Lawmakers pass everything but gambling

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BRIAN BOHANNON

June 24, 2009

By RONNIE ELLIS The Commonwealth Journal Wed Jun 24, 2009, 10:00 PM EDT

By RONNIE ELLIS

CNHI News Service

After 10 days, $600,000, charges of one side having no concern for the beleaguered horse industry and charges from the other side of vote buying, Kentucky’s lawmakers have left town after passing three of the four special session items on their agenda.

Gov. Steve Beshear deemed the session a success because three of the four items he placed on the agenda passed, although he said he was disappointed “the Senate killed” the slots bill. He said he would sign both bills (one contained both the incentives and bridges measures).

Wednesday both chambers quickly passed a budget reduction bill and one combining measures to streamline and consolidate economic incentives and to authorize funding authorities for major projects, authorities which could utilize tolls to pay for such projects as new bridges over the Ohio River to Indiana.

But it was the fourth item on the call – a bill to allow video lottery terminals at horse tracks – which dominated the session and produced what some lawmakers said is the end of the era of good feeling between the two chambers. That bill passed the House – after Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, offered to load up the budget with new schools in districts represented by those who voted for the bill.

The strategy worked in the House where the bill passed 52-45 but the measure never got a floor vote in the Senate, dying in the Appropriations and Revenue Committee where Republicans outnumber Democrats 12-5. The governor refused to include a proposal by Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, to boost breeders’ incentives and purses through taxes on lottery tickets and out of state betting on Kentucky races.

During the Senate vote on the compromise versions of the other items Wednesday, Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said he’d gone to Beshear suggesting the Senate would support using up to $30 million from the general fund to boost incentives and purses in the short term until a permanent solution could be reached but, “The governor plainly said no.”

That prompted Minority Floor Leader Ed Worley, D-Richmond, to say Thayer was “trying to throw up a smoke screen that the governor did not want to do something for the horse industry.” He went on to say a majority of the Senate wanted to vote on the slots measure and Williams and Senate leadership shouldn’t have sent the bill to a committee dominated 12-5 by Republicans and where it was declared dead before it arrived.

Still, both measures passed the Senate unanimously. The House also passed each easily, although the bill containing the bill containing the “bridges bill” and economic incentives didn’t pass unanimously.

Moberly criticized a portion of the bill which exempts active military from paying Kentucky income taxes, an idea he said he supports but only if the bill contains ways to offset the. The slots bill contained a similar provision, Moberly said, but it would have offset the $18 million cost to the state with revenues from the slot proceeds. Moberly voted for the bill because of other provisions but the called the tax exemption “irresponsible.”

Rep. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, criticized the bill for the lack of legislative accountability on tax breaks and incentives. Webb has consistently sought greater information from the Economic Development Cabinet and sought more accountability on tax incentives called TIFs for projects which can keep taxes generated by the new development to pay off the project investment. She voted no saying the General Assembly has a “fiscal responsibility to dig a little deeper and do a little better than what we’re doing.”

The budget basically accepts Beshear’s spending reduction plans which rely on federal stimulus money to preserve basic school funding, Medicaid, public safety and corrections. But it adds spending by exempting Property Valuation Administrators from cuts from the 2010 enacted budget and provides more money for prosecutors and public defenders.

Beshear said “it’s too early to tell” what the next move will be on how to help the horse industry but bemoaned the likely closure of Ellis Park in Henderson and perhaps Turfway in Florence at the end of 2010. Stumbo said if there is to be an expanded gambling initiative in the 2010 regular session it will have to begin in the Senate to which Williams responded by saying in that case, gambling is dead for now.

Beshear also said it’s too early to tell if the issue would figure in 2010 legislative races. And despite the finger pointing between the House and Senate and Beshear’s statement that the Senate killed the measure, the governor said he doesn’t think the ear of cooperation between the Democratic House, Republican Senate and him has ended.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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