Legislation clears committees, full House

As snow covered much of the Commonwealth, we left Frankfort on Friday with more than 350 House bills and resolutions filed for consideration. We have four weeks before the deadline to file new House bills on February 26, so I expect we will see several hundred more.

You can read summaries of each piece of legislation, as well as download the full text of bills and resolutions, access livestream and archived footage of meetings and debates, and see the legislative calendar on the official General Assembly website, legislature.ky.gov.

Without a doubt, the most talked about bills filed last week were the House version of the state budget and a measure that makes substantial one-time investments in priority areas. I am pleased with what I have seen in these documents, particularly because they are based on the fundamental principal that every dollar allocated belongs to Kentucky taxpayers, and we have an obligation to ensure we make the biggest impact possible to benefit our Commonwealth.

The House version of the state’s two-year spending plan, HB 6, provides $124.8 billion in spending and again includes record funding for K-12 public schools and strategic investments in public safety, infrastructure, and health services. The proposal also includes major investments in mental health and substance abuse recovery and programs serving the state’s most vulnerable elderly and youth.

While the budget makes recurring allocations, HB 1 is limited to $1.74 billion in one-time investments. The proposal taps existing state resources to make significant one-time investments in infrastructure, public safety, and economic development, as well as paying down the state’s public pension liabilities over the current and next two fiscal years. The measure contains: $500 million towards the unfunded liability within the Kentucky Teacher’s Retirement System; $300 million towards the unfunded liability within the Kentucky Employees Retirement System Non Hazardous Pension Fund; $150 million to pay down the unfunded liability within the Kentucky State Police pension fund; $450 million to provide the necessary match to approved federal grants through the GRANT program created by the legislature during the 2023 Regular Session; $150 million for drinking and wastewater infrastructure; $75 million towards site development for economic development purposes under the Kentucky Product Development Initiative program; $50 million towards the finance authority loan pool for economic development; $6,395,000 for the purchase of lab equipment for use by the Kentucky State Police; $15 million for the short line infrastructure preservation program within the Kentucky Rail Development Program; $15 million for the industrial access and safety program within the Kentucky Rail Development Program; $18.5 million towards the Riverport Asset Preservation Program; and $11.4 million in funding to provide $200,000 grants to each of the state’s general aviation airports

While I continue reviewing these two measures, I expect we will see the state road plan within the next couple of weeks.

Safer Kentucky Act: Members of the House Judiciary Committee approved HB 5, commonly referred to as the Safer Kentucky Act. The measure includes over 20 policy provisions such as a new “Three Strikes Law” targeting experienced and persistent violent felony offenders, “Madelynn’s Law” regulating bail funding organizations, creating a Kentucky statute for carjacking, removing early release for criminals using guns in crimes, enhancing the penalty for the murder of a first responder, hardening sentences for adults using juveniles as criminal accomplices, cracking down on those involved in drive by shootings, improving protocol for involuntary confinement of the mentally ill, increasing penalties for attempted murder, and “Jake’s Law ” toughening sentencing for those who flee the police.

Empowering Parents and Guardians: Legislation that would ensure that parents with children 12 and older have access to their children’s medical records. Under current law, when a child turns 12 years of age, parents lose immediate access to their child’s medical records unless written consent is given. Unless records are otherwise protected by HIPAA or state law, such as , records cannot be turned over.

Crafting a Response to the Use of Artificial Intelligence: HCR 38 would create a legislative task force to study the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the operation of state government agencies as well as how policies may be adapted to ensure consumer protection in private and public sectors. The measure cleared the House Economic Development and Workforce Investment Committee last week.

Following are summaries of other bills filed for consideration:

Improving Maternal Health: HB 10 is aimed at Kentucky’s maternal health crisis and would tackle the issues on multiple levels. The measure proposes to add pregnancy to the list of qualifying life events for the purpose of health insurance coverage; provide mental health consultation and access to care through the Lifeline for Moms Psychiatry Access Program; and expand the HANDS program to include lactation counseling and assistance, education on safe sleep, and research on the role of doulas in the birth experience. HANDS is a voluntary home visitation program for new or expectant parents. Services can begin during pregnancy and extend until the child is three months old. The legislation would also strengthen an existing advisory council to provide ongoing policy guidance to increase collaboration, improve data collection, and suggest additional improvements

Providing Support for Pregnant Mothers: HB 243 would enable Kentucky women to initiate child support claims in a court of law while pregnant. Under the provisions of HB 243, if the man named by the mother readily admits paternity, child support payments would begin immediately. If he disputes paternity, genetic testing would be done either prenatally or after the birth. If that testing proves he is the father, he would owe back payment to the time when the action was first filed in court.

Banning Public Agencies from Using Taxpayer Dollars to Lobby: HB 309 would prevent state agencies, programs, and public colleges and universities from expending state tax dollars on lobbying efforts, including prohibiting the hiring of liaison positions aimed directly at influencing policy.

I can be reached here at home anytime, or through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181. As we continue with this 60-day legislative session, feel free to contact me via email at Sarge.Pollock@lrc.ky.gov. If you would like more information on legislative happenings through this session, please visit the legislature’s website at www.legislature.ky.gov.