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Incumbents’ ace in the hole

By Caleb O. Brown

In poker, the dealer often “calls the game,” deciding which rules govern each hand.

But what happens if the dealer decides that everyone else has to either make a huge wager or fold before seeing any cards while he’s allowed to look at his cards before deciding whether to stay in the game? It’s a sure bet that most reasonable people will get up and leave the table.

Yet Kentucky’s incumbent legislators have just such a rule: the filing deadline.

During each election year, candidates for the Kentucky General Assembly must file to run for office by the end of January. This early deadline greatly benefits incumbents, who tend to play their cards close to the vest and delay the more controversial and polarizing work until after the first month of legislative sessions during election years.

Political journalist Lowell Reese says “it’s almost traditional” for incumbents to tiptoe through the General Assembly until the end of January, closing the window of opportunity for new candidates. After all, a difficult vote cast before the filing deadline might motivate unhappy voters, create an unpredictable electorate and inspire serious challenges from credible opponents.

“Delaying the filing deadline until after incumbents complete the legislative session in mid-April would allow voters – and potential challengers – to make informed decisions about whether representatives are properly representing their constituents.”         

Lawmakers’ activities during this year’s legislative session should have earned them those kinds of challengers. Legislative leaders ducked out of public view for two weeks during March and April to complete a budget.

What emerged from those private budget parties was a massive, debt-ridden and even constitutionally questionable spending plan. Rank-and-file members were given just a day to judge the merits of the entire bill and were not allowed to make amendments.

After this affront to basic accountability, no challengers could file for office because the deadline fell 74 days before legislators were legally obligated to finish their work.

Delaying the filing deadline until after incumbents complete the legislative session in mid-April would allow voters – and potential challengers – to make informed decisions about whether representatives are properly representing their constituents. To accommodate the printing of ballots, the later filing deadline would probably require moving the state’s primary election – currently held in mid-May – to a later date.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only seven states conduct primary elections earlier than Kentucky. This year, the commonwealth’s primary election was on May 16, while 22 states will hold primaries in August or September.

A new filing date of April 30 in Kentucky would make the deadline a factor during the state’s entire legislative session.

Hopefully, legislators would then feel additional pressure to fulfill their constitutional duties, which primarily involve enacting budgets for all branches of government. They would then go home, talk to voters and quell potential opposition.

During this year’s legislative session, Frankfort’s political leadership allowed time to run out during the regular session before properly addressing weighty measures, including a reform of Kentucky’s business tax code. Taxpayers were forced to pay for this procrastination when Gov. Ernie Fletcher called lawmakers back to the capitol where they passed the tax-reform measure that failed during the regular session.

If the filing deadline had fallen on a date after this year’s session, it’s a good bet that lawmakers would have found a way to enact a new tax plan for small businesses on time and save taxpayers the $600,000 spent on the special session.

Making this simple rule change on behalf of electoral challengers would undoubtedly create a more responsive, upstanding and passionate group of lawmakers in Frankfort. But if nothing changes, our state’s incumbent politicians will always have at least one ace up their sleeves while voters continue to be dealt a losing hand.

– Caleb O. Brown is director of KentuckyVotes.org, a voter information Web site. Contact him at brown@bipps.org or at (270) 782-2140.

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

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