Franklin Circuit Court Judge Shepherd’s ruling yesterday is yet another unintended consequence of majority trying to ram through significant legislation without any public input.
They claim they support transparency, but from the moment they took over the House last year, they’ve fought to limit debate and keep everyone but themselves in the dark. The judge’s opinion shines a light on why this is wrong for the people of Kentucky.
We must never forget that they hijacked a sewer bill and added harmful pension legislation on it, hence, “the sewer bill” passed in a matter of hours, without one from the other side of the aisle, in clear violation of our constitution and before it could even be read online.
The court’s ruling focused on the terrible process used to pass this law, but the policy decisions within it were just as bad. They will have a direct and lasting impact on 200,000 teachers and public workers and make it tougher to replace them in the years ahead. At the same time, the bill would have cost taxpayers billions of dollars more than staying the course. I am not in favor of a policy that spends more so teachers and others will get less.
If the majority party is determined to head down this path, they should at least make sure Kentuckians are well aware of where they are going. Yesterday’s court ruling will help ensure that is the case going forward.