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Hey Gov, They Are “Staying the Course”

by Norm Davis

          Have you looked at the bills that have been filed in the Kentucky Legislature lately?  In case you haven’t, you had better place a nitro pill under your tongue and sit in a low chair so as to not hurt yourself when you fall out of it in shock.

          Our beloved Governor has called for the legislators to “stay the course”, and they appear to be doing just that, spending, spending and wanting to spend some more.

          The Gov has said he has asked every agency to cut its budget. It appears as though the legislators see this cut as more money for them to spend elsewhere.

          Some call for revenue neutral tax changes -- a fancy phrase for passing the already high tax on to another group.  This always ends up as a tax increase for someone.

          It appears as though there will be about 1500 bills this session. I am willing to bet that not one legislator will read them all. I have to give them credit though, it is not because they do not want to, it is because they have neither the time nor resources.  Alas, the lobbyists will tell them all they need to know.

          What a scary thought. Paid lobbyists telling the legislators what they need to know about a particular bill.  Do you reckon they will give them the whole story? We all know better than that, don’t we? Maybe this is a good time to ask if you believe that the Easter Bunny lays colored eggs.

          Come to think of it, if you believe that paid lobbyists will tell the whole story and that revenue neutral tax schemes don’t mean a tax increase, then perhaps that bunny does lay colored eggs. Oh well. Back to reality.

          Looking at a very small sampling of bills, let’s take just a couple of subjects. To be sure I am not telling you a big tale, you may take your computer and go to http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/record/02rs/indexhd.htm to see the various subjects the bills are placed under by the Legislative Research Center (LRC). By the way, this is without a doubt the most efficient and best branch of the state government we have, in my opinion.

          Now that we are on this page, we scroll down the hundreds of subjects until we come to “Environment”, and what do we see? As of this date we see 18 listings of which only ONE BILL WILL SAVE THE TAXPAYER ANY MONEY. SB 102 will attempt to save us around $20-22 every TWO years.

          SB 102 will eliminate the Vehicle Emissions Testing programs in a couple of areas around the state. Even though the National Academy of Sciences has pretty much said the testing programs are a joke, you can bet your bottom dollar that well- funded environmentalist Tom FitzGerald (at least according to his Form 990 for the years 97 through 99) will be all over this bill, as will others, like flies on a Buffalo chip.

          Personally, I think they mean well but have no concept as to how these programs hurt the poor, the disabled, seniors on a fixed income, underpaid minorities, and the unemployed, who are all doing well just to eat.

          As though the attack on SB 102 isn’t bad enough, we will see the same people supporting what will cost us dearly as tax payers, such as Stumbo’s  Constitutional Amendment to tax us on bottles, hamburger wrappers and drink containers, the various bills to institute statewide curbside garbage collection, and far too many studies and Task Forces to study nearly everything so that we can have more ‘money sucking’ bills in future sessions.  Just because old Ross Perot is gone by way of the political winds doesn’t mean that the sucking sound is gone.

          Some of these wonderful studies include such things as child support, end of life care, and the death penalty, as well as a real winner in a “Watershed Task Force” that will open all of Kentucky’s watersheds due to a problem with one. Talking about a Pandora’s Box, this one will open a mess in the future.

If you really want to congratulate the legislators for ‘staying the course’, all you have to do is go to the issue of Transportation. Here we see that everyone appears to have a road or a bridge to name after or for someone. Wow, I didn’t have a clue we had so many famous people in Kentucky.  Hollywood has nothing on us Kentuckians! Do we ever have the unknown celebrities!  Just think, if we can give each one of these celebrities a holiday, we will never have to work again! Does “Utopia” appear on the horizon?

          It appears so only until you look at the bills for curbside garbage collection.  Then it appears everyone will have to work and work all the overtime they can possibly get. These are the big spender bills. It appears as though many more waste collection companies will either be put out of business or be bought out due to these laws, thereby eventually increasing everyone’s cost. How do I figure this?  Simple! When counties are given the choice or are mandated to pick one company in their county, they will usually pick the one most politically connected or, in other words, the bigger companies.  You know, the ones with the most money to spread around. God knows I don’t need to explain how money and politics work in Kentucky.

          It appears as though the state legislators are going to pass the costs of these programs on to the local elected officials.

          Slick, isn’t it? They pass the law in Frankfort, they don’t raise the taxes, and they don’t pay for it! They do force the counties to pay for it, or they may even withhold some percentage of the county road funds should the county not institute the program in their county. And we thought Bill Clinton was slick?

          When your county institutes the collection program, the bill to pay for this will be included on your property tax bill to insure payment in advance. Your local officials will have to do this, and they will in turn reap the wrath of the voting taxpayer come the next election.  The Frankfort people can then come out smelling like a rose, since the average voter will not bother to notice that this boondoggle came from Frankfort in the first place. I told you this was slick; now do you believe it? Old Bill didn’t have anything on these old boys except maybe Monica!

          What is really sad is that we haven’t seen the bad, really expensive -- in hillbilly terms, that is -- bills yet. We have yet to see the Gov’s “Smart Growth” legislation. But I imagine that we won’t see it and the really bad bills until the bill filing deadline, since that is the apparent procedure based on past experience.

          These bills never seem to come up until after the deadline for candidates to file to run against these people has come and gone. I told you that Bill had nothing on these people.

          I could go on for pages and pages but won’t. I’ll close out with one final waste of tax money, and that is the new security. I have been all over the Capitol, the parking lots and the grounds and have yet to find a camel. Just who is it that is attacking us and where are their camels hidden?

          Unless the average citizen gets involved in the legislative process, I don’t see any course other than “Staying the Course”, do you?

Norman Davis

Take Back Kentucky

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