FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission has made information on which bills legislative lobbying employers are promoting or opposing newly available to the public, via KLEC’s website.
While the Ethics Code since its passage in 1993 has required entities with paid legislative agents to report the particular bills on which they are lobbying, and is a matter of public record, this information has never been immediately accessible by the public on KLEC’s website.
By visiting KLEC’s website, citizens can now view the bills that particular groups are advocating for or against, giving the public a more accurate picture of lobbying activity in Kentucky.
“We hope this will make more information immediately available, so the public can better understand what legislation is being promoted or opposed by registered lobbying organizations,” said David Nicholas, who chairs the Ethics Commission.
KLEC’s Donnita Crittenden worked closely with the Commonwealth Office of Technology and the Legislative Research Commission to create these public reports. The list is on KLEC’s website under “Bills Lobbied”, by Current Year or Prior Year.
In addition to Nicholas, other members of the Legislative Ethics Commission are Vice-Chair Michael Noftsger; former Representative Sheldon Baugh of Russellville; former Representative Pat Freibert of Lexington; Anthony Goetz of Nicholasville; Phil Huddleston of Frankfort; former Representative and Judge Tanya Pullin of South Shore; former Judge Paula Sherlock of Prospect; and former Judge Anthony Wilhoit of Versailles.