Kentucky Government, Politics, and Public Policy

3. The Kentucky General Assembly: Divided by Party, United by Necessity

43 3 The Kentucky General Assembly Divided by Party, United by Necessity James C. Clinger The two chambers of the Kentucky General Assembly, like the state legislatures of many other states, have been divided in party control in recent decades. In the Kentucky legislature the Republican party has held a majority in the Senate since 2000, while the Democrats have held a majority in the House of Representatives for as long as any living Kentuckian can remember. The two chambers enjoy an uneasy coexistence . Each has its own constitutional qualifications for officeholding, its own electoral cycle, and its own constituencies of different scale and scope. The chambers are related , however, in governing purpose and in the career ladders of politicians who seek to extend or advance their public careers. This chapter will address several issues regarding the Commonwealth’s state legislature , including its constitutional authority, membership characteristics, organizational structure, career opportunities, and legislative procedure. Each of these features interacts with others to shape the operation of the institution. Constitutional Powers The Kentucky Constitution states that the “legislative power shall be vested in a House of Representatives and a Senate, which, together, shall be styled the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky” (Section 29). Notably, the constitution does not say, as the federal constitution does, that “all legislative power” is vested in the legislature . Nonetheless, the grant of authority in the constitution and the apparent protections against the intrusions of other branches found in the separation-of-powers provisions (Sections 27 and 28) appear to give the General Assembly substantial power to make policy for the Commonwealth. In practice, however, various restrictions on taxing, spending, and legislative sessions have imposed some limits on policy making. The restrictions on fiscal decisions are detailed elsewhere in this volume (see chapter 8 by Lisa A. Cave), so attention here will focus on time constraints placed on the General 44 State and Local Institutions Assembly. Regular sessions of the General Assembly were once held only every other year, and the number of legislative days was limited. Under an amendment to the constitution approved in 2000, the legislature may meet in odd-numbered years for a total of thirty days, and for sixty days in even-numbered years. In the short sessions in oddnumbered years, revenue-raising bills can be passed only by a three-fifths vote of the members of each chamber. Special or “extraordinary” sessions may be called by the governor, but not by the General Assembly. The subjects to be addressed in extraordinary sessions are limited to those specified by the governor (Section 80). Members of the legislature are elected in plurality-winner elections from singlemember districts, unlike the legislators in thirteen states, some of whom are elected from multimember districts. In keeping with Duverger’s law, the legislature is populated with members of only two political parties. One lone independent, Bob Leeper, serves in the Senate after winning office earlier as a Republican and earlier still as a Democrat. The state is divided into thirty-eight senatorial districts and one hundred House districts. Each district is approximately the same in population size as any other district from the same chamber, although the constitution stipulates that district boundaries should avoid division of counties as much as possible without violating the equal-population standard. Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are elected in November of even-numbered years. The members of the House select their presiding officer, the Speaker of the House (currently Greg Stumbo, a former attorney general). Members of the Senate serve four-year terms and are also elected in even-numbered years. Senate terms are staggered so that half of the thirty-eight senators are elected in any even-numbered year. Prior to a 1992 constitutional amendment, the lieutenant governor served as the Senate’s presiding officer, but since 1993 the members of the Senate have selected their presiding officer, the Senate president. The governor, lieutenant governor, and other statewide executive officers are elected in odd-numbered years, so legislative elections are not particularly influenced by gubernatorial coattail effects resulting from the presence of a popular (or unpopular) candidate of the same party at the top of the ballot. Popular or unpopular presidential candidates may still have some impact on legislative candidates’ electoral outcomes. Section 47 of the constitution stipulates that revenue-raising bills must originate in the House of Representatives. Section 93 of the constitution assigns the Senate the responsibility for approving gubernatorial appointments...