say on the issue. All senators, regardless of their personal position, therefore should have voted to put the issue on the ballot.  A vote against the amendment is parternalistic; it says that voters cannot be trusted to make the right choice. The only way this issue can be put to rest is by allowing voters to address it directly.

There should be bipartisan support for our horse industry. As an out of state transplant, I can testify that bourbon and horses do more for Kentucky's image than anything else. That add an allure to the state and do  much to counterbalance the notion that we all have meth mouth and run around barefoot. Moreover, the horse industry is a huge employer, offering jobs for a wide range of skill levels, It is a tourism magnet. It is a counter-weight to the dreaded Urban Sprawl.  It is a green industry. Really, there are any number of constituencies, otherwise odd bed-fellows, that should be banding together to save it.

The reality is that other states, like New York, are gunning for our horse industry -- successfully. Those who oppose gambling need to identify an alternative to prevent the horse industry from becoming a vestige of Kentucky's past.

Keep Kentucky Senate Republican

The Kentucky Republicans and conservatives needs to write a check (quickly) for the GOP candidate in a special election to fill the vacancy by Republican Sen. Charlie Borders in Northeastern Kentucky, District 18.

Dr. Jack Ditty is the Republican nominee in a special election that Gov. Beshear has set for August 25th. This election will determine more than who represents District 18; it has implications for the balance of power within the state. All Republicans, therefore, need to watch this closely and give what they can to protect our majority in the Senate.

According to the state party, Dr. Ditty would be the only physician in the State Senate -- an invaluable asset for Republicans as we work to achieve healthcare reform rather than government takeover.

To learn more about Dr. Ditty and make a donation, go to www.drjackditty.com.

One Small Step for Kentucky Schools

Once and while, even in Frankfort, an issue comes along to which the answer is clear-cut even to to those who come from different political parties and philosophies. Buried beneath all the rancor of competing proposed budgets for Kentucky is such an issue.

The Senate's proposed budget includes language that would give schools flexibility in how to publish certain required information; the Senate version would allow schools to use the Internet to meet their public notice requirements.

Kentucky law requires schools to notify members of the public that they can review their school district's annual financial statement and school report cards of aggregate CATS test results. At present, schools must publish these legal notices in the newspaper with the largest circulation for the area.

For a small school district in proximity to a big newspaper, that is a very expensive -- and unfunded -- mandate. The Courier-Journal, for example, charges thousands of dollars to publish these notices.

The Senate proposes language that would let schools continue to publish in the newspaper, if they so choose, but also would allow publication via the Internet. The Kentucky School Board Association has urged the legislature to make this change for many years.

In the earliest days of the Internet, perhaps legislators justifiably could worry that not enough members of the public were on-line to satisfy the purpose of the notice requirements. That is no longer the case.

If anything, the success of the Internet has jeopardized traditional print media to the point where even Old School newspapers publish on-line. There's an irony: schools are forced to pay to appear in newspapers that then publish on-line, when the school could skip the newspaper as middleman and get the same result for free. Consequently, the current publication law enriches the newspaper industry to the detriment of our children.

Moreover, residents who want to review information about the local school are far more likely to click on the school district's web site than to get out magnifying glasses to read the legal notices in the newspaper.

This is not a hard call. If the Senate, the General Assembly and the Governor can at least agree on this small change, then at least this legislative session will have produced one good thing. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.