Maddox seeks to end passage of bills with ‘confidential’ fiscal analysis in Kentucky Skip to content
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Maddox seeks to end passage of bills with ‘confidential’ fiscal analysis in Kentucky

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GOP Rep. Savannah Maddox of Dry Ridge speaks on House Bill 11, an act related to nicotine products, on the House floor on March 11, 2024, in Frankfort. (photo via LRC Public Information Office)

Proposed legislation filed in the Kentucky General Assembly would require any bill taken up on the floor of a chamber to have an estimate of its impact on the state budget available to the public.

GOP Rep. Savannah Maddox of Dry Ridge said House Bill 178 would provide more transparency on the cost of legislation and make Kentucky less of a national outlier. Kentucky is one of a small number of states whose legislature does not require such a public fiscal analysis.

“I think that it’s very important for the public to have an idea of the types of legislation that we’re voting on and what those bills will cost, but obviously also the members and stakeholders that may be involved in the legislative process, groups that may be impacted,” Maddox said.

A Kentucky Public Radio investigation last year found some bills passing into law had a fiscal note detailing their impact on the state budget that were marked “confidential” and not posted online with the bill. This practice was unknown to dozens of current and former lawmakers in both parties, including committee chairs and leadership.

Fiscal estimates for bills are prepared by the nonpartisan staff of the Legislative Research Commission, the administrative arm of the Kentucky General Assembly. While public estimates are required for bills’ impact on the state’s corrections system, pension plans, local governments, and health insurance plans, fiscal notes estimating their impact on the state budget are not required and can only be requested by a bill sponsor or committee chair.

Only 3% of the bills that passed into law in the 2024 session had a public fiscal note attached to the final version of the legislation.

Though members of both parties criticized this fiscal note policy, it was defended by Republican Senate President Robert Stivers of Manchester. He said fiscal notes can be inaccurate or overly vague at times, and requiring them could create “quicksand” for bills leadership wants to move, “especially late in the session.”

“I don’t want to create such a bureaucracy and to slow something down when we really need to get something moved,” Stivers said. “We’ll get the best estimates we can or make sure we do a good job with the best information we have.”

Maddox said HB 178 was drafted to avoid a logjam of requests for LRC staff to provide notes for bills, opting not to require them for every bill — as many states do — but instead just those taken up on a chamber floor. Once a bill gets to that point, she said lawmakers and the public deserve to see the fiscal note so they can make an informed decision.

“I think that if we have been tasked with doing the people’s business in the state House or the state Senate, that we have a responsibility to know how much money we would potentially be spending on a piece of legislation,” Maddox. “Those are taxpayer dollars, and I think the public has a right to know how much of their money is being spent.”

Under her bill, Maddox said that fiscal notes prepared for bill sponsors or committee chairs could still be marked confidential, but in order for legislation to actually be taken up on the floor it must become public or there must be a new public note produced.

Maddox is a leader within the informal “liberty” caucus of the GOP in Frankfort, which typically takes hardline stances against government spending and regulations, often to the point of challenging leadership within the Republican supermajority. Two members of this liberty caucus have already signed onto HB 178 as cosponsors.

She is hopeful her bill gets “a broad coalition” of support, saying it is not a partisan issue and is “something that folks from all different ideological permutations and walks of life can get behind.”

Last year, several Democrats criticized the confidential fiscal note policy and said they were unaware of its existence.

The new leadership of the House Democratic minority said in a joint statement that they are still studying Maddox’s bill, but “we certainly agree with its overall concept of greater transparency.”

“Kentuckians deserve to know as much as possible as soon as possible when it comes to the bills we vote on,” read the House Democratic leaders’ statement. “There should never be fiscal notes or other staff reviews kept hidden. That’s unacceptable.”

Maddox isn’t sure how much of the GOP caucus she will rally in support of the bill this session, but if doesn’t advance in 2025 she said it is an issue she will stick with.

“I think it’s really important, in terms of my view of limited government and fiscal responsibility,” Maddox said. “This is something that we really need to focus on.”

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Written by Joe Sonka. Cross-posted from WEKU.



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