Welcome back for another week of hearing me rant about politics The Gallery Pass!
Before we get started, I have been reading y’all’s survey responses and taking them seriously, and so I’ve heard your pleas that I 1. include more “Olivia content” and 2. listen to Chappell Roan.
To those people, I am delighted to inform you I will be attending the Chappell Roan concert (aka the Kentuckiana Pride Festival) this Saturday. That’s right, I take constructive criticism quite well, thanks. Let me know if you will also be there, please!
OK, that’s enough Olivia content for a week. Now, the news.
Also, PAID SUBS, hey, yeah, hi: Stay tuned til the end for an important update, thx.
And here’s this week’s news in Kentucky politics
Wait, how did Jack Schlossberg get here?
Some (belated) congratulations are in order for Secretary of State Michael Adams, who won the 2024 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Sunday for his work expanding voting options in Kentucky and not playing footsie with election deniers.
You can watch his award ceremony here.
Obviously, this alone is a big deal, but it also means
1. America got a fun lil dose of Adams’ humor, which once won a nonscientific poll I did to determine who the funniest person in Kentucky politics is and
2. Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson who lowkey went viral on TikTok a few weeks ago for dancing with his shirt off to “Ticket to Ride,” briefly overlapped with the Kentucky politics beat. The fact alone that I’m noting this is a sign I am far too online.
Here they are. I’ll let you determine which one is which. (Screenshot courtesy of JFK’s Presidential Library and Museum, please don’t sue me.)
Oh, good, school choice talk, you know how that thrills me
As y’all know, Kentucky has a “school choice” amendment on the ballot this fall and we have wasted absolutely no time in fighting over it.
The latest episode in the saga: Monday night’s “Kentucky Tonight” episode, which focused on the overall topic, plus the constitutional amendment itself, charter schools and public school funding overall.
You can watch the whole hour-long event here.
Wow, where to begin. We can start with the fact that one of the biggest arguments in favor of school choice is offering more choices to low-income students and students of color — two groups that frequently overlap — and the entire panel was white men.
Visual proof for those of you who didn’t watch/won’t watch. (Screenshot courtesy KET, again, please don’t sue me.)
Now, I’ve covered school choice topics for literally all but like four months of my professional career, so not too much else jumped out at me that I feel is worth noting.
One thing was when host Renee Shaw asked the pro-school choice folks if we really have any proof that private schools genuinely produce a better education for kids? Private schools in Kentucky don’t take the same state tests and aren’t held to the same accountability standards as public schools, so we really don’t know past anecdotes.
She had to ask at least twice, but she got … not really a full answer, but Jim Waters with the Bluegrass Institute, a libertarian think tank, eventually pointed to some evidence that public charter schools — which are not private schools — boast better results for low-income students of color. So, the question wasn’t answered. (This back-and-forth starts around 24:10.)
But, yeah, it was a lot of recapping what has happened over the last couple of years. So, if you are new-ish to the topic, this might be a good thing to add to your list. (And I’ll write more on this between now and November, too.)
LMPD is straight up not having a good time
First, it was Scottie Scheffler, now it is the police chief apparently hearing of an allegation of sexual misconduct and then immediately promoting the accused?
Louisville Metro Police Chief Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel is on a paid “temporary” suspension after a recording came out of her promoting someone soon after a different person in the department accusing him of sexual harassment.
Louisville Public Media has a pretty in-depth breakdown of what happened and why it matters in the context of the consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, which found, among many things, that LMPD isn’t particularly stellar at investigating sexual misconduct allegations against officers.
According to the recording and the reports that followed, the woman then apologized for bringing it up: “I know now is not a good time to bring it up, but I didn’t want you to say later that I didn’t bring it up,” she said. “So, sorry to bring it up in this way.”
And apparently the accused is literally in charge of the part of LMPD that investigates misconduct. Yikes.
Now, this isn’t a Louisville Metro newsletter, nor is it a criminal justice newsletter. I’m mentioning all of this because you’ll never believe what was already on the docket to be discussing during one of next week’s interim committee meetings in Frankfort.
That’s right: Louisville and Lexington’s governments, including their police departments. I would be shocked if this doesn’t get discussed, so stay tuned.
On next week’s docket
Unlike this week, it looks like next week is shaping up to be pretty robust in Frankfort.
Here’s the rundown:
Tuesday:
9 a.m. — Local Government (aka the thing I just mentioned touching on LMPD)
11 a.m. — State Government (they’ll focus on illegal immigration)
1 p.m. — Commission on Race & Access to Opportunity
Also 1 p.m. — Health Services
2:30 p.m. — Public Pension Oversight Board
Wednesday:
11 a.m. — Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection
1 p.m. — Families and Children (they’ll focus on foster care, so this will be one to watch)
Thursday:
9 a.m. — Economic Development & Workforce Investment
The Workforce Attraction & Retention Task Force will meet whenever this committee wraps up.
11 a.m. — Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations (folks who care about certificate of need should watch this one)
1 p.m. — Tourism, Small Business, and Information Technology
3 p.m. — Capital Projects
As always, the weekly legislative schedule on the LRC website is right here. And the running interim calendar is right here.
Counting down to…
10 days until my birthday, yee-haw (June 23)
18 days until a new fiscal year and when new Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher officially takes over (July 1)
32 days until most new laws go into effect (July 15)
51 days until Fancy Farm 2024 (Aug. 3)
116 days left to register to vote in the November election (Oct. 7)
145 days until the general election (Nov. 5)
208 days until Kentucky’s 2025 legislative session (Jan. 7, 2025)
Where to find me
Twitter: Follow The Gallery Pass and my personal/professional account for all newsletter-related updates.
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Instagram: Present.
Venmo: … if you’re interested.
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Yet another closing note about the bracelets
S/O to everyone who is a paid subscriber who wanted a friendship bracelet and has gotten me their address and/or let me know if they actually got their bracelets.
I regret to inform the collective that we still have NOT figured out who has been stealing some of the bracelets. We will persist, obvs.
So, again, if you are a paid sub and GOT your bracelets (not just the thank you note and envelope, but the bracelets themselves), and haven’t told me, please let me know! If you got an empty envelope, please let me know!
I have *checks notes* 35 people’s bracelets left to send, so please continue being patient as I crank these out on top of remaking stolen bracelets and hunting down people’s addresses (and also writing the newsletter and making near-daily trips to every craft store in a 10-mile radius to restock on supplies).
About half of those 35 people haven’t shared their address (or, in some situations, their last name) with me. If you fear you are one of said people, please contact me ASAP.
Once I get through these folks, I will reopen the friendship bracelet survey portal for new paid subs who want them.
OK, that’s all (I think). To the Chappell Roan stans, see you Saturday. Everyone else, see you next week. Toooooodles!