Government secrecy starts in Washington, D.C., and ends up in Frankfort | Opinion

Thomas Jefferson once said the best defense against tyranny is an informed citizenry. But Republican lawmakers aren’t afraid of tyranny anymore; they’re afraid of Donald Trump.

You can see it when Kentuckians ask questions. Both Democrats and Republicans want to know what tariffs mean—for their pocketbooks, and for the state’s $9 billion bourbon industry. They want to know what’s happening to health care and social security benefits. But they’ll get no answers from the GOP, whose leadership is telling Republican elected officials it’s a better move to insult constituents on TV than it is to shake hands at a town hall.

Government transparency is at risk across the country. The Trump administration is trying to wipe entire agencies off the map without taking questions. But the Republican Party’s addiction to secrecy started before Trump’s second term, and its symptoms in Kentucky are easy to see.

Over the past several years, Kentucky’s Republican state lawmakers have developed a playbook for pushing unpopular policies that hurt Kentuckians through the legislative process with no time for the public, the media, or even fellow legislators to read them. They use “shell bills” to sneak controversial measures onto the floor after the deadline to file new bills has passed. Sometimes these tactics fail — as in the 2018 “sewer bill,” when teachers caught Republicans gutting a bill about sewer systems and replacing it with a plan to strip them of their pensions. But other times they successfully push bad policy through both chambers before the public has a chance to weigh in.

Louisville Republican Rep. Jason Nemes is a prime example. In March, he swapped a 4-page bill about city projects with a 107-page tax overhaul fewer than 6 hours before voting on the floor. GOP leaders told their members how to vote, and the bill passed that day. That evening, Nemes preached transparency at a forum on open government.

Senate Bill 61 was originally about swimming pools. Speaker of the House David Osborne turned it into a bill to ban Kentucky cities from setting their own rules on housing.

If that’s alarming, watch out — speaking out at the wrong place could now get you arrested. Despite a veto from Governor Andy Beshear, Republicans passed a bill that puts peaceful protesters at risk of criminal charges. “Interfering with the legislative process” is now a misdemeanor and felony. What’s considered disruptive remains to be seen, but it’s up to people like Speaker Osborne and Senate President Robert Stivers; the law gives both politicians the authority to decide who leaves the State Capitol in handcuffs.

That’s not the only sign that Kentucky Republicans are putting loyalty to Trump over the needs and concerns of Kentuckians.

In Lexington, Congressman Andy Barr is showing up on missing posters. He’s among the Republicans blindly following orders in an attempt to secure a presidential endorsement. Barr’s office is eager to paint the hundreds of people showing up at 6th Congressional District town halls as “paid activists” and not his constituents whom he has taken an oath to represent.

This is where we are in 2025: Republicans refuse to talk to voters or hear their concerns. They pass enormous changes to Kentucky law using “shell bills.”. Kentuckians who protest or complain risk arrest.

During this year’s legislative session, Gov. Beshear said, “If you think you’re passing the right things, you don’t have to hide it. Embrace the people that elect you and allow them to actually see a transparent process.” He couldn’t be more right.

But a transparent process is not what Kentuckians got in the 2025 legislative session, and without action, they won’t get it in 2026 either.

Morgan Eaves

Kentucky Democratic Party

Morgan Eaves is a lawyer, Democratic strategist and the Executive Director of the Kentucky Democratic Party.