A bill has been filed to amend the state constitution to allow the General Assembly to call itself into special session, bypassing the need for the governor to issue the call.
The bill allows the legislature to set aside one or more days of its regular session, to be used for a special session later in the year. The call can be made by a joint agreement of the Senate president and House speaker, with no other persons involved.
And, as long as there are still “reserved” days left, the president and speaker can call multiple special sessions. Further, even if only one reserved day is left, the special session must last a minimum of five days. And finally, if the governor calls a special session, that special session doesn’t take away any of the reserved days.
The bill, HB 647, was filed by House Speaker David Osborne, on March 2, and sent to the committee that deals with constitutional amendments. It received its first reading on Tuesday of this week (as soon as the legislature reconvened), and its second reading yesterday on Wednesday, so it can be heard and passed at any time. It would still have to pass the Senate and probably a veto by Governor Beshear, and then would have to be approved by voters.
Update: Response from House Democratic leadership
“We believe our constitutional framers found the right balance when it comes to special legislative sessions, so we do not support efforts undermining a system that has worked well for nearly 130 years. We already have annual legislative sessions, meaning we are never more than eight or nine months away from passing whatever laws the General Assembly thinks is necessary, and governors can call us in on just hours’ notice, as we saw in December 2018.
“Another concern we have with this legislation is that it is part of a package of bills designed to do nothing more than undermine our current governor’s authority. We didn’t see these bills during the last administration, and we see no need for them now.”
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