STATE GOVERNMENT.
The state constitution adopted by the voters is the fundamental law of
the state.
A state Constitution cannot interfere with the Federal Constitution,
neither can the Federal Constitution interfere with the regulation of
the state. As has been said the Kentucky Constitution was adopted on
April 3, 1792, at a convention which met in Danville.
A state Constitution is a law made by the people and cannot be changed
by the legislature, but may be amended or revised by the voters.
Amendments are usually submitted to the legislature and then to the
voters.
The revision of the Constitution is by means of a convention of
delegates elected by the people.
The three departments of state governments are: The legislative, the
lawmaking power; the judicial, the law interpreting power; and the
executive, the law enforcing power.
All state governments are divided into these three classes, the
legislative, judicial and executive.
The legislature passes laws which govern people in their relation to
each other.
The Kentucky legislature convenes at the capital at Frankfort every
two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January and
remains in session for sixty working days, not including Sundays and
national holidays.
It is composed of two houses, the House of Representatives, known as
the lower house with one hundred members, and the Senate, known as the
upper house with thirty-eight members.
The Kentucky General Assembly is composed of one hundred and
thirty-eight members elected by the voters of the State in the
counties and districts in which they reside.
The State is divided into senatorial and representative districts,
with a representation based upon population.
The term of office for Senators is four years. A Senator must be
thirty years old, a citizen of the United States for nine years and
must live in the State and district from which he is elected.
A State Senator in Kentucky receives $10.00 per day for his services
during the sitting of the legislature, mileage to and from home at the
rate of ten cents per mile, and stationery.
The Lieutenant Governor is the presiding officer of the Senate.
The Senate sits as a court and tries all impeachments.
The president pro tem. of the Senate is elected by the members of the
body, also the clerks, doorkeeper and pages.
The president pro tem. presides in the absence of the Lieutenant
Governor, and in case of vacancy to this office would become
Lieutenant Governor.
The president of the Senate appoints the standing committees, unless
the opposite party is in power, then the president pro tem. virtually
controls said appointments.
To be a member of the House of Representatives a person must be
twenty-four years old.
His term of office is only two years but he receives the same salary
as a Senator, $10.00 per day, mileage and stationery.
The body elects its speaker and other officers, and has the sole power
of impeachment.
The principal work in both houses are done through the committees
appointed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House.
A bill is prepared and introduced by a member of the Senate or House.
If it pertains to revenue and taxation, it must originate in the House
of Representatives.
When a bill is introduced the clerk of the body reads it by title
only. The President of the Senate or Speaker of the House then refers
it to the proper committee (of the body in which the bill originated).
It is numbered and ordered printed when referred to the committee. The
committee considers the bill and usually reports it back with
expression of opinion that it should or should not pass to the body in
which it originated. (The committee may pigeonhole it and not report
it, or may report it too late for action by the body.)
The bill and the report from the committee is printed and placed on
the calendar and takes its turn to be brought up for passage. (By
consent a bill is acted upon out of its turn.)
The bill is taken in its regular order from the calendar and read the
second time in full by the clerk. It is open to debate or amendment
unless the previous question is ordered, which if adopted cuts off
debate and amendment. Then the bill is read the third time by title
only. (Any member may demand the reading in full of the engrossed bill
if he desires.) It is then placed on its passage by the presiding
officer of the body, and if passed it is then transmitted to the
Senate by the House clerk, if a House bill. If a Senate bill, it is
taken by the Senate clerk to the House for consideration.
A bill goes through the same form in either body, after which it is
returned to the body in which it originated with or without
amendments. If the bill is passed it goes into possession of the clerk
of the body in which it originated. Then the enrolling clerk of the
body in which the bill originated enrolls it verbatim from the
original. After it is enrolled it is compared by the committee on
enrollment in each House. If found correctly enrolled the chairman of
each committee reports it to the body, and it is compared again by the
clerks of each body and signed by the clerk of the body in which it
originated, also signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House. (The presiding officer of the House in which it
originated signs first.) Then the clerk of that body takes it to the
Governor for his approval. If the Governor approves it he does so with
his signature. It becomes a law at once if it has an emergency clause;
otherwise, in ninety days after its signature by the Governor. It is
then filed with the Secretary of State. Then later on the bills
passed during the session are compiled by the Attorney General and
known as the Acts of the General Assembly of that session. If the
Governor vetoes a bill while the Legislature is in session, it may be
taken up in the house in which it originated, and passed over his
veto, but must receive a two-thirds vote in each house.
The Governor is allowed ten days after the General Assembly adjourns
for approving bills, and if not signed within that time they become
the law without his signature.
The passage of a bill in all the states is about the same.