By Patrick Crowley, The Cincinnati Enquirer and
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - A key House Democrat called on Gov. Ernie Fletcher Thursday to convene a special legislative session of the General Assembly so a two-year budget can be passed.

House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, said Democrats and Republicans have to come together and resolve the budget impasse for the good of all Kentuckians.

"It's time for us to put the R's and the D's aside, and recognize that we're all K's," Callahan said at a State Capitol press conference.

"The House and Senate versions of the budget were not that far apart," Callahan said. "We can fix the differences. We agree on much more than we disagree. I am asking fellow Democrats in the House and Senate to build a bridge with our Republican colleagues, and join together in the call for a special session to pass a budget that includes tax reform."

Callahan was joined at the press conference by Rep. Jon Draud, R-Edgewood, Northern Kentucky University President Dr. James Votruba and Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Vice President Steve Stevens.

Northern Kentucky stands to lose more than $100 million in projects, including nearly $50 million for an arena at NKU, if a new budget is not enacted.

"I'm concerned that without a budget, we lose the momentum we've had in higher education, at NKU and in Northern Kentucky as a region," Votruba said.

Lawmakers left Frankfort in April without passing a new budget, as House Democrats and Senate Republicans differed over the tax modernization plan offered by Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Fletcher, a Republican elected in November, has said he will not call a special session unless he is confident legislative leaders have overcome their differences.

Statehouse candidate Mary Hayden, a Wilder Republican seeking Callahan's seat in November, said she "applauds Jim Callahan's efforts to reach an agreement on the budget."

Callahan is retiring this year after 18 years in Frankfort. Dennis Keene, a Democrat from Wilder, is running against Hayden.

Also on Thursday, Attorney General Greg Stumbo filed a lawsuit asking a judge to decide what budgetary powers the governor has without a budget being approved by the General Assembly.

Fletcher has said that if the legislature fails to pass a budget by July 1, the start of the state's fiscal year, he is crafting an executive spending plan to operate state government if no budget is passed.

Stumbo said the suit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court in Frankfort, is not intended to be adversarial. Rather, it is intended to make sure state government continues to function if the legislature does not return to pass a budget.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com