More than 20 KFTC members and staff have traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington sponsored by Appalachian Voices and the Alliance For Appalachia.  In D.C. we are joined with more than 200 other community activists and coalfield residents representing 27 different states.

We traveled to Washington to lobby for H.R. 1310, the Clean Water Protection Act and S.696, the Appalachia Restoration Act. Starting today through Thursday, March 11 we will be meeting with Representatives and Senators to help educate them about both pieces of legislation, and to also gain as many more cosponsors as possible. 

Just partially through day one we have already gained two new cosponsors.

Members will continue to meet and lobby with legislators and different governmental agencies over the next few days.

On Thursday, the Central Kentucky chapter spent its meeting reviewing legislation that KFTC endorses, and also learned from our allies at Lexington Fairness which bills they're lobbying for during the 2010 General Assembly.

Central Kentucky members Katie Meyer, Martin Mudd, Jenn Myatt, and Susan Williams each led a breakout session on one of KFTC's legislative priorities. Members then broke down into small groups and spent ten minutes at each "station."

In Katie's group members celebrated our work on Wednesday during the "Bake Sale for the Budget" big lobby day. They also learned about the progressive tax reform legislation proposed in House Bill 13.

Susan Williams led a group on sustainable energy policies. She shared information about the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance (KySEA), and how the policies proposed by the alliance will

benefit all  Kentuckians by saving ratepayers money in the short and long-term, creating local jobs and businesses, improving our health and environment through cleaner electricity sources and by helping families struggling with rising energy bills.

In the voting rights break-out members had a chance to learn about where we are with the restoration of voting rights legislation (HB 70) and to prepare for our big voting rights lobby day on March 4.

The fourth break-out group, led by Marty Mudd, focused on the history of the Stream Saver Bill. There were several first-timers at the meeting who kept Marty on his toes by asking important questions like, "How do you make an issue like protecting streams in Appalachia important to someone who lives in Lexington or Louisville?"

KFTC also has a history of supporting ally organizations' work in Frankfort as well. The chapter invited Joey Rose from Lexington Fairness to share with them which bills they are working on right now. Lexington Fairness is a local LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) organization. There are four bills that they are lobbying for during this session;

1. Statewide Fairness Bill (House: HB 117): This bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity throughout Kentucky in employment, housing, public accommodations, insurance coverage, and credit. The House bill also includes sexual orientation and gender identity provisions in the powers of state and local human rights commissions. Right now only residents of Metro Louisville, Lexington/Fayette County, and Covington are protected by city ordinance against discrimination.

2. Hospital Visitation Bill (House: HB 118): This initiative would allow any adult hospital patient to designate another individual to be treated as a member of the patient's family with regard to visitation.

3. Fair Marriage Bill (House: HB 17): This bill would repeal the 2004 anti-marriage amendment by returning the issue to Kentucky voters.

4. Dual Parent Adoption Bill (House: HB 95): Allows non-married couples to adopt.

There will be a fairness lobby day on Wednesday, February 24. Starting at 9 a.m folks can gather in room 131 of the capitol annex for training.

To learn more about these bills and how they're coming along, visit the Kentucky Fairness Alliance's Legislative Action Center at http://kentuckyfairness.org/getinformed/legislation.htm

The Central Kentucky KFTC Chapter meets the third Thursday of every month from 7-9 p.m. at the Episcopal Diocesan Mission House at the corner of 4th Street and Martin Luther King. If you're interested in helping to plan our chapter meetings, please contact the CKY Organizer Ondine Quinn at ondine@kftc.org

Today is our opportunity to speak directly to President Obama's team before he heads to the Copenhagen climate negotiations next week! Young leaders from across the movement have gathered in Washington DC, and we will spend the day preparing to tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis that we need bold, just and immediate action on climate and energy.

We need your voices in the room. You can join the forum today from 4pm - 7pm EST by watching the LIVE webcast at www.whitehouse.gov/LIVE or by providing comments and questions on the LIVE Facebook Chat at http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/.  Remember to write blog posts and tweet them to @PowerShift09 with the Youth Clean Energy Forum's official hashtag: #YCEF. You can also watch a live feed of the twitter conversation at www.powershift09.org.

Congratulations on this big day for the youth climate movement and please join us this afternoon!

Whit Jones
Acting Field Director
Energy Action Coalition

Energy Action Coalition is a youth-led coalition of 50 organizations working together to fight for a clean, just and renewable energy future. Join the new Local Community and get your neighborhood involved in the national push for a future powered by clean energy and not by dirty politics.

For a list of Energy Action Coalition partners, please visit our Energy Action Partners page.

On Monday night more than 20 Madison County chapter members gathered to meet with State Representative Lonnie Napier.  Chapter members discussed with him KFTC's 2010 legislative agenda -- everything from fair tax reform, voting rights, clean energy policies, the stream-saver bill, and even our campaign to stop the construction of a a proposed coal-burning power plant.  Representative Napier agreed to support our tax reform and voting rights legislation.  He also agreed to meet with us further to discuss our policy proposals related to increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy options in the state. 

"I thought it was a good meeting.  Rep. Napier agreed on a lot of our issues and was also realistic with us about what the session may hold," said Madison County member Megan Naseman.

The chapter's meeting with Rep. Napier was part of a series of at-home lobby meetings the chapter was having leading up to the legislative session.  Rep. Harry Moberly met with the chapter in August.  Senator Worley declined to meet with the chapter in the district.

Members of the Madison County Chapter held their chapter annual meeting last night in Berea.  “The annual chapter meeting is a great opportunity to reflect on the previous years work and gear up to move the Commonwealth’s democracy forward,” said Madison County KFTC Chapter co-chair Jeff From.

The first hour of the meeting focused on business that all KFTC chapters handle once a year:  electing new chapter officers, setting issue priorities for the upcoming year, and more.  The second hour featured a conversation and questions with State Representative Harry Moberly (D-Richmond). 

The group talked to Rep. Moberly about everything from clean energy to voting rights.  Rep. Moberly had positive comments to make about KFTC’s work in interjecting our social and economic justice issues into the public dialogue.  He was also positive about many of the issues we raised and agreed to meet with us again before the session to dig even deeper into our issues.

“I always look forward to meetings when our local elected officials are speaking.  Not only does it give us a chance to talk about issues that are important to us, it also helps us develop a good rapport with our representatives in Frankfort,” said Berea KFTC member Toby Wilcher.  “During the legislative session, when KFTC members spend a great amount of time lobbying legislators from all over Kentucky, we have a built-in, cordial working relationship with our own legislators, which often proves to be very beneficial,” she added.

"The people who are going through this are the ones who need to be a part of the solutions," Madison County KFTC member Toby Wilcher laid out Saturday morning during a KFTC tax and budget workshop in Berea.  The workshop, "As If People Mattered: Bringing Justice to Kentucky’s Taxes," was designed to give participants a better understanding of how the state’s deficit is affecting our community (where the rubber meets the road), learn about a fair tax system that values lower and middle-income families struggling during today’s hard times, and develop strong, simple talking points to have conversations with others in our community.

"It was very informative," said KFTC member Elwood Sturtevant who traveled from Louisville for the workhop.

Part of the workshop was to get a handle on how to talk about this issue with other folks in the community in a way that makes it meaningful and helps people feel connected.

"Language is important," said Richmond KFTC member John Wernegreen during the workshop. "When the press pick up on the phrase 'tax burden' -- that is counter-productive.  Government is not the evil we think it is."

Participants left with a better understanding of this issue and its importance, but also a set of concrete next steps to take action.  First up, the Madison County Chapter of KFTC will be meeting with one of their local legislators, Rep. Harry Moberly, on August 24th to talk about this and other KFTC related issues.

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The CKY chapter development work team met last night at the Lexington office to plan the agenda for their July chapter meeting. About the work team meeting itself, CKY member and, steering committee representative Susan Williams said, "Our chapter development meetings are crucial to making sure that our chapter meetings run smoothly and are on time. By getting together  in advance, we have time to really make sure that everything that needs to be addressed, will be"

That is exactly how it went, as the work team chose voter empowerment to be the theme of their July 16th chapter meeting.

The second half of the evening was devoted towards making posters to carry on the Lexington 4th of July parade.

The CKY chapter plans on both marching in the parade and having a booth at the festival. If you're interested in participating, please contact Ondine Quinn at  ondine@kftc.org.

As in so many other communities in the past few weeks, Bowling Green KFTC members gathered earlier today for a lobby training to talk about what it takes to have an impact in the Kentucky General Assembly, building support for progressive tax reform, the streamsaver bill, green power, and voting rights.

Members talked about our bills, lobbying experiences, a typical day in Frankfort, role-played conversations with legislators, and even planned a series of at-home events aimed at communicating with the General Assembly.

I care about this issue (HB 70) because I've tried to register so many people across the tracks and they haven't been able to because of something in their past... Our Democracy is important, but sometimes I feel like I'm asking people to buy into a really flawed and system when I try to get them to register (to vote).  We need to make the system better."  - Greg Capillo

I really feel prepared now to lobby in Frankfort.  I know what it's going to be like and it's not as mysterious," said Rebecca Katz.  "I'm ready.

Jefferson County member Robert Crutcher wanted to give the heads up to a few meetings being held around the state regarding rate increases being proposed by LG&E (Louisville Gas & Electric).  Please attend if you are interested!

A public meeting shall be held in Louisville on January 5, 2009,  at 5.30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, at the Kentucky Exposition Center, South Wing- BIOI, to provide an opportunity for ratepayers who would be affected by any increases and are not parties to this case to speak directly to the commission.

Three additional public meetings will be held to provide an opportunity for  ratepayers who would be affected by any increases and are not parties to this case to speak directly to the Commission at the following locations on the dates and times noted: 

Madisonville, Kentucky
January 6 at 3:30 p.m., Central Standard Time
Madisonville Community Callege
Health Campus-Auditorium
750 North Laffoon Street

Middlesboro
January 8 at 3:30 p.m,
Eastern Standard Time
Middlesboro Community Center
705 North Petersborough Avenue

Lexington
January 12 at 5:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time
Bryan Station High School-Auditorium
201 Eastin Road