Leadership Posts Change Hands in the House

The 2007 General Assembly returned to session this morning following a 3-week recess. Legislators convened during the first week of January to elect leadership in the state house and senate and appoint committee chairs.

In leadership, both the majority Democrats and minority Republicans elected new members to fill their respective whip positions. For the Democrats, Charlie Hoffman of Georgetown will replace Bob Damron of Nicholasville as Majority Whip. Hoffman compares favorably to the strong conservative Damron and will likely be more approachable on fairness issues. On the Republican side, anti-fairness extremist Stan Lee of Lexington was elected Minority Whip.

Several co-sponsors of the statewide fairness bill took important positions as committee leaders for 2007. Joni Jenkins of Shively will chair Licensing & Occupations; Darryl Owens of Louisville will take over Elections, Constitutional Amendments, and Intergovernmental Affairs; and Tom Burch of Louisville will lead Health and Welfare.

Longtime fairness ally Kathy Stein of Lexington will chair the powerful Judiciary Committee. Her appointment drew criticism from the anti-fairness industry, which objected to her strong opposition to the 2004 anti-marriage amendment.

Although she has promised to take a more moderate role as Committee Chair, Rep. Stein’s appointment is encouraging for fair workplace advocates. The Judiciary Committee annually receives legislation relating to job discrimination protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Kentuckians, such as the statewide fairness bill. Stein has been a lead sponsor of that measure since 2000.