As Kentucky lawmakers convene Tuesday in Frankfort, stakeholders are still waiting to see what legislation may be filed in this session of the General Assembly because prefiled bills were eliminated almost three years ago. Some advocates assert that bringing back prefiled bills — or draft legislation publicly shared before it was formally filed — would better support public participation, while others see more urgent priorities when it comes to improving transparency in Kentucky lawmaking. In years past, Kentuckians could review dozens of draft bills ahead of a legislative session. Legislative committees that meet during the interim between sessions could “draft and approve bills for prefiling for the next regular session,” says the LRC website, thus allowing “bills to be introduced at the beginning of the session and standing committees to become active immediately.”  But in 2022 the General Assembly passed a new law that eliminated the opportunity for lawmakers to prefile bills and ended the practice of posting prefiled legislation in the Legislative Record and on the Legislative Research Commission (LRC)  website. Republican House Speaker David Osborne was the primary sponsor of the bill that repealed the prefiling bill process.  The measure easily cleared both chambers with bipartisan support and became law without Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s signature. House Speaker David W. Osborne, R-Prospect, left consults with House Republican Caucus Chair Suzanne Miles, R-Owensboro, in the House, April //, 2022. (LRC Public Information) At the time, Osborne told a committee meeting that lawmakers could direct the Legislative Research Commission to create a new working bill website. However, that website has not been implemented.  Kentucky’s elimination of prefiled bills puts it in the minority of states. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than three-fourths of legislative chambers have a process for prefiling bills.  Public is still shut out of Kentucky’s legislative process, says League of Women Voters The loss of prefiled bills is among multiple obstacles to public participation in the lawmaking process detailed by the Kentucky League of Women Voters in an updated report on legislative transparency released last fall. The League has documented an increase in questionable maneuvers used by the legislature to fast-track controversial bills and exclude the public from participating in debates and decisions. Other challenges identified by the League: “shell bills” used to move sweeping policy changes with little notice or debate, committee meetings held at irregular times or not at all, and inconsistent access to records of legislative action.  The League called for restoring the process for prefiling bills to allow more time for public input on proposed legislation.  “Prefiling drafted legislation gave the people of Kentucky time to study the issues and give input to legislators before the session started,” the group’s report said. “This process allowed legislators to refine draft legislation using those insights from fellow legislators and constituents, possibly preventing unintended consequences of drafted bill language, and generally improving the bill.”  Sheila Schuster Sheila Schuster, who leads the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition and the 874K Disabilities Coalition, is one of many advocates who relied on prefiled bills to prepare for a legislative session. She said the groups typically met in December to review legislation. With this year’s 30-day session, the groups will start that process in mid-January after lawmakers break until February. Without prefiled bills, Schuster and the advocates she works with have less time to review bills and contact legislators about their proposals. Schuster said not having prefiled bills is a “big issue” as she does not work on a single issue each session, but a variety of issues that deal with Kentucky health care. She called it a “real roadblock to transparency” as the work not only involves lobbying lawmakers, but also informing the public about issues.  “The average Kentucky citizen, if they’re trying to keep abreast, is not going to necessarily know who’s working on what,” Schuster said. “I work with some legislators who send me bill drafts to get my input if it has to do with a mental health issue or a health care issue, because I’ve been around for so long and have some expertise in some of those areas. But again, that’s usually done in confidence.”  Andrew McNeill However, some advocates say calling for prefiled bills to return isn’t one of their top priorities when it comes to legislative transparency. Though there is not a central webpage for draft legislation, some lawmakers have taken to sharing proposals on their own websites or social media accounts. Some drafts are also publicly available online as part of legislative committees’ meeting materials.  Andrew McNeill, president of Kentucky Forum for Rights, Economics and Education (FREE), said bringing back prefiled bills “wouldn’t make my top three” ways to make the legislature more transparent. He instead suggested a 48-hour rule for posting of committee substitute versions of bills before they get a vote on a chamber floor. FREE describes itself as a voice for conservative free-market principles. “In my opinion, it’s the back end — the final steps in the process and the intermediate steps in the process,” McNeill said. “That’s what creates far more value for transparency than having a bunch of prefiled bills.” Jim Waters Prefiled bills typically focused on local issues, as lawmakers could file them to show they were addressing a concern from a constituent, McNeil said. Very rarely did prefiled bills focus on big policy topics for an upcoming legislative session, McNeil said.  Jim Waters, president of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, which describes itself as a “free-market think tank,” said he can understand lawmakers’ frustrations about debates on early drafts of bills that are likely to significantly change throughout the legislative process. He added that in most cases, he has been able to receive bill drafts from lawmakers on request. To encourage transparency, Waters suggested the possibility of limiting how many bills can be filed during a legislative session to allow more focus on individual bills. Senate Republican Floor Leader Max Wise told the Lantern in an interview last month that around 1,200 bills are filed a session while 200 make it across the finish line. Waters also suggested rank-and-file members should have more time to consider large pieces of legislation, such as the budget bills filed and considered every two years.  “Transparency is not just the final vote on a bill,” Waters said. “Transparency is the committee process where the debate takes place, and there have been some improvements made there.”  Spokespeople for House and Senate Republican leaders did not immediately return a request for comment for this story.  YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. The post ‘A roadblock to transparency’: No prefiled bills await Kentucky legislature for third year appeared first on The Lexington Times.