David Williams Statement on Seum-Woodward

In today's Courier-Journal, the following was published in the editorial section.

...'Misinformation' about Senate's seating of Stephenson

There is a significant amount of misinformation regarding the Senate's action to seat Dana Stephenson as the senator from the 37th District. Section 32 of the Kentucky Constitution reads, "No person shall be a senator who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of Kentucky, has not attained the age of 30 years, and has not resided in this state six years next preceding his election, and the last year thereof in the district for which he may be chosen." Sen. Stephenson, according to the majority of the Senate, met these requirements.

Stephenson was a citizen of Kentucky at the time of her election. She was registered to vote in Kentucky, paid Kentucky taxes and had a Kentucky driver'slicense.

Stephenson is 32 years old.

Stephenson resided in Kentucky during the six years preceding her election. This is where much confusion lies. Stephenson was indeed a citizen of Indiana for a short period of time. But nothing in Kentucky law precludes her from also "residing" in Kentucky at the same time. Stephenson was born, raised, attended elementary, high school and church, worked and paid taxes her entire life in Louisville and resided in a home she bought in her district since 1994. She never relinquished her residence there.

There is one more key issue that must be considered in this case. Stephenson defeated Virginia Woodward in the election by more than 1,000 votes. To not seat her would be nothing less than disenfranchising the majority of the voters in the 37thDistrict.

The time has passed for recrimination, accusation and division. The Senate has followed the constitution and properly seated Stephenson, and now it is time to get on with the business of the commonwealth. Serious issues await the General Assembly in February, not the least of which are passing a budget and modernizing our tax code. I look forward to working with all members of the Senate in both parties to address these and other important issues.

DAVID L. WILLIAMS
Senate President
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Frankfort, Ky. 40601

For the record, Dana Seum Stephenson was paying tuition for living IN-STATE when she went to Indiana University Southeast. BASED ON WHAT I READ HERE, SHE COULD HAVE EASILY LIVED IN KENTUCKY INSTEAD OF MOVING TO INDIANA TO GO TO COLLEGE AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST. YOU ASK WHY? LOOK AT HOW MUCH GRADUATE SCHOOL WOULD COST IF YOU LIVED IN LOUISVILLE (PER FALL 2004 FEES)
Resident $163.75
Non-Resident $374.55
Non-Resident (Jefferson, Oldham, and Bullitt counties in Kentucky) $163.75
SOMEBODY DID NOT DO THEIR HOMEWORK BEFORE MOVING ACROSS STATELINES A FEW YEARS AGO. SHE CLAIMS THIS WAS HER DREAM TEN YEARS AGO. WHY DID SHE MOVE THEN??