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Kentucky House Speaker frees up voting records of General Assembly

(Bowling Green, Ky.) – After months of mounting pressure from the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards told the Bowling Green Daily News in a story published Tuesday (“Think tank in dispute over records”) that he will push for legislators’ votes to be posted online.

“We are going to put the records on our Web site, …” said Richards, D-Bowling Green, who co-chairs of the Legislative Research Commission (LRC). “I think several of us are going to insist that that be done.”

Richards’ statement marks the first time a member of the LRC’s leadership has publicly advocated posting legislators’ voting records online. Previously, the LRC had denied electronic access to its roll-call votes to anyone outside its own organization.

“This is a great day for open government and KentuckyVotes.org,” said Caleb O. Brown, its director. “Kentucky’s legislative leaders now recognize that giving their constituents timely online information about their votes can only strengthen the commonwealth’s legislative process.”

For too long, citizen-activists have had to pay per-page charges to have paper copies of votes mailed or faxed to them. Also, candidates running for legislative offices have found it nearly impossible to run against the non-existent voting score cards of incumbents. These information inefficiencies will soon end when KentuckyVotes.org, an emerging free voter information service of the Bluegrass Institute, becomes fully functional on the Internet early in November.

In Michigan, where a similar project (MichiganVotes.org) has been operating for more than four years, voters and legislators alike attest to the benefits of having a permanent, online voter-feedback loop. In 2002, the Detroit Free Press named MichiganVotes.org a “Free Press Favorite”.

KentuckyVotes.org will offer the same group of services that has earned the Michigan Web site such accolades. Citizen-activists can sign up for customized legislative updates, post their comments on proposed legislation and attach their e-mail addresses to keywords or bills to keep abreast of proposed legislation and their representatives’ voting patterns during a legislative session.

“We are placing voters’ needs at the forefront of this project,” Brown said. “Voters get energized when they feel that they can influence the direction and speed of proposed legislation. And with this new resource at their fingertips, elected officials will soon know how to better serve the interests of their constituents.”

KentuckyVotes.org staffers have already posted vote totals for the 2005 legislative session online. In 2006, KentuckyVotes.org will offer daily coverage of the entire legislative session.

The Bluegrass Institute is an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems.

Permission to reprint Perspective commentaries, in whole or in part, is hereby granted, provided the author and his affiliations are cited. Authors are available for interviews by contacting the Institute.

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
400 East Main Avenue, Bowling Green, KY 42101

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