KFTC Blog

There are no scheduled Kentucky elections in 2013, so KFTC is putting a lot of the effort we would have put into massive voter registration and mobilization and we'll instead focus on planning and training for the big elections ahead in 2014.  

Next year, we'll have a big US Senate race, our 6 US House seats will be up for election, plus 19 of the 38 state Senate races, all 100 state House races, plus many local county and city races. 

KFTC encourages our members and allies to consider running for public office themselves in 2014 - and we will host a candidate training later in the year to help people prepare to run.

As folks already know, HB 70, Representative Jesse Crenshaw's bill that would restore voting rights to most former felons who've served their time, has passed the Kentucky House seven years in a row, each year with broad bipartisan support. Most recently the vote was 75 to 25. Unfortunately when it's arrived in the Senate it hasn't received a hearing or vote. KFTC members and allies are working diligently to educate the Kentucky Senate about HB 70 and the positive effect it would have on communities across the commonwealth. And chapters have begun to develop strategies for involving their local governments.

Starting approximately a year ago, the central Kentucky chapter began lobbying their city council to pass a resolution in support of voting rights for former felons. 

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council is made up of 12 members who represent city districts, including three at-large council members of which one is the vice mayor. One of the chapter's first meetings was with Vice Mayor Linda Gorton who said that if KFTC members were serious about passing a resolution through the council then they should make a good faith effory to meet with every council member (and the mayor) to educate them about the issue.

So that's what chapter members did, and over the last year they met with nearly every member of the council, including Mayor Jim Gray and his aides to explain how the LFUCG could help towards building a more vibrant and healthy democracy. The lobby meetings were a great experience for chapter members because not only did it give them practice talking about the campaign but it helped them get to know how their city government worked and who the council members were. Their meeting with council member Ford went incredibly well, he was very supportive, so they asked him immediately if he'd sponsor the resolution, to which he agreed.

Their lobbying efforts paid off when last Thursday the city council voted unanimously to pass a resolution stating that not only do they believe that people who’ve served their time deserve the right to vote again, but also that the General Assembly should give the citizens of the commonwealth the chance to vote on the issue.

KFTC members and allies packed the council chambers and folks gave over an hour of testimony in support of the resolution.

KFTC member and former felon Tayna Fogle talked about her past as both a UK basketbal player and a person who fell into drugs. "I served a ten year prison sentence, I did my time. I made a mistake but I am not a mistake."

KFTC member Tedi Smith-Robillard, who received a pardon from the governor, shared with the council her commitment to justice. “I am 73 years old and until the day I die I will work for justice and for people to have the right to vote."

The resolution while symbolic (the city Lexington city council can’t change Kentucky’s constitution or give people their voting rights back), does send a powerful message to the General Assembly.

"We are counting on you to do the right thing. - Rev. Joseph Owens at the Lexington city council meeting.

Click here for a copy of the council meeting docket which contains the language of the resolution (number 41)

Compelling testimony about the benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency incentives and programs was delivered to the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee on Thursday morning.

“This [bill] is a recognition that there are alternatives;,” said House Bill 170 sponsor Rep. Mary Lou Marzian. “It’s about jobs , jobs, jobs. We need to start looking at the future and building on what we have in terms of renewables and bio-fuels … [and] making Kentucky residents and Kentucky businesses less vulnerable to rising energy costs.”

Central Kentucky chapter members had a packed agenda for their February monthly meeting. Before the official meeting started, community member Will Bunge led a discussion about the ways that budget cuts were affecting Kentucky's kids, especially kids in foster care. As a former foster child himself, Will talked about the importance of supporting efforts that would make the foster care system more just, that supported folks receiving kinship care and about the possibility of alternative foster communities. He and his partner Susan are interested in starting a not-for profit alternative foster care community in Frankfort. If you're interested in learning more about their project, you can get in touch with them at (502) 523-1674 or amatmartialarts@gmail.com

During the chapter meeting, CKY Organizer Beth Howard led a great training on how to negotiate with "power people." She explained the different ways that people in authority might try to get out of making commitments in meetings or change the topic of conversation. She taught chapter members valuable skills on how to recognize these tactics.