Since Kentuckians can no longer sit in the House and Senate galleries for in-person viewings of legislative action — galleries are suddenly nonexistent because leadership requested no public accommodations when designing their temporary space while the Capitol undergoes a multiyear renovation — the citizens who elected them and pay their salaries are relegated to committee meetings.
Unlike House and Senate floor debates, which can feature lengthy, intense discussions, committee meetings are structured and brief. Typically one hour. Committees are on the clock, and committee chairs are clock watchers. This means that the lawmakers we, the public, elect to represent us are extremely limited when asking questions or making comments.
Time is always running out.
On Feb. 18, I went to Frankfort to attend one meeting: House Judiciary Committee. When I arrived, however, I spotted what you only notice if you are already there: extra security milling around outside a different meeting room and a full bank of TV cameras setting up inside.
Turns out two House committees — State Government and Elections, and Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs — were hosting a guest star: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
I nabbed a seat two rows behind where I figured the governor would sit, and for the next hour — remember, committees adhere to a strict schedule — watched the back of Gov. DeSantis’s dark-haired head as he charmed KY GOP committee members who fawned over their big shot guest with sugar-sweet smiles and softball questions about the national debt (It’s so out of control, why has this been allowed?! How could it have gotten this way?!) and whether Kentucky should join a national convention of states to demand, via constitutional amendment, that the federal government balance its budgets like we do in the states.
I’m sorry, what?
As DeSantis sat next to state Rep. Jason Petrie, chairman of House Appropriations and Revenue, to talk about House Concurrent Resolution 45 asking Congress for a balanced budget amendment which the states would then ratify, I don’t think I was the only person in that room wondering why in the world we were all there.
As DeSantis spoke, I jotted down the following notes: He talks like a professional politician, never pausing or taking a breath between sentences. Dog and pony show. Why is he here on this issue? Running for president in 2028? We are supposed to trust DeSantis, why??? If the national debt was easy to fix, it would have already been fixed, so why now?
Here are some key numbers re: the national debt as posted on the official Fiscal Data page of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The national debt is currently $38 trillion.
What are our largest spending categories? (1) Income security and Social Security, like retirement, disability, unemployment; (2) Health, excepting Medicare which has its own category; (3) National defense, military spending; (4) Medicare.
Based on the discussion that occurred in Frankfort with Gov. DeSantis, I found this to be a key quote from the Treasury’s website: “Notable recent events triggering large spikes in the debt include the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, the 2008 Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. From FY 2019 to FY 2021, spending increased by about 50%, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tax cuts, stimulus programs, increased government spending, and decreased tax revenue caused by widespread unemployment generally account for sharp rises in the national debt.”
So, folks. What are we cutting?
In lieu of the states convening to try to amend the United States Constitution, what if we started by not passing bills — like last year’s inaptly named Big Beautiful Bill Act — which gave yet more big tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, and see if that helps decrease the debt?
Or would taxing billionaires and corporations keep their money from flowing to hopeful political candidates like DeSantis, who is about to term-out as governor and appears to be looking for his next job … let’s say, as president in 2028?
Funny, while DeSantis was here testifying about his concerns over the national debt, the Tampa Bay Times was publishing a column that opened with this paragraph: “Three stories last week captured the graft, deceit, and ugliness of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tenure. The first detailed the governor’s lavish spending from a taxpayer-provided slush fund. The second revealed how his administration spent public money fighting the recreational marijuana campaign (which most Florida voters supported). A third showed how the governor’s health department schemed to cut off life-saving access to affordable drugs for thousands of Floridians. It was a big run of dispiriting news, but par for the course.”
And yet, Gov. DeSantis was flown here special for Rep. Petrie to trot out like a budget hawk in a committee hearing in Frankfort to testify about GOP dedication to decreasing the national debt?
Is this a joke?
Time is ticking on this oddly slow-rolling 2026 General Assembly.
The public is effectively shut out since there are no public galleries in the House or Senate chambers.
Committee meetings are too truncated for lawmakers — the representatives we sent there to be our voices — to ask enough questions, hard questions, and to get real answers.
But hey, it looks like legislative leadership gave the governor of Florida a big old Kentucky stage to tout his (cough cough, run for president) dedication to decreasing the national debt.
That sure was some hoopty-doo dog and pony show.
Budget years have a way of looking long on the calendar in early January but feel more and more urgent as the clock ticks. So how about we leave political theater aside for the moment and get back to focusing on Kentucky, what’s best for Kentuckians, and how we are going to pay for it.
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