We had to read it three times to make sure, but that is exactly what HB 98 seeks to do….make the act of having “sexual contact” with a horse a Class D felony. State Representative Diane St. Onge, Republican from District 63 in Kenton county, has introduced the bill in the 2019 legislative session. Below is a link to the proposed legislation.

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/19RS/hb98/orig_bill.pdf

ITC has checked around various parts of the state, talked with a couple of legislators, talked with representatives of the agricultural community, and we can’t find anyone who seems to think having sex or sexual contact with a Horse is something that is happening in Kentucky, or has happened, and no one seems to understand the need or reason for this bill.

This bill has been referred to House Judiciary. ITC is eager to hear Rep. St. Onge discuss the need for the bill and explain what knowledge or information she has which prompted her to file such a bill. Rep. St. Onge has been known for her work and advocacy on legislation regarding drones. Has her experience with drones led her to file this bill? Is it a problem in NKY, the area of the state she represents?

Here is a highlighted text of HB 98:

So Heather French Henry is finally putting her name on a ballot. After what has been over a decade of teasing, the former Miss America is announcing her run for Secretary of State as a Democrat.

Will her last name be her greatest liability though? Let’s do a quick recap of former Lt. Governor Steve Henry’s career outside of the office.

• While being investigated for fraudulent Medicare/Medicaid billings, he settled by paying the federal government $162,000.

• He has to repay the state nearly $2000 for work public employees did for his and Heather’s wedding, including photography and press packets, after being questioned by the press.

• He repeatedly talked about a $100,000 pledge he made to WKU, his alma mater, even after he withdrew the pledge and only paid 20% of it.

• He admitted to breaking state and federal campaign laws by using illegal contributions for his races for the U.S. Senate and governor.

• He was dismissed from the UofL Hospital faculty after publicly lying about his work for them and because of attendance issues.

Heather may be a charmer, but as people begin to delve deeper into her and Steve’s history, we’re not sure the people of Kentucky will want to trust her with an office that deals with accurate and precise record keeping.

Yesterday, the Capitol Rotunda saw a rally by Smoke Free Kentucky, which is led by Ben Chandler. He, along with the chairs of the Health and Welfare committees spoke in favor of a bill that would make public school campuses smoke free.

At first we at ITC assumed this would pass easily. After all, can anyone say they object to efforts to prevent kids from being around tobacco (well, anyone except Paul Hornback)?

But then the Herald-Leader reported that it will include a ban on adults smoking in their vehicles while on school property. We are wondering how that will be received by the private property crowd.

Interesting how there is a move to limit the use of the legal products of tobacco and e-cigarettes while the mood to legalize marijuana seems to grow each and every day.

Wow.

It’s not that we disagree with this message. Rather, it is one that we at ITC take very seriously. No one believes that facts and truth matter more than our team. What baffles us is Matthew Griswold Bevin the right messenger?

This is coming from a man who was called a “pathological liar” by Mitch McConnell.

This from a man who said he didn’t know why he was at a cockfighting rally in 2014.

This from a man who exaggerated his résumé to make it appear he had attended the venerated Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This from a man who pledged to release his income tax returns in 2015 and has yet to do so.

This from a man who lobbed attacks at legislators for sexual harassment while harboring repeat offenders within his own administration.

This from a man who pledged to call a special legislative session in 2017, but never did.

This from a man who went out of his way to insult the intellect, intentions and ethics of every teacher and state employee on numerous occasions.

This from a man who publicly questioned the abilities of members of the state judiciary when he did not get the ruling he wanted.

This from a man who lied to legislators about the contents of a bill in the short-lived 2018 special session.

This from a man who has repeatedly, without fail, systematically lied to, belittled and/or chided nearly every person he has come in contact with in Frankfort who dared not be with him 100% of the time.

Pardon us if we believe the emperor to be naked.

Never let it be said that Dan “Misdemeanor Malano” Seum doesn’t have friends in the Senate GOP caucus.

Fresh off Seum’s admitting to marijuana use, Senator Jimmy Higdon has filed a bill that will greatly reduce the penalties of possession of the skunk weed.

Higdon, father of James Higdon, author of Cornbread Mafia and a marijuana advocate, proposes that discretion be taken away from police and the option of taking a person to jail for possession be taken off the table. Rather, he would like to see it treated like a traffic violation where the miscreant receive only a ticket.

What can we say? The whole legislature is going to pot.

Damon Thayer had a rough 2018 legislative session. Thayer is the Senate Majority Floor Leader and, as such, he is the main face of the Kentucky State Senate outside of Senate President Robert Stivers.

Thayer is a very shrewd political operator and, as his Senate colleagues have confirmd to ITC, he was re-elected Floor Leader because of his ability to raise money for the caucus and the Senators individually. Damon has always been his own worst enemy.

During the 2018 session, he became the face of everything wrong with the pension bill and the process itself. Teachers and other protesters at the Capitol were unrelentless in their mocking, ostracizing and criticism of him. In fact, ITC saw more anti-Damon Thayer posters in 2018 than all the other legislators. But again, he brought it all on himself. His tirades, mainly to the press but some on the Senate floor, just antagonized those state workers, teachers, and others. He was, after all, following the lead of his main man, Governor Bevin. Thayer was Bevin’s main cheerleader and mimicked Bevin’s talking points.

As if the 2018 session result wasn’t bad enough, along comes the special session in December and, uh oh, Bevin basically says Thayer lied when Thayer said legislative leaders tried to talk Bevin out of the special session. Several folks have told ITC that Thayer has been furious with Bevin. Thayer has even filed a bill to move the Governor’s a Office of Ag Policy (GOAP) from the Governor’s office to the Department of Ag. Of course, Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles is considered Thayer’s protege (at least that is what Thayer says). No question, Thayer and Quarles, both residents of Scott county, are very close. It will be interesting to see if Bevin tries to keep GOAP in his office. If Bevin is opposed to the move, which ITC expects he is, will he fight? Does Thayer still feel jilted and spurned by Bevin and will he be typical Damon and pass the bill anyway? Does Quarles, who no doubt thinks about nothing 24/7 but running for another office, side with Bevin or Thayer?

It shall be interesting!

We have to admit we were sort of hoping for a 2019 matchup between Matt Bevin and Allison Lundergan Grimes. It would have been like when the NCAA used to have the consolation game in the Final Four. We already know Mitch McConnell beat them both in the same year, but who did the public really dislike the most?

Realistically, we know it probably wouldn’t have happened. Allison couldn’t have gotten out of the Democratic primary, and we’re not sure Bevin can survive a primary of his own. But it could have been fun!

So now Allison is going to sit out a term at least. We expect it will be 8-10 years, maybe less if Jerry gets out early for good behavior.

A recent report by Lawrence Smith, excellent reporter for WDRB-TV in Louisville, stated that he had information from good sources that First District Congressman James Comer had discussed the possibility of Fourth District Congressman Thomas Massie running with Comer as candidate for Lt. Governor in 2019. And Massie is interested. Comer-Massie 2019? Far fetched? Not possible? Let’s look at it.

First, it underscores what most have said for months…Matthew Bevin probably cannot be re-elected. ITC has heard this charge with more frequency since the debacle of an ill fated, so-called Special Session of the legislature called by Bevin in December to address pension reform. If you recall, Bevin called legislators to Frankfort for a special session and he gave legislators all of FOUR HOURS notice to get there. Then, when they get to Frankfort at 8 o’clock that evening, there is no bill. Then, when the bill is finally presented, it was totally different than what Bevin had promised legislative leaders just a few hours earlier. The legislature promptly adjourned the next day, noting that Bevin was clearly ill-prepared. Since then, the drumbeat for an alternative Republican candidate has gotten even louder and has centered, for the most part, on Comer.

So, what would a Comer-Massie ticket do? First, it would send the Tea Party zealots into orbit! (Some would argue that some of them are there 24/7 already, but that is another story) The Tea Party has a strong affection for Bevin and his current Lt. Governor, Jenean Hampton. They have made well known their desire for Bevin to pick Hampton in 2019, although Bevin has been non-committal and the worse kept secret in Frankfort is that Bevin really doesn’t like Hampton. But probably even more stronger is the Tea Party affection and support for Thomas Massie. In fact, the main part of what is left of the so-called Tea Party movement is centered mainly in the Fourth Congressional District, and those folks have been with Massie since day one when he defeated former Republican State Representative Alecia Webb-Edgington in the Republican primary in 2014. So, Massie on a ticket with Comer would clearly divide Tea Party loyalists. Politically, this would benefit Comer. He had no Tea Party support in May, 2015 when he lost to Bevin by 83 votes.

ITC thinks Massie is probably tired of Washington, even more so now that the Republicans in the House are in the minority. However, Massie has always been in the minority, just within the majority. He was a member of the original Freedom Caucus, led by Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. That group was opposed to former John Boehner, also of Ohio. Massie voted against Boehner for Speaker and ultimately, the opposition to Boehner from the Freedom caucus led to Beohner’s resignation from Congress. Then, Massie was against Speaker Paul Ryan. Massie has always been a wild card (he was recently the only member of Congress to vote against paying federal employees if and when the government shutdown ends) and now, clearly, as a member of a minority within the minority, he is probably ready to come home. That is why running with Comer makes sense.

ITC believes a Comer-Massie ticket would be very formidable. Comer is very strong in the First District; Massie is strong in the Fourth District; with Bevin’s unpopularity statewide, and his approval rating in the low 30s, Comer-Massie could become a Republican Party dream ticket….or at least a ticket that could defeat Bevin, and for many, that would be a dream come true!

It’s been a slow week in Frankfort, but some people always have it better than others.

Winners:

• KEA – They may not have a seat at the table during Matt Bevin’s clandestine pension meetings last year, but House leaders made sure that wasn’t the case with the new pension working group. With Derrick Graham, Travis Brenda and Scott Lewis all serving, the organization definitely has a voice.

• The State Treasurer’s Office – As statewide candidates start to file, and more expected to do so soon, those filing fee checks have to be a nice little boost to the coffers.

• Muhammad Ali – Louisville hasn’t ever ignored Ali, but city leaders made a positive step to recognize him even more this week by naming the airport in his honor. We look forward to the inevitable “Fly Like A Butterfly” billboards soon.

Losers:

• Andy Beshear – We may have never seen a legitimate candidate start their campaign with such a whimper. We hope someone buys him some Tabasco sauce, because he needs some fire in the belly!

• Pike County – There have been political legends come from Pike. This is the home of Kelsey Friend, Paul Patton, Herbie Deskins and many more. From what we can tell, neither Darrell Pugh or Phillip Wheeler, the two vying to replace Ray Jones in the Senate, could hold a candle to those others.

• Whitney Westerfield – After coming so close in 2015, Westerfield probably assumed the Republican nomination for Attorney General would be a cinch this year, especially after Mike Hogan, his former primary opponent, decided to run for Lt. Governor with Robert Goforth. This week brought news that not only has McConnell acolyte Daniel Cameron filed a letter of intent, but Bevin Administration attorney Steven Doan and retired Supreme Court Justice Dan Venters are considering running as well. That’s bad news for Westerfield, who will be stuck in Frankfort for much of the primary campaign.

Recently retired Supreme Court Justice Dan Venters has come out swinging today. In a statewide op-ed, Venters lays out a case why Governor Bevin’s criticism of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the public pension bill was unwarranted.

Venters, who was the author of the majority opinion in that case, puts his cards on the table saying that he is a registered Republican, conservative, and voted for Bevin in 2015. Reading between the lines, we’re pretty confident he will not do that again.

What is most interesting in all of this is that Venters is a stalwart ally of Congressman Hal Rogers. And, interestingly enough, over the weekend one of our sources let us know the rumor that Venters is being courted to run for Attorney General. So far that is just hearsay, but it does seem plausible.

Bevin has been pretty forthcoming about his disdain for Andy Beshear as Attorney General. Could he equally dislike an Attorney General of his own party?