Unaccountable Pigs at the Tax Trough

By Leland Conway

Did you know that your legislator doesn’t have to be “on the record” when he or she votes for a spending bill?  That’s right, there’s no way to track how your representative voted on raising or spending your taxes.

I’ve been covering politics here in the Bluegrass State for over five years, and even I wasn’t aware of this complete lack of accountability.  Apparently, the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives can use the “voice” vote procedure for spending bills rather than a “roll call” vote.  That means Frankfort can decide how much you will pay in taxes and how they will spend the money with simply a show of hands.  No paper trail or real record of each legislator’s individual vote exists.  Isn’t that neat? 

Whether you are on the political left or right, you have to agree that this isn’t a good way to conduct the state’s business.  In fact, it’s so absurd, that I’m really surprised no one has addressed the issue more publicly before now.  I’m even more surprised that there isn’t a massive public outcry over this. 

Imagine the following scenario:  Frankfort votes to raise taxes.  You bump into your legislator in the local grocery store and proceed to tell him how mad you are about the increase.   Your legislator nods his head and agrees with everything you say.  He then says, “I know, I just can’t believe all those big spenders up there I have to work with.”  Then he walks away smiling.  Because he’s the only one in that conversation that knows, he actually voted for that tax hike.  You have no way to hold him accountable. 

State Representative Kim King, (R-Harrodsburg) has proposed a piece of legislation that would solve the problem.  House Bill 81 requires all votes pertaining to spending to be taken via the “roll call” method, thus creating an electronic and paper record of the vote that each legislator casts.  Sadly, this bill won’t even get a committee hearing unless you get mad enough to put pressure on the Appropriations and Revenue Committee members.  If we don’t demand accountability from unaccountable legislators, why would they vote for it on their own?  

Let’s face it folks, Frankfort has become nothing more than a dirty pig trough.  Most legislators spend a lot of time building and consolidating power and influence and they do it by blowing through your tax dollars at the speed of light. 

The recent discoveries of massive amounts of missing tax payer property at the Department of Agriculture under former Commissioner Richie Farmer should set off alarm bells across all of state government.  The wanton waste is everywhere, but it’s here to stay and will only get worse if you are not willing to express your righteous anger over the current lack of transparency, accountability and accessibility of our state government. 

Start sticking up for yourself and your hard earned money today by calling Rick Rand, chair of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee at (502) 255-3286.  Until they feel the pressure from the voters, they’ll have no reason to police themselves. 

Leland Conway is co-founder and executive editor of www.conservativeedge.com and host of the Pulse of Lexington on News Radio 630 WLAP.  He can be reached for comment at Leland@conservativeedge.com.