Day 9: Your tax dollars shouldn't campaign against you (SB 59)

Day 9: Your tax dollars shouldn’t campaign against you (SB 59)

Kentucky law already barred using tax dollars to advocate for or against a ballot question. SB 59 closes the gaps that let that rule be worked around.

The new law extends the prohibition beyond just money, no public resources of any kind, staff time, equipment, office space, can be used to campaign for or against a ballot question either. A public employee can still speak their own mind about a ballot question, on their own time, using their own resources, that right isn’t touched. What changes is a government entity itself spending your tax dollars to put a thumb on the scale of an election you’re supposed to decide.

Sponsored by Sen. Steve Rawlings. The Governor vetoed the bill, and the General Assembly overrode that veto, passing it 80-19 in the House and 31-7 in the Senate.

You fund your government. Your government shouldn’t turn around and use that funding to tell you how to vote.