Constitutional Requirement Delays Progress in Special Session

From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeigh The second day of the Kentucky General Assembly’s special session on pension reform was relatively quiet - and a provision of the state constitution is to blame.Governor Beshear’s pension reform bill cleared a House committee Monday, but it won’t get a floor vote until Wednesday. Why? Because the state constitution requires bills to receive readings on three separate days.So, there wasn’t much for lawmakers to do on the second day of the session, but House Speaker Jody Richards says it was unavoidable."You cannot waive the constitution. You can waive rules, but you cannot waive the constitution," he said.Despite the constitutionally required delay, the session remains on track to end by Friday. The session is costing taxpayers around 60-thousand dollars per day.