Voting in Ignorance
Yesterday's budget debate in the Kentucky House was a replay of the stimulus debate in the US House: There was no opportunity to read the legislation.
Republican Leader Jeff Hoover of Jamestown asked that the House recess for one hour so that members could read the budget bill but his motion was defeated. Hoover said the original budget bill had been just 14 pages but when the committee substitute was presented to the budget committee just a couple of hours before the House convened to vote on it, the bill had grown to 57 pages - and members had little time to see what is in it.
Rep. Tanya Pullin, D-South Shore, voted against the bill for that reason. She said she customarily refuses to vote for bills she isn't given time to read and study.
Do these two deserve praise, or are we just dumbfounded that it is newsworthy that some members of the assembly thought reading the legislation was important?
During the shenanigans, Rep. Mike Harmon requested a fiscal note be provided on the bill in accordance with House rules. Speaker Stumbo attempted to dismiss it silently, but someone opened up the roll call machine. The motion to actually be informed about what they were voting on was defeated by about 44-42.
That's right, 42 members indicated that they'd rather not know the fiscal impact of the bill before they voted.
It is our pledge to you that you will have a list of who these know-nothings are.
