Kentucky House backs giving lawmakers authority over statues in Capitol Rotunda

Kentucky lawmakers would claim authority over what statues are installed or removed from the state Capitol’s Rotunda under a bill passed Friday by the GOP-led House, a move the bill sponsor said has nothing to do with the removal of a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis four years ago. Republican state Rep. David Hale said his legislation is forward looking amid preparations to renovate Kentucky’s statehouse and “has no reflection on what has been done in the past.” The debate turned testy when Democratic Rep. Josie Raymond tried asking Hale if the bill could be used to restore the statue of a “racist, slaver and secessionist like Jefferson Davis” or someone as “equally reprehensible.”