The 2005 General Assembly
Grads in the Kentucky Legislature Discuss Crucial 2005 Session
Compiled by Brian Foltz, Laurel Harper, Kevin Hyde and Kevin Rayburn
Four days after ringing in the new year 138 Kentucky senators and representatives descended on Frankfort for the convening of the 2005 General Assembly. Among them were several U of L graduates and some who attended the university for a time. UofL Magazine caught up with them just days before the 139th session of the General Assembly to discuss the biggest issues facing lawmakers, the role of higher education in the success of the commonwealth and how the legislators' U of L experiences affect their public service.
State Senate
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Sen. Julie Rose Denton, who received her dental hygiene degree from U of L in 1981 and has been a member of the state Senate since 1995, is a Republican serving District 36 in Jefferson County. The business owner says coming to U of L was a healthy contrast to Asbury College, the Wilmore, Ky., institution where she did her first two years of study.
“It gave me a perspective on private versus public universities,” she says, “and the differences between a more rural-based college and an urban university. So when we’re dealing with higher education issues, it does help me to have that perspective.”
The budget, “or the lack thereof,” will be the biggest issue facing legislators going into the 2005 General Assembly, according to Denton. “That’s going to have to be the first priority,” she says. “We must address funding issues with regard to public education and Medicaid, especially. Medicaid is looking at a huge deficit next year if we don’t address that.”
Denton says the role of higher education in the overall success of Kentucky is crucial. “Without a successful higher education infrastructure and successful funding of those institutions, you really put Kentucky at a disadvantage in terms of preparing people for the future and making Kentucky successful.”
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Sen. Ray Jones is a Democrat representing District 22, which includes Johnson, Martin and Pike counties. He is a partner in the law firm of Jones & Friend in Pikeville and is two-term past president of the Pike County Bar Association.
Jones, who earned his law degree from the U of L Brandeis School of Law in 1994, says his U of L educational experience broadened his understanding of people from different backgrounds and cultures. “I was raised in a small town and was unsure what life would be like in a big city,” Jones says. “I found Louisville and U of L to be down-to-earth and friendly. U of L does a great job of putting out the welcome mat for students from rural areas.”
Jones says the budget is the General Assembly’s top priority. “Setting spending priorities is the legislature’s most important job. Likewise, it is important that we have sufficient revenue to meet Kentucky’s needs in areas such as education, health care and public safety. “The outlook for state revenue is bleak largely because our tax policy is out-of-date. I hope we will have the opportunity to consider a fair, effective tax reform plan when the legislature convenes in 2005.”
Higher education is another area of concern for Jones. “Education is the only hope for many Kentucky children dreaming of a brighter future,” he says. “But budget cuts threaten that progress. We have seen double-digit tuition increases that make college unaffordable for working families, overcrowded classrooms because faculty and class offerings have been cut, and the loss of some of our best professors to out-of-state schools willing to pay higher salaries. We need to get back on the road to progress.”
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Sen. Dan Kelly, a Republican representing District 14 (Marion, Mercer, Nelson, Taylor and Washington counties), has been a member of the state Senate since 1991 and majority floor leader since 2000. An attorney in private practice in Springfield, Kelly earned his law degree from the Brandeis School of Law’s night program in 1979.
“It was very rewarding,” he says. “I was still in active duty at Fort Knox during my first year of school, and it was important that this opportunity was available to me. Also, in the night program you had more mature students with varied experiences, from banking to real estate, and this brought a lot to our discussions.”
With the bipartisanship and budget issues facing the upcoming assembly—”especially the tax modernization that’s been in front of us the past 10 years,” he says—Kelly will likely be putting his negotiation skills learned in law school to the test. But he is optimistic that in the 2005 session the issues carrying over from last year will be resolved.
“There are indications that people will work a little harder this time to get things done,” he notes. “For one thing, we don’t have elections facing us, so that might help.”
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Sen. Gerald Neal, a 1972 graduate of the law school and member of the state Senate since 1989, is Democrat serving District 33 in Jefferson County. The attorney says the education he received at U of L prepared him “in a very big way” for his work in public service.
“The whole process of understanding and knowing legislation and being able to analyze—take things apart and put them back together—is one of the many things I learned,” he says.
Neal thinks the biggest questions facing the Kentucky General Assembly in the 2005 session will be, “How do we meet the needs of Kentucky in a way that keeps the state going forward in a meaningful way? And how do we pay for it?” He adds that the Senate and House will be making tough choices about the state tax code. “We will be looking at how we can restructure the tax system in such a way as to lay the foundation for the future needs of the commonwealth.”
Neal also stresses the importance of higher education in the state. “It plays a critical role in being an incubator for ideas that impact current and future economic development,” he says. The future meets at the college level, Neal adds, “because that’s where the things that are possible come together in practice and lay the foundation for students to apply them later on as they move through life.”
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Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, a Democrat, represents District 19 in Jefferson County. A 1980 U of L graduate, Shaughnessy says what he learned from James O’Sullivan and Phil Laemmle in the political science department gave him the confidence—and desire—to pursue a public service career.
“Certainly the ability to study under them and achieve academic success at college showed me I was smarter than I thought,” he notes, speaking from his vice president’s office at Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services in Louisville where he oversees properties. The internship he served in the General Assembly during his senior year clinched the deal.
After 16 years in the assembly, Shaughnessy is intimately familiar with what he believes to be its most pressing problem this year—working together. “Our biggest challenge is creating a bipartisan atmosphere that allows us to put aside some of the political agendas dominating the most recent assemblies and address issues from the state’s perspective,” he says.
Higher education also needs to be on the minds of legislators, not only in the upcoming session but in subsequent sessions, too, he believes. “There’s a direct link between the economic success of a state and its citizens’ attainment of a college degree,” he explains. “Frankly, education has not been a priority in Kentucky until lately. “U of L stands out as a shining example of a university that is responding to this important mission.”
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Sen. Robert Stivers first was elected to the state Senate in 1996 and was recently re-elected for his third consecutive term.
A Republican from Manchester, Stivers serves District 25 in Clay, Knox, Lee, Magoffin, Morgan, Owsley and Wolfe counties. He graduated from the Brandeis School of Law in 1988. He worked as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney until 1993, at which time he entered into private practice, where he has remained since.
Stivers feels that his experience at U of L definitely helped prepare him for his role in the Senate. “Being from the rural part of the state, it gave me a good opportunity to meet people from other parts of the state. And being part of our ‘most metro’ area, the school exposed me to a lot of different things I had not been exposed to up until that time,” he says.
Dealing with the budget is the most pressing issue Stivers sees facing the General Assembly in the upcoming session. “I would imagine the budget is focal for everything else,” he says. “You can’t operate anything without money.”
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Sen. David L. Williams, a 1977 graduate of U of L’s law school and member of the state Senate since 1987, is a Republican serving District 16 (Clinton, Cumberland, McCreary, Monroe, Wayne and Whitley counties). He has been Senate president since 2000.
Growing up in Burkesville, Ky., Williams often visited family members living in Jefferson County. When he moved to Louisville to attend U of L, not only did he relish the opportunity to learn from the law school’s “wonderful faculty” but the move also gave him a chance “to live as an adult” in Louisville.
“I enjoyed renewing my acquaintance with the town,” he says. “And I first became politically involved during my law school days. I managed a campaign for a candidate for mayor. That’s when I met [U.S.] Sen. [Mitch] McConnell, who was running his first race for county judge in those days. “So it was a fortuitous occasion for me as far as making contacts in Jefferson County and politically learning about Jefferson County. My years at U of L were a very positive experience.”
Going into the 2005 General Assembly, Williams says tax modernization is the state’s most pressing need. “We have to have a tax system that will encourage growth in our economy and encourage job creation—“one that will sustain the sort of basic services and educational services that we need as a state to be competitive,” he says.
“We can’t continue going back to the well under the existing tax structure to create a heavier tax burden. That would depress growth.”
House of Representatives
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Rep. Mike Cherry is a Democrat representing House District 4, which encompasses Caldwell, Crittenden, Livingston and McCracken counties. A businessman who resides in Princeton, Cherry’s diverse career has included a 25-year stint as a U.S. naval officer and combat duty in Vietnam.
Cherry muses that it has been a “long time” since he earned his master’s degree in community development from U of L’s former College of Urban and Public Affairs.
“The community development curriculum was a great match for public service,” Cherry says. “Also, I was president of the grad school class (Rev. Louis Coleman was vice president) and the experience of working with and representing people was a positive influence on my modest political skills.”
Cherry says the most critical issue facing the upcoming General Assembly will be the adoption of a budget and “some form of tax modernization/reform.” He also notes the importance of higher education to the state’s health.
“The crucial role of education, including higher education, to a society is, of course, self evident and could be the subject of almost limitless discussion. Higher ed must be the engine that powers our growing development amidst the ever changing, and particularly over the last decade or so, competitive environment in which Kentucky finds itself.”
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Rep. Perry B. Clark, who attended U of L in the early 1980s, has been a member of the state House of Representatives since 1995. The Democrat serves District 37 in Jefferson County.
“The single biggest issue the General Assembly will be facing is the budget,” says Clark, who currently works for U of L’s vice president of finance. “It’s not only the most important task before us, but it is our sole constitutional task.”
Higher education is vital to Kentucky because it prepares the state’s young people for a changing world, Clark says. “It gives them the critical thinking skills that are necessary in the high-tech environment that is about to come upon us,” he says. “I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.”
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Rep. Bob DeWeese, a 1961 graduate of U of L’s medical school who did his surgical training at University Hospital, has been a member of the state House of Representatives since 1993. The Republican serves District 23 in Jefferson County.
It was during his medical residency at U of L that he first learned about the importance of public service and the political side of medicine. “We were told that there were a lot of things coming down the road that were going to affect us as doctors,” he recalls, “and that many of those decisions were not going to be made within our organizations. They’re going to be made in the state houses and in Washington. “So that struck a note.”
In the 2005 General Assembly, DeWeese says the budget will be the first priority. “That’s the thousand-pound gorilla we’ve got to get by,” he says. “Two out of the last three sessions we have not produced a budget, and that’s something we are supposed to do.
“And the budget is tied into a tax modernization plan, which we need. I think we have to sit down and try to work this out.”
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Rep. Mary Harper jokes about being senior in years but a virtual freshman when it comes to the General Assembly. “But there are plenty there older than me,” she laughs.
Now serving her second term, Harper says the biggest issue facing the upcoming assembly is finding the money to pay for everything the people want—and passing a budget.
Harper, a Republican, represents District 49 in Bullitt County. Although not an alumna, she took several graduate courses in education at U of L after earning her degree from Spalding College in the 1950s. A teacher for 32 years, Harper knows as well as anyone the impact higher education has on a state’s economy.
And with the number of Kentucky students earning a bachelor’s degree lagging behind the national average, she notes, “We have to have more college graduates to encourage businesses to come into the state.”
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Rep. Dennis Horlander, a 1974 business graduate of U of L and member of the state House of Representatives since 1996, is a Democrat serving District 40 in Jefferson Country. The manufacturer’s representative says he is proud of his alma mater.
“And I take that out to Frankfort,” he says, “that I’m proud of my university and proud of my community.”
Horlander says coming up with a budget should be the No. 1 priority of the Kentucky legislature going into the new session. “We’re also going to be dealing with the Medicaid shortfall,” he adds.
Horlander thinks U of L can play a big role in helping the state with a variety of challenges, including efforts to improve the tax structure.
“We’re going to need to work hard to get more people to come to Kentucky, more people to come to Louisville, as far as corporations go,” he says. “And when you look at our taxing structure and the fact that we lost the Enterprise Zone, we need to come up with some vehicles to get more people to come here. U of L—and they’re doing this now—can help us look at our taxing structure, give us some advice and study some of the issues.”
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Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a Democrat representing House District 34 in Jefferson County, has been a registered nurse for more than two decades. Her responsibilities in U of L’s kidney disease program include treating kidney patients and coordinating transplantations.
Marzian earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from U of L in 1979. She credits the university for helping enhance her thinking about important issues. “U of L gave me the tools to think critically, ask questions and understand how to access information,” Marzian says.
Marzian cites many issues she’s advocating in the General Assembly. “Funding our programs for the people of Kentucky, including education, health care, roads, job training, mental health and justice ... it’s all about funding. Higher education is vital for our state. Higher ed must continue to offer programs to meet the needs of our citizens and our economic development.”
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Rep. Harry Moberly Jr. has served in the state House of Representatives since 1980, having just been re-elected for his 13th term.
A 1977 graduate of the Brandeis School of Law, the Democrat serving District 81 in Madison County works at Eastern Kentucky University. Named as one of the five most effective House members in a 1998 survey, Moberly views his time at U of L as an invaluable learning experience.
“My association with the members of the law class and the faculty greatly expanded my horizons and helped me to be a better judge of issues and of people,” he says.
Moberly sees higher education as the economic engine of Kentucky. “It plays a crucial role in all aspects of quality of life,” he says, “including, of course, development of our economy and jobs.”
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Rep. Stephen R. Nunn, who attended U of L’s law school in 1976 and 1977, has been a member of the state House of Representatives since 1991. The Republican and strategic development consultant serves District 23 in Barren and Warren counties.
When asked about what he feels will be the most pressing issue for the Kentucky legislature in the 2005 General Assembly, his answer is succinct: “Petty politics,” he responds. “If we can keep the leadership of the House and Senate and the governor’s office focused on issues of public policy and not political issues, then I think we’ll have a successful session.”
What’s the likelihood of that happening?
“The track record hasn’t been too good in recent years,” he says. “Being an optimistic person, I’m hopeful more statesman-like attributes will rise to the top.”
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Rep. Rob Wilkey is a Democrat representing House District 22, which includes Allen, Simpson and Warren counties. He earned his law degree from U of L in 1984.
Wilkey highly values his educational experience in preparing him for political office. “I received an excellent preparation for understanding and drafting legislation,” he says. “The job of being a legislator consists almost entirely of writing and amending law and being an advocate for the people we represent. Because we are a nation of laws, attorneys have a responsibility to be advocates for the rule of law and for the fair application of the law to all our citizens.”
Wilkey says the budget and tax reform is the assembly’s greatest challenge. “Although we have examined these issues extensively over the last year, it will be a tall order to reach a consensus in 30 days. While other issues will be raised, it is imperative we pass a budget.”
Wilkey says education has made great strides in Kentucky but must continue adapting to change. “We have been able to achieve significant progress in Kentucky since the passage of higher education reform in 1997. Far more Kentuckians are now pursuing post-secondary education—over 200,000 last year.
“As we move into a global economy, low-skilled manufacturing jobs will continue to migrate to Third World countries. In order to raise the per capita income level of all Kentuckians, we will have to increase the educational attainment level of our people.”
