Guest Columns

We are now a quarter way through session. Bills are flowing through the committee process and arriving on the Senate floor for consideration before the entire chamber.

Three bills won passage this week and will now head to the House of Representatives. Senate Bill 55 allows for interstate mutual aid agreements among first-responders and other emergency response personnel. That is to say, that if an emergency occurs near local or state borders, emergency personnel can respond regardless of their home base.

There’s this woman. I’ve only met her in person two or three times, but she and I belong to the same professional organization of women authors and speakers, so I see her name continually. About 10 or so years ago she did something that I thought was reprehensible and I took great pleasure in knowing it’s one of God’s top 10 “thou shalt nots” and that she would one day reap what she had sown. That’s not just karma; that’s biblical - a double whammy.

For the most part I’m not a fan of the “Messages from God” billboards (“What part of ‘Thou Shalt Not’ didn’t you understand?” “Keep using my name in vain and I’ll make rush hour longer,” “You think it’s hot here?”).

Launched a few years ago by a Fort Lauderdale advertising agency, there are 17 messages in all, each one signed simply “God.” I do, however, like the one that says, “Well, you did ask for a sign.” That always makes me laugh.

During the opening days of most legislative sessions in even-numbered years, the primary focus is getting bills moving through committee and readying for the governor’s budget proposal.

As many of you may know, however, this year is somewhat different, as the General Assembly is also taking on the once-in-a-decade task of redrawing the population boundaries for itself, the Kentucky Supreme Court and the state’s six congressional seats. It’s something all states do after each Census.