Kentucky General Assembly

History

The first meeting of the General Assembly occurred in 1792, shortly after Kentucky was granted statehood. Legislators convened in Lexington, the state's temporary capital. Among the first orders of business was choosing a permanent state capital. In the end, the small town of Frankfort, with their offer to provide a temporary structure to house the legislature and a cache of materials for constructing a permanent edifice, was chosen, and the state's capital has remained there ever since.

After women gained suffrage in Kentucky, Mary Elliott Flanery was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 89th District, representing Boyd County, Kentucky. When Flanery took her seat in January 1922, she was the first female state legislator elected in Kentucky and the first female legislator elected south of the Mason–Dixon line.

Operation Boptrot led to the conviction of more than a dozen legislators between 1992 and 1995. The investigation also led to reform legislation being passed in 1993.

The Civil War

Due to the strong Southern Unionist sympathies of a large portion of the Commonwealth's citizens and elected officials, Kentucky remained officially neutral during the Civil War. Even so, a group of Confederate sympathizers met in Russellville representing 68 Kentucky counties in the western and central parts of the state in November 1861, to establish a Confederate government for the state. The group established a Confederate state capital in Bowling Green controlling half the state early in the war, but never successfully displaced the elected General Assembly in Frankfort.

Assassination of Governor Goebel

The General Assembly played a decisive role in the disputed gubernatorial election of 1899. Initial vote tallies had Republican William S. Taylor leading Democrat William Goebel by a scant 2,383 votes. The General Assembly, however, wielded the final authority in election disputes. With a majority in both houses, the Democrats attempted to invalidate enough votes to give the election to Goebel. During the contentious days that followed, an unidentified assassin shot Goebel as he approached the state capitol.

As Goebel hovered on the brink of death, chaos ensued in Frankfort, and further violence threatened. Taylor, serving as governor pending a final decision on the election, called out the militia and ordered the General Assembly into a special session, not in Frankfort, but in London, Kentucky, a Republican area of the state. The Republican minority naturally heeded the call and headed to London. Democrats predictably resisted the call, many retiring to Louisville instead. Both factions claimed authority, but the Republicans were too few in number to muster a quorum.

Goebel died four days after receiving the fatal shot, and the election was eventually contested to the U.S. Supreme Court, who ruled the General Assembly's actions legal and made Goebel's lieutenant governor, J. C. W. Beckham, governor of the state.

Houses

The General Assembly is bicameral, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The House and Senate chambers are on opposite ends of the third floor of the capitol building, and legislators have offices in the nearby Capitol Annex building.

Section 33 of the Kentucky Constitution requires that the General Assembly divide the state into 38 Senate and 100 House districts. Districts are required to be as nearly equal in population as possible. Districts can be formed by joining more than one county, but the counties forming a district must be contiguous. Districts must be reviewed every 10 years and be re-divided if necessary.

Under the state constitution, only three counties may be divided to form a Senate district—Jefferson (Louisville), Fayette (Lexington) and Kenton (Covington).

Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the General Assembly.

Terms and qualifications

According to Section 32 of the Kentucky Constitution, a senator must:

• be at least 30 years old;
• be a citizen of Kentucky;
• have resided in the state at least 6 years and the district at least 1 year prior to election.

Under section 30 of the Kentucky Constitution, senators are elected to four year staggered terms, with half the Senate elected every two years.

Leadership

Prior to a 1992 constitutional amendment, the Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky presided over the Senate; the 1992 amendment created a new office of President of the Senate to be held by one of the 38 senators.

• President (elected by full body): Robert Stivers (R-25)
• President Pro-Tempore (elected by full body): David P. Givens (R-9)

Additionally, each party elects a floor leader, whip, and caucus chair.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the General Assembly. Section 47 of the Kentucky Constitution stipulates that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.

Terms and qualifications

According to Section 32 of the Kentucky Constitution, a representative must:

• be at least 24 years old;
• be a citizen of Kentucky
• have resided in the state at least 2 years and the district at least 1 year prior to election.

Per section 30 of the Kentucky Constitution, representatives are elected every two years in the November following a regular session of the General Assembly.

Leadership

• Speaker (elected by full body): David Osborne (R-59)
• Speaker Pro Tempore (elected by full body): David Meade (R-80)

Additionally, each party elects a floor leader, whip, and caucus chair.

Committees

Senate committees

House of Representatives committees

Legislative Research Commission

The Kentucky General Assembly is served by a 16-member nonpartisan agency called the Legislative Research Commission (LRC). Created in 1948, the LRC provides the General Assembly with staff and research support including committee staffing, bill drafting, oversight of the state budget and educational reform, production of educational materials, maintenance of a reference library and Internet site, and the preparation and printing of research reports, informational bulletins and a legislative newspaper. It is led by the elected leadership of the Democratic and Republican parties in both the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Kentucky Senate, while the agency is run on a day-to-day basis by a Director.

References

References

1. "How much do Kentucky's governor and other elected officials make? Here's a list". Louisville Courier-Journal.
2. Klotter, James. "The General Assembly: Its History, Its Homes, Its Functions". Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
3. Powers, James C.. (1992). "The Kentucky Encyclopedia". The University Press of Kentucky.
4. [[Lowell H. Harrison. (1997). "A New History of Kentucky". University Press of Kentucky.
5. Talbott, Tim. (July 31, 2013). "Kentucky's Neutrality during the Civil War". National Endowment for the Humanities, Kentucky Historical Society.
6. McQueen, Keven. (2001). "Offbeat Kentuckians: Legends to Lunatics". McClanahan Publishing House.
7. Woodson, Urey. (1939). "The First New Dealer". The Standard Press.
8. Klotter, James C.. (1977). "William Goebel: The Politics of Wrath". The University Press of Kentucky.
9. (October 2005). "The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Informational Bulletin No. 59". Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
10. "Legislators - Legislative Research Commission". Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
11. "Legislators - Legislative Research Commission". Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
12. "About the Legislative Research Commission". Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.