The 2007 General Assembly: Perils, promises and political footballs

By Caleb O. Brown

Editors note: This op-ed is part of a series of articles analyzing issues relating to the Kentucky General Assemblys 2007 session.

With multiple looming fiscal crises and the likelihood of a tax cut for Kentucky's small businesses, the Kentucky General Assembly's 2007 session holds the possibility of both great peril and significant promise.

First, the peril.

When Gov. Fletcher signed the largest spending plan in Kentucky last May, he created a dark fiscal cloud that will cover Frankfort when the 2007 General Assembly convenes in January.

The governor's economic double-mindedness in pushing the state in this direction is enough to give taxpayers a bad case of whiplash.

After signing a budget in May that obligated taxpayers to $2.4 billion in additional debt, Fletcher then trumpeted his very modest veto of $370 million in bonded projects, much of which was pork-barrel spending. However, he then turned around and indicated that the vetoed projects could return and soon. At the time, the governor told reporters that he wasn't opposed to the vetoed projects, but that they just could not be approved this year.

Since many of these projects were scheduled for the second year of Kentucky's two-year budget cycle, expect Fletcher and his fellow big spenders in the General Assembly to push state spending even higher by insisting on restoring funding for these projects. With the governor seeking another term in 2007, lawmakers likely will press the advantage by asking for more spending in their districts.

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