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Kentuckains for the Commonwealth: Fighting in the Lesiglative Trenches
At the heart of the 21st Century political progressive movement in Kentucky are the 5,000 members of the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC). They have been struggling for over 20 years to make a difference in Frankfort policy decisions.

However, the insider politics and influence buying of the late 20 Century kept Kentucky governors wrapped up in nice tidy status quo boxes. This was a barren time for any reform or progressive thinking.

Now, early in the chaos of the 21st Century, for what passes as “normalcy,” the leadership at Kentuckians for the Commonwealth is learning how to wage political war in Frankfort. They are taking their battle into the legislative meeting rooms as well as on the pages of the New York Times. More importantly, they are learning how to direct pressure on individual legislators in Frankfort and back in their home districts.

Progressive issue politics cannot be simply dismissed by legislators anymore. The shift in global resources wars, climate crisis, water and food shortages, air pollution, and attack on the earth for raw resources without thinking of long term impact or harm to ordinary Kentuckians, is now providing a new path for the KFTC to march.

Below is just one of their examples of fighting in the trenches of Frankfort politics.

PRESS RELEASE FROM KENTUCKIANS FOR THE COMMWEALTH


We ask that you call House leaders and ask that they allow these bills to be voted on. Time is running out with less than two weeks left in the legislative session before their veto break.

1. House Bill 566: The General Assembly has a chance to pass a measure that would help more than 350,000 lower-income working families. HB 566 establishes a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that will help correct the imbalance in our current tax system that now asks people who earn less ($14,000-$26,000 a year) to spend more (10%) of their income on state and local taxes than do our highest income families (less than 6% for incomes more than $289,000). It would buy school clothes, repair a refrigerator, or help fix the clutch on Kim Stinson-Hawn's car so she can depend on it to drive to work.

HB 566 also restores a Kentucky estate tax on estates worth than $3.5 million to fund the EITC, so it will not cut any further into the state's revenue shortfall.

For years, we've seen broad support for the EITC from both political parties, but HB 566 is being ignored by House leaders. They need to hear from Kentuckians who don't accept being complacent about poverty.

2. House Bill 70: There are 24 cosponsors and broad public support for legislation that would ask voters to decide if former felons who have completed their sentences should automatically have their voting rights restored. HB 70 passed out of committee on February 5 but House leaders have held it on the floor as they considered what constitutional amendments to propose. Now that it is all but certain casino gambling will not pass, it is time to act on HB 70.

ACTION:
Please call the Legislative Message Line on Tuesday up to 2 p.m. when the House will reconvene. If either of these bills receives a vote on Tuesday we will send another message out on Tuesday night. Otherwise, keep calling on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ask for your message to be delivered to the "House Democratic and Republican leadership." This is: Reps. Jody Richards, Larry Clark Jeffrey Hoover, Rocky Adkins, Rob Wilkey, Stan Lee, Charlie Hoffman and Bob DeWeese (you should not have to give all these names to the operator).

MESSAGE:

"I ask for your leadership to help working families and pass House Bill 566, and to strengthen our democracy and pass House Bill 70 without any floor amendments."

The Legislative Message Line is 800-372-7181 and is open from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m.



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