FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Commonwealth Policy Center Looks Toward the 2017 General Assembly Session
DATE: November 28, 2016
CONTACT: Brandon Porter – (270) 576-1755
The 2017 General Assembly will see many changes in Frankfort. For the first time in 95 years there will be a Republican majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Richard Nelson, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Policy Center, says the Republican Party is made up of many constituencies which makes uniting a priority. “You have those that are purely fiscal conservatives, those that are social conservatives, and then there’s libertarian strand. As a party, the challenge is for them to come together and find unity within each of the different interests of the party.”
As the session unfolds, Nelson believes legislators should keep the pulse of the voters in mind, “The first thing they need to remember is what were the issues they campaigned on. What were they talking to people about in the months leading up to the election? Those are the issues that are on the minds of the people. They shouldn’t forget what the people were thinking about. Then, they need to take those concerns and issues to Frankfort.”
He believes many of the policies handed down over the last eight years generated a strong response from voters, “These are radical, far-left policies that have been imposed on the American people largely against their will. This election was the result of the people saying, ‘Wait a minute! This has gone too fast, too far and this is not what we signed up for.’ So they put a different party in power on the federal and state level.”
Nelson believes Kentuckians want change in fiscal and social policy, “I think any good representative, whether they’re in the House or the Senate, needs to be a student of politics and a student of the culture. They need to understand what people are thinking. They will do well to remember the events that led up to the election and the concerns of the voters and they need to take that to Frankfort.”
The 2017 General Assembly session begins in Frankfort on Tuesday, January 3, 2017.