By Angela Hatton
Frankfort, KY – A Democratic lawmaker is pushing a proposal that would bar legislative leaders from retreating into closed-door meetings to draft the state budget. State Representative Rick Nelson intends to file legislation in the upcoming legislative session that would require all budget meetings to be open. Currently House and Senate legislators negotiate the final draft of the budget privately in rooms guarded by state police troopers. Nelson's proposal would simply add one paragraph to the current state open meeting law that would open the state budget process.