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Shining a light on lawmaking in the dark

Sometimes it takes a few years for an idea to catch on.

Likewise, it sometimes takes a few years for a bad idea to get exposed. Thankfully, a very bad idea wafting out of the General Assembly got stopped dead in its tracks by Kentucky’s two largest newspapers. The bill’s sponsor, sensing his own blood in the water, wisely withdrew the bill before more sharks came to the party.

Rep. Harry Moberly Jr. in a sense tipped his legislative hand by filing a bill to allow the General Assembly to tuck permanent law changes into Kentucky’s biennial spending plan. The General Assembly has been doing this for years, but the crafters of Kentucky’s budget wanted to “affirm” that the practice is legal.

Thankfully, both the editorial boards of the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Louisville Courier-Journal saw through the ruse – a ploy that the Bluegrass Institute pointed out some time ago.

It’s not just illegal to permanently change statutes in the budget. It’s unconstitutional.

The Herald-Leader warned that such a bill would lock ordinary citizens out of the process of making the laws that govern us.

“What's done in the open, through committee hearings, debate and compromise, could be undone in secret,” the newspaper’s editorial stated. “History and human nature tell us that that would lead to government for the privileged few with access and power.”

Kentucky’s major newspapers rightly brought greater attention to this issue. An open legislative process obedient to Kentucky’s Constitution should not be a goal. It should be how things get done. Moberly withdrew the bill, so it seems he now knows Kentuckians want as little secret lawmaking as possible.

But vigilance is required. Moberly or any lawmaker could tuck this legislation into the budget next time.

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

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