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Catholics air concems to elected officials
By Dariush Shafa, Messenger-Inquirer
Published: Sunday, J anuary 16, 2011 12:00 AM CST
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Elected officials met with Catholic constituents Saturday morning for a session on upcoming legislative
issues, with high payday loan interest rates and hot-button immigration law-to-be Senate Bill 6 among the
topics addressed.
State Sen. Joe Bowen and State Rep. Jim Glenn were on hand, along with Daviess County J udge-Executive
Al Mattingly and Owensboro Mayor Ron Payne.
State Rep. Tommy Thompson could not be on hand because of personal affairs, but the Rev. Richard
Meredith, pastor of the hosting parish St. Pius X Catholic Church, said Thompson had pledged to meet with
church leaders and parishioners at a later date.
Saturday morning's meeting was the third of four such events planned throughout the 32-county Western
Kentucky diocese, Meredith said. Other meetings have been held in Hopkinsville and Bowling Green, and a
final one will be held in Paducah.
"Part of our faith dictates that we involve ourselves in the public realm," said the Most Rev. William Medley,
bishop of the Diocese of Owensboro. "The great benefit of this is it informs people."
Payne said elected officials like himself should take great interest in events such as this.
"It's to hear the concerns. We want to be sensitive to the concerns of our citizens," Payne said. "It's also to
be educated."
Senate Bill 6 is an issue of major concern to the diocese and parishioners at present because of the large
number of migrant Hispanic Catholics it will impact. At the same time, the controversial immigration bill,
which would make it a Class A misdemeanor to be an illegal immigrant in Kentucky, drew fire from local
legislators as well.
“In my opinion, there's going to be a lot of opposition to this bill at the local level," Payne said, noting that
he is strongly opposed to it. "This (level of enforcement) needs to be done by the federal authorities."
Mattingly noted that the bill contains no funding for state, county and city level law enforcement to carry out
the enforcement mandate of the bill. For every 10 prisoners in the Daviess County Detention Center that
the county is not reimbursed for by state or federal authorities, it costs the county $1 million.
"There are huge, unintended consequences of this bill," Mattingly said.
Glenn said he wants to re-examine the bill because while he is opposed to illegal immigration, the bill in its
current form needs review.
"We need to take a closer look at it. We don't want to give the cities and counties an unfunded mandate,"
Glenn said. "Cities and counties shouldn't have to pick up that burden."
Bowen voted for the bill when it passed the Kentucky Senate Jan. 7 and explained to those attending the
event that he believes the bill will be improved upon and that it will be a positive move for Kentucky.
"If it becomes a law, it will be better than what it is now. | think it has merit in one sense, that it brings
attention to the issue," Bowen said. "The only reason that states are dealing with the issue is the federal
government has not dealt with it."
But Bowen said it still has to face the state house, which he does not believe likely.
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"| think the odds of that happening at this point are long," Bowen said. "If it does become law, | am
convinced it will be different than what it is now."
Other issues such as a severely mentally ill exemption to the death penalty, a business tax credit that could
be used to fund schools, a cap on payday lending loans at 36 percent and state funding of transportation for
non-public school students were also heard.
Elected officials and others present roundly supported the payday lending cap and denounced the present
400 percent or greater rates.
Glenn said he supports the state funding transportation for non-public school children, which guarantees safe
transport and also helps public school districts defray some of their transportation costs.
Bowen said he is in support of providing school transportation for all children but said he wants to familiarize
himself more with the details of this legislation before making a comment on it.
Meredith said this is the second time St. Pius X Catholic Church has hosted this event, the first being two
years ago. Meredith said the issue of faith intertwined with politics might seem mutually exclusive, but in
this case civic action truly is a matter of faith.
"It's not to be a power bloc," Meredith said. "If we are unjust or short on attention to our neighbor,
whatever plight they're in, that affects our relationship with Christ."
Dariush Shafa, 691-7302 dshafa@messenger-inquirer.com
Copyright © 2011 - Messenger Inquirer
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