The League of Women Voters of Kentucky is raising concerns about how state lawmakers handled this year’s budget process, saying the public had little chance to weigh in on two major spending bills.
In an opinion piece, League President Dr. Jennifer Jackson says the process surrounding House Bill 500, the state budget bill, and House Bill 900, a large capital spending measure, lacked transparency and limited public input.
Jackson says HB 500 was introduced in January, but a larger substitute version was later unveiled in committee without being made public before lawmakers acted on it. She says the House approved the bill less than 24 hours later, and the Senate also moved quickly on changes before final language was worked out in a closed-door conference committee.
She says HB 900 followed a similar path — starting as a one-page bill tied to $800 million in spending before emerging as a 58-page bill totaling $1.7 billion.
Jackson says Kentuckians deserve time to review major legislation and have a voice in how taxpayer dollars are spent.
