After another Special Session of the the Kentucky General Assembly, the results are the same as every other one I can recall. NOTHING.
The House adjourned last week when it became obvious the Senate would not agree to a compromise on shoring up a Medicaid shortfall. But Senate President David Williams kept the Senate in session until Wednesday for no good reason except that he’s running for Governor. Williams knew that NOTHING would get done since the House was formally out, but he persisted, and covened the Senate Wednesday to pass veto motions which mean NOTHING since there was no one in the House to concur, or oppose.
But all of the Senate, by law, must be paid for the time accrued since the March 24th adjournment of the House. Williams says no Senator will accept pay, and he’ll take whatever measures needed to assure NOTHING gets paid out unless it is reimbursed. Nice of him to say that, but legally he can’t require anything. He can strong-arm Senators which is what I suspect will be done, but there is legally NOTHING he can do. Funny how that word keeps coming up.
Besides, no matter what options the individual legislators may excercise, legislative staff must be paid, and not just regular salaries. Lots of extra staffers are brought in whenever there is a session, and special sessions are no different. What this really became was a long drawn out campaign rallying point for Williams and Governor Steve Beshear. It’s no coincidence that both candidates began their media buys during the just completed NOTHING session. Perfect grandstanding time for each. Did I mention both are running for Governor? Sorry I just want to be sure we all remember that-just as we all remember NOTHING was accomplished during a Special Session that cost over 600,00 dollars. NOTHING!
