FRANKFORT — Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge blasted Republican leaders in the General Assembly for assigning embattled Democratic Rep. Daniel Grossberg to three House committees.  In a Wednesday statement, Elridge, who has previously called on Grossberg to resign, said Republicans “were quick to remove their own members from committees for bucking leadership,” referring to the temporary removal of several GOP House members from committees at the end of the 2023 legislative session. Elridge continued, saying that Republicans are “now rewarding Daniel Grossberg, an individual with a disturbing, documented record of sexual assault and harassment.”  “If Speaker David Osborne and Senate President Robert Stivers cared more for Daniel Grossberg’s victims than they did for politics, they would join with House Democrats in stripping him from all committee assignments and demanding that he resign from office immediately,” Eldrige said.  Lawmakers returned to Frankfort this week for the 2025 legislative session. Grossberg, who was removed from his interim committee assignments over the summer amid allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women, is a member of three House committees — Banking and Insurance, Small Business and Information Technology, and the newly formed committee on Primary and Secondary Education.  The House Democratic Caucus earlier this year permanently expelled Grossberg as a member. Top Democrats including Gov. Andy Beshear and  Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman have also called on Grossberg to resign.  When asked for comment after the House adjourned Wednesday afternoon, Grossberg referred the Lantern to a statement he shared with other reporters. He said he is “committed to working tirelessly for my constituents.” He represents the 30th House District, which includes central parts of Jefferson County.  “With my placement on three influential committees, I can hit the ground running for House District 30 as a fighter against predatory lending practices, as an advocate for quality public education and community safety, and as a problem solver to mitigate the housing shortage in our state,” Grossberg said. “I have been and continue to be that critical voice for my constituents, both in the committee rooms and on the House floor.” The Lexington Herald-Leader initially reported the allegations against Grossberg. Three women who work in politics were asked about inappropriate text messages sent by the representative to them in an Legislative Research Commission investigation. Later, a Louisville strip club said it banned Grossberg for life after he inappropriately touched a dancer. On Tuesday, the first day of the session, the three women who shared the text messages — newly-elected Lexington Fayette Urban County Council member Emma Curtis, Kentucky Young Democrats President Allison Wiseman and former Democratic House candidate Sarah Ritter — released a joint statement renewing their call to Grossberg to resign.  When asked about Elridge’s criticism of the committee assignments, Osborne, the Republican House speaker from Prospect, said he did not think “it’s appropriate for me to make any further comment on it” given an ongoing ethics investigation.  Osborne previously said in October that “we have taken steps to, at the request of the minority (caucus) and their leadership, to make some changes.” Kentucky legislators are not subject to the typical impeachment process, but rather can be removed by a two-thirds vote of their chamber, under the state Constitution. Given that Democrats are a small minority in the House — 20 seats to the Republicans’ 80 — they would need GOP support to remove Grossberg from office. The post Democratic Party chair blasts GOP leaders for giving embattled Democratic lawmaker committee posts appeared first on The Lexington Times.