News that the General Assembly will conduct legislative committee meetings at the Kentucky State Fair later this month, as it has in the past, raises concern.

Unlike past state fairs, this one is closed to the public.

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/08/06/gov-andy-beshear-…

The presumed purpose for which a legislative committee meeting might be held at a different location — to enable a larger group of constituents to participate in and experience a committee meeting in person — will not be served.

The challenges facing lawmakers in taking the show on the road have never been greater. And recent history teaches us that lawmakers are not always up to meeting these challenges.

As some lawmakers pressed for a "business as unusual" legislative session and the realities of the pandemic hit home, The Lexington Herald-Leader wrote:

"It's not just that most lawmakers are in some kind of high risk category of age or ill health and should stay home to avoid enacting some grand Darwinian experiment. It's that the people's business must never be conducted in this crisis-filled, closed-door reality in which we are living right now."

https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article241266221.html

On June 25, KET Public Affairs tweeted:

"Today's legislative meetings will not be broadcast or live streamed. Video recordings of the meetings will be available on the LRC's YouTube channel within one to two business days."

https://twitter.com/pubaffairsket/status/1276128036023386112?s=10

The Kentucky Open Government Coalition immediately responded:

"This is a violation of the open meetings law and Senate Bill 150, enacted by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor in March. With its own, and KET's, substantial resources, it is inconceivable that LRC is unable to 'Conduct the meeting by: [a live] video teleconference."

https://twitter.com/amyebensenhaver/status/1276134750059671552?s=10

The first meeting of the day was subsequently cancelled, and provision was made to livestream the remaining legislative meetings.

Later, we wrote:

"It is worthy of note when the Kentucky General Assembly ignores a law it enacted in March, 2020, and that it expects all other Kentucky agencies to strictly observe.

"Having watched as public agencies across the Commonwealth endeavored to comply with those sections of SB 150 — the Coronavirus Relief Bill — relating to public meetings, the Kentucky Open Government Coalition found this blatant disregard for the law by lawmakers deeply offensive.

"Under SB 150, the three legal options for open meetings are:

•in-person meetings of the legislative committees;

•live video teleconferenced meetings of the legislative committees; or

•live audio teleconferenced meetings of the legislative committees (if video teleconferencing capabilities were unavailable).

"Under less than ideal conditions, and in many cases with far fewer resources, Kentucky agencies have accepted the challenge to conduct the public's business by live video teleconference, while protecting public health, since SB 150 was signed into law on March 30.

"The Senate Majority, on the other hand, chose to ignore the legal options available to it sometime on or before June 25.

"Instead, the Senate Majority chose a fourth, legally unauthorized, option: Record the virtual meetings of remote interim committee members and post the recordings at a later date.

"Only when objections were raised on Twitter — by the Coalition and the media — and some well-placed calls were made by members of the Democratic Caucus, did the Senate Majority relent."

https://forwardky.com/general-assembly-ignores-its-own-open-meetings-la…

Our concern about legislative meetings conducted at the 2020 Kentucky State Fair later in August is, therefore, not without good cause.

Lawmakers should ensure strict compliance with SB 150, enacted in March but nearly ignored in June. Or they should reconsider the State Fair meeting site and conduct business as usual in Frankfort.

Given the fact that the public can not attend the meetings this year, the laudable goal for which these offsite in-person meetings was intended is defeated.

Business as usual in these unprecedented times, and within the constraints of SB 150, may be the best course of business. Any other course of business may not, in the final analysis, be "fair" to the public.