“How Can They Do That?”: Nonpartisan Report Notes Increase in Fast-Tracking of Legislation in Kentucky

The Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, on Jan. 9, 2014. (Kittugwiki/CC BY-SA 3.0)

The League of Women Voters of Kentucky (LWVKY), a nonpartisan group, released a report titled, “How Can They Do That? Transparency and Citizen Participation in Kentucky’s Legislative Process,” highlighting the increasing use of a fast-track process in the Kentucky General Assembly.

This process often leaves citizens, interested parties, and journalists struggling to keep up with the rapid progression of legislation, the report claims.

“In recent years, LWVKY has become increasingly concerned with legislative actions that fast-track significant bills, including state budget bills and bills on controversial issues on which citizens may want to give input,” the report states. “The informed and active participation we value requires that citizens have realistic opportunities to analyze bill language and be heard. Very rapid action by the Kentucky Senate and House can deny those opportunities.”

Fast-Tracking Legislation: A Growing Trend

The LWVKY report, analyzing legislative sessions from 1998 to 2022, indicates a rising trend of fast-tracking legislation in Kentucky. This approach has made it challenging for various stakeholders to review and comment on important and sometimes contentious bills.

“Our analysis identified four procedural maneuvers that undermine citizen participation,” the report states.

These include replacing bills with substitute versions on short notice, holding mandatory bill readings before committee consideration, allowing same-day floor votes post-committee approval, and approving free conference committee reports containing new bill language on the same day they are filed.

The LWVKY says those maneuvers make it hard or impossible for citizens to take timely action to analyze the language in bills, provide testimony to committees, provide input through phone calls, emails, and visits, and tell other citizens about their concerns.

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“These maneuvers also make it harder for journalists to provide information to their readers, and they make it harder for legislators to review legislation for themselves and consider thoughts from citizens in deciding how they will vote,” the report added.

The LWVKY says one way it achieves its mission of promoting informed and active citizens is monitoring the legislative sessions in the state, tracking legislation as it moves through the process, and informing members and citizens about important bills.

“When bills of interest are being considered, our legislative liaisons work through established processes to give input, including testifying at committee meetings and talking to individual legislators,” the report stated. “In recent years, however, League members and other Kentuckians have increasingly been unable to review key legislation in time to give input.”

The report goes on to say that some of its members have been prepared to testify at committee meetings, “only to learn on the day of the meeting” that the bill they had prepared to speak on had been substituted for a new bill.

Statistical Insights

The report notes that on “Kentucky Tonight,” a Kentucky public television program, in a segment recapping the 2023 legislative session, members of both parties said fast-tracking bills was common place and not an issue.

“When I first got there and was serving in the minority, and I remember getting a letter for me to sign off for a commitment to vote for the budget bill prior to ever seeing [the] bill if I was to get coal severance projects in my county…. I have had to vote on bills before that the copies were so hot that you couldn’t hardly touch them,” State Rep. Suzanne Miles, a Republican House leader said on the program, recalling the days when Democrats ruled the legislature.

State Sen. Robin Webb agreed that it is understood that the majority party “can bend the rules.”

“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” she said. “I’ve been on the receiving, I guess, and the giving end of the shenanigans ... it happens in every chamber across the country and in Congress. We all have procedural issues in the 11th hour so to speak and I don’t think it’s going to change regardless of who is in the majority.”

The report disagrees that it is commonplace, revealing an uptick in the maneuvers.

“Twenty-five years ago, less than 5 percent of bills that became law used one or more of these maneuvers,” the report notes. “In 2002, the percentage began to increase rather dramatically, to a 2014 high of 42 percent in the House and 29 percent in the Senate. There is indeed a pattern of increasing use of fast-track maneuvers that make participation more difficult.”

The Impact on Public Participation

The LWVKY’s findings underscore what the group calls a concerning pattern in the legislative process that potentially hampers public engagement.

“Our democracy depends on informed and active public participation in decision-making,“ said Jennifer Jackson, president of the LWVKY. ”While elections are crucial, public engagement should extend beyond voting alone. Citizens must have the opportunity to contribute throughout the legislative process, and lawmakers should prioritize careful study and listening to ensure a comprehensive and participatory approach to finalizing legislation. ”

To counteract these trends, the LWVKY proposes several reforms. These include holding bill readings on separate days after committee approvals, making substitute bills available online at least a day before consideration, and ensuring a gap between the final committee action on a bill and its floor vote.