FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2013 Senator Albert Robinson’s Frankfort Report FRANKFORT – Every 10 years after each national census, Kentucky’s Constitution requires the State Legislature to realign our voting districts according to population. The Governor called the Legislature back into Special Session to accomplish just this. With the population growth, my district now includes Bath County along with Laurel, Jackson, Estill, Powell, and Menifee counties. The new plan in the Senate divides the minimum number of counties and no precincts. It is not a political map, no incumbents are drawn together, but one that was drawn based on constitutional requirements. Unfortunately, I do not feel that the House Leadership treated Laurel County as fairly. The House map slights Laurel because it splits the county five ways. It is a sad state of affairs that we do not have one district as one county. As a senior senator, I have been here through various redistricting efforts. I offered my expertise to House Majority and Minority Leadership to no avail. Finally, in protest, I introduced a House redistricting plan in the Senate showing how Laurel could stay together. The rules governing the House and the Senate, however, prevented my plan from being considered even though I showed how Laurel County could have one resident representative. Laurel County Fiscal Court voted unanimously to either file suit in court or join in with other suits to seek relief from this unfair situation. Hopefully, the courts will throw out the redistricting plan of the House and help correct this terrible injustice. The redistricting the bill is now law as the Governor signed it before I left Frankfort Friday afternoon. I will continue to attend committee meetings in Frankfort periodically as we review legislation in preparation for January. I can be reached through the Legislative Research Commission’s toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181. You can also check the committee schedule and learn more about what the committees are doing at lrc.ky.gov. # # # Note: Senator Albert Robinson (R-London) represents the 21st District including Laurel, Jackson, Estill, Powell, Menifee, and Bath counties. He serves on the Banking and Insurance Committee, the State and Local Government Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the Veterans, Military Affairs, and Veterans Committee. For a high-resolution .jpeg of Senator Robinson, please log onto lrc.ky.gov/pubinfo/senate38.htm
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 21:44:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015