Citizen Lobbying

With the state legislature being in session this year KFTC has been very active in making sure that we’ve had a presence their. Much of this has involved action alerts like: calling the legislative hotline, writing letters to the editor, sending hundreds of postcards to individual legislators, and most importantly lobbying.

Early in the year we had a lobby training session for the entire community for people who interested in talking with their legislators. People of all ages came out to partake in it. The key thing that we wanted to convey was that this is something that anybody can do and that it can make a difference. The key thing is to know the issue, to be honest, and to be polite. People think that legislators know much more about a specific bill than they actually do.  

 Another aspect of the trainging was telling people about the bills that we are hoping to pass. House Bills 70, 164, and 262. HB 70 would restore the vote to former felons, HB 164 would ban the destruction of headwater streams, and HB 262 would implement a more progressive tax code.

 So far KFTC has had big lobby days on behalf of HB 164 and 262. Next Thursday we are having one on HB 70. We will bring hundreds of people to Frankfort to make sure our legislators know that the people demand that their fellow citizens have equal rights in our Commonwealth.

But its not just about the big lobby days. KFTC generally takes handfuls of people to talk with their representatives. By doing this Kentucky’s leaders see that the laws they pass matter, and that they do impact regular people.

Restoration Forum Tonight

Tonight UK KFTC is hosting a forum on Restoration of Voting Rights for former felons. The event is at 7:00 at UK’s Student Center room 211. Rep. Crenshaw and former UK basketball player Tayna Fogle will be speaking about the issue. We’ll also be showing excerpts from the film Democracies Ghosts a very powerful film. Several other organizations have agreed to cosponsor the event including: UK College Democrats, Amnesty International, LASO, Newman Center, Black Student Union, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, UK NAACP.

 If anyone is curious about the issue, this is a great way to learn about it. Over 186,000 Kentuckians are unable to vote because they are former felons. In a country where Democracy is so cherished this a very anachronistic. Kentucky is only one of two states that does this. So please come out and learns about it. After the forum, i’ll post information on how it went and more information on the issue.

I Heart Mountains Day

On February 14th KFTC brought together over 1,000 Kentuckians to Frankfort to lobby for the passage ofHB 164. The bill would stop the destruction of headwater streams from mountaintop removal coal mining and valley fills. For those who don’t know about the issue burying headwater streams increases chances of flooding, and seriously degrades water quality, impacting all  communities downstream including those here in Lexington.

 We arrived in Frankfort early in the mourning. It was amazing to see so many Kentuckians from all  parts of the Commonwealth out in full force.  After a brief tutorial on the issue and on how to lobby, we broke off into groups to meet with different legislators. I had the opprotunity to talk with Representative Butler. He listened intently to what we had to say and agreed to vote in favor of the bill if it made it to the floor. It was my first time lobbying and it was a very positive experience.

 After that everyone met on the front steps of the capitol, where we heard from a variety of speakers. Wendell Berry urged for the immediate passage of the bill and decried the coal companies who have done so much harm to Eastern Kentucky. The most passionate and impressive speakers were the KFTC from Eastern Kentucky who graciously shared their experiences with the issue.

After a brief break for lunch we headed to the tunnel that connects the legislative offices to the house chamber. We lined both sides in wait of the tunnel in wait of the legislators who did not want face us, but were too cowardly to brave the cold. We cheered those who supported us and we urged the other side to change their minds. We chanted things like, “164 On the  floor” and “Whose mountains our mountains.” I truly feel that Frankfort heard the voice of the people that day.

 I would urge anyone whose interested to lobby. Its fun, easy, and you are making a difference. Bad laws get passed because society lets them. Citizen lobbying can prevent this from happening and it may even get some good laws passed.