A longtime legislative leader in Kentucky is now making an impact in the executive branch of government.
For 32 years, Rocky Adkins, a native of Sandy Hook, was known as “The Gentleman from Elliott,” who entered the Kentucky House as a 26-year-old in 1987. He was a member of and chaired several committees, before he was elected Democratic floor leader in 2003, first as majority leader, then after the 2017 election as minority leader.
“I will tell you that I liked it much better when I was majority leader,” he told Kentucky Today, “but an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything.”
Adkins ran in the 2019 Democratic primary for governor, where he finished second to then-Attorney General Andy Beshear, “who during that race had not one negative word to say about me, nor did I have one negative word to say about him.”
After the race, he says Beshear asked for his support and his help, “and I did everything I could to help him, because I believed that he was a good man, and I still believe that today.”
After the November election, Adkins says Beshear called him and said, “Rocky, I really need someone with experience, someone that has the knowledge of the legislature, how the process works. But I need somebody that also knows people across Kentucky, especially in rural parts of the state. I need your guidance, I need your advice, I need your counsel. I’d like you to consider being a part of the administration.”
Adkins says he accepted the position as senior advisor, “because I came to work for a good person who believes in Kentucky. He’s a good family man, a man of faith, and to be able to come and work for him in a new challenge, to help carry out his agenda, and to help build this better Kentucky that we both envision.”
Like everyone else, he says he never anticipated what would happen just a few months later, when the first case of COVID-19 would reach Kentucky.
“Ever since March 6, it’s a different focus than anybody could ever imagine,” Adkins said. “A different agenda every day of ‘How are we going to keep the people of Kentucky safe?’ … the tough decisions that have to be made that would lay out a path forward on how we could whip this virus.”
Another major concern has been keeping the economy open, and the former Morehead State University point guard used a sports expression for the situation.
“There’s no game plan, no playbook for what we’re dealing with today, and hopefully to make the right decisions,” Adkins said.
He says their efforts have been concentrated in three areas: Protecting the health of Kentuckians; restarting the economy and getting people back to work and school; and making adjustments every day to situations involving the virus.
Another one of his duties relating directly to the governor, according to Adkins, “Giving him the type of support he needs on some of the darkest days to help him keep his head up, and to make sure he knows the decisions he is making are the right decisions, regardless of the criticism that he may receive.”
He added, “The response that we are seeing, whether it’s through polling or whatever it may be, is showing that a great majority of people across Kentucky are very appreciative and very supportive of many of the decisions, tough decisions, that the governor is having to make.”
Although he, like just about everyone, doesn’t like having to wear a mask, Adkins says he agrees 100 percent with the mandate to wear one in public. “Because of what medical experts tell me, this is the way that we can protect ourselves, the way we can protect loved ones around us and the way we can protect other people within our communities across Kentucky, across America and around the world.”
As a 25-year cancer survivor, he understands this extra step to help those with previous health issues.
Adkins says he understands the pain people are going through who have not been able to get their unemployment, and although they inherited a flawed and broke system, it’s on them to make it right. He says that has been done by hiring people from Ernest and Young to clear up the backlog, and that they are committed to reopening the regional offices closed by the Bevin administration, who moved unemployment offices to a call-center type operation.
“People in communities across Kentucky will have the ability in the future to go into a face-to-face meeting, not only for help with unemployment insurance,” he said, “but for job placement from rural communities to urban communities across Kentucky.”
He says they are committed to rebuilding the system through technological improvements, “so that we will never have this issue again.”
Adkins says it is imperative that Congress acts upon state stabilization legislation, “which would bring revenue to the states to help us balance our state budgets so we don’t have massive cuts in education, health care, job creation, and infrastructure. It is a must for them to pass it this year, to help county governments, city governments, and state government.”
He urges every Kentuckian to call their members of Congress to encourage them to pass the bill before they adjourn for the year.
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Written by Tom Latek. Cross-posted from Kentucky Today.