Published: March 31, 2008 04:14 pm            

In Your View — 04/01/08

Budget process needs changing

As someone responsible for a local school district’s finances, I’ve watched the state budget process for the past 14 years. Hammering out a biennial budget usually comes down to the final days of the session and sometimes doesn’t happen at all.

Part of the problem is the philosophical differences between the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democrat-controlled House, but the political calendar in Kentucky also serves to frustrate the process.

Kentuckians elect a governor in November. Two months later the General Assembly begins and we expect the new governor and his staff to be ready.

First, we wait for the governor's State of the Commonwealth address, then comes his budget address. Then the governor actually presents his detailed budget to the House. Then first the House and then the Senate must approve a budget.

At this point, the real work begins. By the time the full House and Senate have a compromise budget on which to vote, no one has had the time to read and understand the document being considered.

Kentuckians are served poorly by this endless cycle of last minute, cobbled together budgets.

My solution: Elect our governor 14 months before the 60 day session so he/she has a year to prepare a budget. Require the governor to give his budget to the House by the 10th day of the session. Require the House to send its version of the budget to the Senate by the 25th day, and the Senate to enact its version by the 40th day.

This will give the conference committee about 15 days to come up with a budget. With this schedule, legislators should have no excuses as to why they couldn’t form a budget or why they had no time to become familiar with its contents before voting on it.

Donald Fleu , Finance Director/Treasurer, Boyd County Public Schools



Area legislators supported casinos

The Louisville Courier Journal announced on its Website that Governor Beshear had conceded defeat this legislative session in his efforts to bring casinos to Kentucky. The story also included accompanying comments from individual e-mails.

One of the e-mails suggested that had it not been for the “hillbillies” of our state the casino effort would have passed. The writer also went on to insinuate that “hillbillies” prevent Kentucky from moving forward.

I’d like to take a moment to put these comments into perspective. Although somewhat offensive to those of us living in rural areas, they do however contain some element of truth. It’s true indeed that it was almost entirely the efforts of rural representatives that prevented House Bill 550 (the casino bill) from passing out of the House.

What the offensive individual may not realize though is that some of Beshear’s staunchest allies in his effort to bring casinos to our state, more specifically to Boyd and Greenup County, were four representatives from the hills of east Kentucky. Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, Rep. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, and Rep John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty, each played instrumental roles in the effort to legalize casinos.

On Monday, March 24, Governor Beshear held a last ditch rally in hopes of reviving his casino initiative. As reported in the Courier Journal, there were 20 faithful representatives standing beside him willing and ready to lend their continued assistance in trying to pass HB 550. The four representatives named above were among the 20 in attendance.

If rural legislatures will not represent the values and interests of their rural districts, then Lexington and Louisville will dictate the moral destiny of Kentucky. Fortunately, for Boyd and Greenup County, the rural voice silenced casinos.

The people have spoken.

Brett Green, Argillite



Jewish minority got Palestinian land

Responding to Sylvia McClelland-Morrison’s letter of March 21, by the time Israel declared itself a nation‚ in 1948, the UN Partition Plan had given the Jews a little over half of Palestine, not one quarter. The majority population of Palestinians never agreed to this arrangement.

Census figures from the UN Special Committee on Palestine Report (UNSCOP) show that in 1946 Jews comprised 33 percent of Palestine’s population. In 1922, only 11 percent were Jews (UN University Website: www.unu.edu ). So, Jewish (mostly Russian and Eastern European) immigration to Palestine increased nearly threefold over a 24 year period.

Considering how small the Jewish population of Palestine was when statehood was declared and the fact that most were not native to the area, they were awarded an awfully generous portion of Palestine.

Ms. McClelland-Morrison’s claim that “the Arab nations created 820,000 Jewish refugees” is ludicrous. It’s well-documented that Jews from Yemen, North Africa, Syria, Iraq and other Arab countries immigrated to Israel on their own. They were not forced out.

The rhetoric of Israeli officials about wanting peace diametrically opposes facts on the ground. Israel’s brutal occupation of and illegal settlements in Palestine and America’s support for it all ($5 billion per year in military aid) are retarding an otherwise obtainable peace.

There will be no successful “roadmap” to peace unless Americans understand the true history of Palestine/Israel, how much our tax dollars are involved in the conflict, and how the lack of justice for Palestinians has alienated the greater Middle East to our immense disadvantage.

Learning about historical events from those with a misinformed and, perhaps, biased perspective does not serve the purpose of enlightenment on this issue.

Elaine Washburn Shiber, Van Lear



Hogsten strongest mayoral candidate

After looking at the three candidates for mayor, I endorse Paula Hogsten. She has the credentials and experience to take the city of Ashland where it needs to be. She is personable and desires to engage every citizen in planning for a future that happens right now. Her platform addresses the solid issues that’s important to every one of us. She’s accountable and fiscally responsible but most importantly, her care and compassion will translate well in being the new mayor of Ashland.

You really have to love this town because home is where the heart is. Paula Hogsten understands this too well. Her most important qualification for the job, is that of being a mom. Moms know best. They nurture, they grow, they encourage and they do so much with so little.

Doug King, Ashland

        

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