Columns

Kentucky retailers aren’t looking for a handout from Washington. They just want a sale made from a smartphone in Henderson or a laptop in Pikeville to be treated the same way as a purchase made at a store in Danville or Frankfort.

Before that can happen, Congress must pass the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. The federal legislation would give states the authority to require that out-of-state merchants collect and remit state sales taxes.

Public meetings always  are more interesting when the public participates. Unfortunately, that typically only occurs when something objectionable or controversial took place at a previous meeting.

Most government meetings conducting the people’s business attract few spectators. Of course, that’s why we elect others to make decisions on our behalf.

The caller on the other end of the phone line was near exasperation. He had been given the run-around by government officials, the very people he put in office to represent him, and his quest for answers was met time and again with roadblocks.

I don’t recall the specifics of the man’s concern, or the public officials he was trying to spur to action in a cause he passionately believed in from the conversation years ago. But one thing he said has stuck with me, and it is something I go back to time and again whenever someone calls with similar concerns.

Every year members of the Kentucky General Assembly descend on Frankfort to carry out the duties our residents expect us to do. That expectation includes making sure the legislative process is open and transparent to all Kentuckians.

But time and time again, and to the frustration of many of us in the Kentucky House of Representatives, the legislative process seems in some cases to be stuck in the back rooms of the Capitol. Never has that been clearer than our efforts to address one of the major issues of the 2013 Session: reforming our public pension system.