Written by Joe Sonka of the Courier-Journal
As social distancing has become the norm across the commonwealth and businesses are closing or going to remote work, the Kentucky General Assembly is set to return to the state Capitol Thursday.
The legislature has a full slate of committee meetings, and both chambers will take up bills, making it one of the few in the nation deciding not to postpone active sessions as COVID-19 cases spike.
Republicans and Democrats in Frankfort butted heads last week over how to handle legislative meetings in the face of the pandemic, particularly after the White House and the governor urged people not to gather in groups.
While the governor has gained bipartisan praise for his handling of the crisis, partisan friction remains in Frankfort over how the rest of the legislative session should be conducted.
Last Thursday, House Speaker David Osborne and Senate President Robert Stivers announced the legislature would take one week off and return March 26, then return once again on April 1 to pass a two-year state budget, the last day before the period in which the governor can veto bills.
The Democratic minority criticized Republicans for continuing to meet and pass bills last week that were unrelated to the coronavirus or the two-year state budget, all while the public was barred from attending meetings in person because of COVID-19 concerns.
In a sign that such partisan disagreements could spill into this week, Republican Minority Floor Leader Damon Thayer was quoted in a New York Times story Tuesday calling Democrats’ criticism “left-wing talking points” and an attempt “to use the virus to shut us down and kill bills they don’t like.”
(Cross-posted via the Kentucky Press News Service. Read the rest of the article at the Courier-Journal.)
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