Kentucky Club for Growth: Key Votes Archives

April 17, 2007

2007 Kentucky Club for Growth Scorecard

The Kentucky Club for Growth is proud to announce its 2007 scorecard rating members of the Kentucky General Assembly on fiscal issues.

How did your legislators do?

Posted by Brian Richmond at 08:56 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

March 26, 2007

House Bill 228 shields porkers from scrutiny

In the waning hours of the Kentucky General Assembly, leaders in the Kentucky Senate have just approved a measure that would allow them to place an even tighter vice grip on legislation.

The Herald-Leader’s John Stamper sums it up (March 22 Herald-Leader story):

The proposal would clarify that lawmakers have the ability to set aside existing laws and create new laws within the executive branch budget bill, which appropriates billions of dollars once every two years. It was put into an unrelated House bill by a Senate committee last week.

Unlike most other bills, the final details of a budget bill are usually hammered out in closed-door meetings of leading lawmakers from the House and Senate. Most rank-and-file legislators have no opportunity to even read the mammoth document before casting a vote on the measure in its entirety.

The size and secrecy of the last two Kentucky state budgets should serve as a reminder to all fiscal watchdogs that the General Assembly continues to actively seek opportunities to spend more of your money with less scrutiny. Lawmakers who vote for the current version of HB 228 do not represent fiscal conservatism. They do not represent the interests of all the Kentucky families on tight budgets who have to pay the bills for the state. House Bill 228 is little more than a cynical repackaging of House Bill 184.

UPDATE: The bill in its current form no longer contains the offensive elements. The bill is, though not perfect, far better than it was a few weeks ago.

Posted by Brian Richmond at 05:22 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

March 09, 2007

Kentucky's senate votes to raise minimum wage

The Kentucky Senate passed a hike in Kentucky's minimum wage Thursday. What does this decision mean for voters, businesses and unskilled workers?

It means that the Kentucky Senate has little to no understanding of basic economics. When lawmakers decide that employees are worth a minimum amount, they are not making workers more valuable. When a legislature decides that you must pay a worker a minimum amount - and decides that no worker may accept an amount below a proscribed minimum - that legislature has decided that the free market cannot be trusted to set prices for labor.

It means that the business community realizes that lawmakers don't trust them to do what's best for their own bottom lines. Businesses often exist on very narrow profit margins. When a government arbitrarily forces businesses to pay more for labor, that government is harming the businesses that will have to endure the additional cost. It means that businesses will have to make myriad difficult hiring and firing decisions to preserve those narrow profits. A minimum wage is a tax on labor.

It means that the poor and unskilled workers will find a harsher labor market. Those workers who need experience and job skills the most will have a harder time getting hired knowing that their value may not measure up to the new minimum wage. These workers deserve a chance at the first rung of the employment ladder. A hike in the minimum wage simply puts that first job out of reach for many workers.

The bottom line is that any lawmaker who supports a wage control or a price control is not a lawmaker who wants Kentucky's economy to grow. That lawmaker may know that the economics of wage controls work against Kentucky's best interests, but feels compelled to obey the misguided notions of certain voters.

The Kentucky Club for Growth endorses the free market as the best means to assign prices to goods, services and labor. Wage and price controls do not support growth. Lawmakers who support minimum wages do not support Kentucky's future!

Posted by Brian Richmond at 07:29 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

February 24, 2007

HB 305: Wage controls

What share of House Republicans voted to impose a higher wage floor on small businesses in Kentucky? 73%.

Just a quarter of House Republicans voted to stop additional wage controls in Kentucky. Here are the lawmakers who stood up for the free market this week:

DeCesare (R)	Dossett (R)	Fischer (R)	Kerr (R)	Koenig (R)	Lee,S (R)
Montell (R)	Osborne (R)	Santoro (R)	Wuchner (R)

Any questions?

Posted by Brian Richmond at 02:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

February 22, 2007

KEY VOTE ALERT

The Kentucky Club for Growth announces its support for the following bills now under consideration in the Kentucky General Assembly:

HB 224, HB 228, HB 249, HB 295, HB 317, SB 108

The Kentucky Club for Growth announces its opposition to the following bills under consideration in the Kentucky General Assembly:

HB 184 (withdrawn), HB 222, HB 223, HB 247, HB 305, HB 324, HB 267, HB 292, HB 310, HB 313, HB 318, HB 411, HB 418, SB 5, SB 12

More to come ...

Posted by Brian Richmond at 12:49 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 07, 2007

Key Vote: Budget Transparency

Any Kentucky House member who wants transparency to return to state budgeting should seriously consider signing on as a cosponsor of Joe Fischer's bill to give the public greater access to the state budget and all the spending contained therein. It's a basic nonpartisan piece of legislation to make Kentucky's government more transparent and accountable. In short, it's a no-brainer.

So far, Mr. Fischer is totally alone in supporting the bill. Will the real government watchdogs please stand up? We'll be watching.

Posted by Brian Richmond at 11:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

November 30, 2006

A constitutional amendment to reduce lawmaker accountability?

Julie Denton has pre-filed a bill to extend the terms of lawmakers. Sooo, lawmakers should be held accountable for their actions less often?

The bill is in the form of an amendment to Kentucky's constitution.

At the federal level, studies show that lawmakers who have been in Washington the shortest time typically are willing to spend less than lawmakers who have been there longer.

Several others are already jumping out in opposition: David Adams, Mark Nickolas and Daniel Solzman. Looks like the groundswell of opposition is already moving. Read the comments, too.

Posted by Brian Richmond at 11:26 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

November 05, 2006

Hazard pay for social workers?

House Bill 52 (Expand definition of 'hazardous duty' for state workers): Introduced by Rep. C.B. Embry, Jr on January 2, 2007, to change the definition of a hazardous position to include positions classified in the social services series that involve child protective services investigations or ongoing face-to-face contact with families whose children have been placed in the custody of the cabinet.

Posted by Brian Richmond at 08:52 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

November 04, 2006

Minimum Wage!

Minimum Wage Hikes could be coming in 2007. Here's a roundup:

Increase Kentucky minimum wage by 17%
Increase Kentucky minimum wage 41% by 2009
Raise Kentucky's minimum wage 36% by 2008
Increase Kentucky minimum wage 41% by 2009

Posted by Brian Richmond at 03:04 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

November 01, 2006

Tax Me More!

Hey, if you want to pay more in taxes, why shouldn't you be able to?

House Bill 47 (Create 'tax-me-more' fund): Introduced by Rep. David Floyd on January 2, 2007, to establish the tax-me-more account within the state general fund to receive voluntary contributions from individuals and entities that believe they are undertaxed. The bill would require the Finance and Administration Cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to establish a contribution process. The billl would require the Department of Revenue to provide an opportunity for taxpayers to make contributions with their income tax payments. The billl would require that amounts in the fund be appropriated by the General Assembly as part of the biennial budget process.

Posted by Brian Richmond at 08:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)