Kentucky General Assembly

Infobox Legislature
name = Kentucky General Assembly
coa_pic = Kentucky State Seal.svg
coa-pic =
session_room = KY State Capitol.jpg
house_type = Bicameral
houses = Senate
House of Representatives
leader1_type = President of the Senate
leader1 = David L. Williams
party1 = (R)
election1 = 2000
leader2_type = Speaker of the House
leader2 = Jody Richards
party2 = (D)
election2 = 1996
members = 138
p_groups = Democratic Party
Independent
Republican Party
election3 = November 7, 2006
meeting_place = Kentucky State Capitol, Frankfort
website = http://www.lrc.ky.gov/

The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky.

The General Assembly meets annually in the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky, convening on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January. In even-numbered years, sessions may not last more than 60 legislative days, and cannot extend beyond April 15. In odd-numbered years, sessions may not last more than 30 legislative days, and cannot extend beyond March 30. Special sessions may be called by the Governor of Kentucky at any time for any duration.

History

The first meeting of the General Assembly occurred in 1792, shortly after Kentucky was granted statehood. Legislators convened in Lexington, the state's temporary capital. Among the first orders of business was choosing a permanent state capital. In the end, the small town of Frankfort, with their offer to provide a temporary structure to house the legislature and a cache of materials for constructing a permanent edifice, was chosen, and the state's capital has remained there ever since. [cite web |url=http://www.lrc.ky.gov/kidspages/general.htm |title=The General Assembly: Its History, Its Homes, Its Functions |last=Klotter |first=James |publisher=Kentucky Legislative Research Commission |accessdate=2007-01-09]

Operation Boptrot lead to the conviction of more than a dozen legislators between 1992 and 1995. The investigation also led to reform legislation being passed in 1993. [cite book|title=A New History of Kentucky|pages=422|author=Lowell Hayes Harrison, James C. Klotter|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=63GqvIN3l3wC&pg=PA422&dq=%22Operation+Boptrot%22&ei=oIKCSJ7_F4fQigHEoKXxAw&sig=ACfU3U26yLoxAOgDcbiFPWDvUEXnejXISw|year=1997]

The Civil War

Officially, Kentucky remained neutral during the Civil War. However, the majority of the General Assembly had strong Union sympathies. A group of Confederate sympathizers met in Russellville to establish a Confederate government for the state. The group decided to establish the Confederate state capital in Bowling Green, but never successfully displaced the elected General Assembly in Frankfort.

Assassination of Governor Goebel

The General Assembly played a decisive role in the disputed gubernatorial election of 1900. Initial vote tallies had Republican William S. Taylor leading Democrat William Goebel by a scant 2,383 votes.cite book |last=McQueen |first=Keven |others=Ill. by Kyle McQueen |title="Offbeat Kentuckians: Legends to Lunatics" |chapter=William Goebel: Assassinated Governor |year=2001 |publisher=McClanahan Publishing House |location=Kuttawa, Kentucky |isbn=0913383805 ] The General Assembly, however, wielded the final authority in election disputes. With a majority in both houses, the Democrats attempted to invalidate enough votes to give the election to Goebel. During the contentious days that followed, an unidentified assassin shot Goebel as he approached the state capitol.cite book |last=Woodson |first=Urey |title="The First New Dealer" |publisher=The Standard Press |location=Louisville, Kentucky |year=1939]

As Goebel hovered on the brink of death, chaos ensued in Frankfort, and further violence threatened. Taylor, serving as governor pending a final decision on the election, called out the militia and ordered the General Assembly into a special session, not in Frankfort, but in London, Kentucky, a Republican area of the state. The Republican minority naturally heeded the call and headed to London. Democrats predictably resisted the call, many retiring to Louisville instead. Both factions claimed authority, but the Republicans were too few in number to muster a quorum.

Goebel died four days after receiving the fatal shot, and the election was eventually contested to the U.S. Supreme Court, who ruled the General Assembly's actions legal and made Goebel's lieutenant governor, J. C. W. Beckham, governor of the state.cite book |last=Klotter |first=James C. |title="William Goebel: The Politics of Wrath" |year=1977 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0813102405]

Houses

The General Assembly is bicameral, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives.cite web |url=http://lrc.ky.gov/lrcpubs/IB59.pdf |title=The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Informational Bulletin No. 59 |publisher=Kentucky Legislative Research Commission |month=October |year=2005 |accessdate=2007-10-09 |format=PDF] The House and Senate chambers are on opposite ends of the third floor of the capitol building, and legislators have offices in the nearby Capitol Annex building.

Section 33 of the Kentucky Constitution requires that the General Assembly divide the state into [http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/pubserv/gis/pdf/SH001A09c.pdf 38 Senate] and [http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/pubserv/gis/pdf/HH001A11c.pdf 100 House] districts. Districts are required to be as nearly equal in population as possible. Districts can be formed by joining more than one county, but the counties forming a district must be contiguous. Districts must be reviewed every 10 years and be re-divided if necessary.

enate

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the General Assembly. Section 47 of the Kentucky Constitution stipulates that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.

Terms and qualifications

According to Section 32 of the Kentucky Constitution, a state representative must:
*be at least 24 years old;
*be a citizen of Kentucky
*have resided in the state at least 2 years and the district at least 1 year prior to election.

Per section 30 of the Kentucky Constitution, representatives are elected every two years in the November following a regular session of the General Assembly.

Leadership

*Speaker (elected by full body): Jody Richards (D-20)
*Speaker Pro Tempore (elected by full body): Larry Clark (D-46)

Additionally, each party elects a floor leader, whip, and caucus chair.

tanding committees

Legislative Research Commission

The Kentucky General Assembly is served by a 16-member nonpartisan agency called the Legislative Research Commission (LRC). Created in 1948, the LRC provides the General Assembly with staff and research support including committee staffing, bill drafting, oversight of the state budget and educational reform, production of educational materials, maintenance of a reference library and Internet site, and the preparation and printing of research reports, informational bulletins and a legislative newspaper. It is led by the elected leadership of the Democratic and Republican parties in both the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Kentucky Senate, while the agency is run on a day-to-day basis by an executive director. [cite web |url=http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Org_Adm/LRC/aboutlrc.htm |title=About the Legislative Research Commission |publisher=Kentucky Legislative Research Commission |accessdate=2007-01-09]

References

External links

* [http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/ Kentucky Legislature Home Page]
* [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/statrev/frontpg.htm Kentucky Revised Statutes]
* [http://www.ket.org/legislature/ Kentucky Educational Television General Assembly page]