Sen. Danny Carroll’s Legislative Update

Receiving the Commonwealth’s two-year, multi-billion dollar budget plan from our
colleagues in the House highlighted one of our busiest weeks yet in the Senate as we
reached the two-thirds point of the 2018 Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.
Hundreds of visitors from all corners of Kentucky packed committee hearings and
rallied for important causes in a week that saw no shortage of legislative activity.

As a member of the Senate budget team I will be working with other team members to
review the House’s version of the state budget, House Bill 200, which aimed to
restore several cuts made to Education, Veteran’s Affairs, and to Kentucky State
Police that were recommended by Governor Bevin. Balancing the fiscal health and
future of the Commonwealth while funding vital state programs is no easy task. It
will be an intensive review process from this point that will lead to many late
nights and weekends for those of us on the team.

We had the first committee hearing for our proposed pension reform bill, Senate Bill
(SB) 1 this week. SB 1 is the culmination of months of research with input from
teachers, public employees, and taxpayers from across the Commonwealth. The
committee hosted a hearing-only meeting on SB 1, and a committee substitute was
proposed for the bill. The committee substitute looks to fix technical errors and
make additional changes that reflect input from various stakeholders. I look forward
to continuing the pension conversation as the bill moves through the legislative
process.

We passed a number of bills through the Senate this week, including SB 90, a bill
which I sponsored. SB 90 updates laws and financial appropriations relating to the
law enforcement and firefighters foundation programs (KLEFPF and KFFPF). Other bills
of note passing the Senate were SB 122, related to motorcycle safety education, and
SB 104, which would update laws pertaining to natural gas pipeline safety in
accordance with the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act.

Senate Bill 112 establishes laws pertaining to telehealth, which allows health care
providers to deliver medical and health services via electronic means. Telehealth is
essential in our modern world and is especially crucial for our more rural
communities where there is not always easy access to face-to-face health care
services. A pro-life amendment to SB 112 that also passed prohibits the use of
telehealth for abortion in hopes of preventing deadly side effects from oral
abortifacients from occurring without the physical presence of a doctor.

House Bill 4 protects peer review activities in health care to ensure the integrity
of the peer review process and will also encourage much-needed health care providers
to establish practices in the Commonwealth. House Bill 116 removes the words
“nonreligious sponsored” from the definition of “community-service-related project”
for prison inmates, allowing them to participate in church-sponsored projects.
Senate Bill 130 conforms Kentucky’s campus crime reporting requirements to those in
federal statute, streamlining the reporting process while cutting back on redundant
paperwork.

House Bill 5 clarifies laws pertaining to guardianship and conservatorship of
partially disabled or disabled adults. House Bill 64, known as the Colonel Ron Ray
Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act, establishes terms permitting eligible
veterans to use hyperbaric oxygen treatment for treatment of traumatic brain injury.

House Bill 136 helps Kentucky’s growing microbrewery industry by allowing these
small businesses to sell a larger amount of their own products. Senate Bill 5 helps
Kentucky’s independent pharmacies by leveling the playing field with national
corporate pharmacies, while Senate Bill 110 codifies state alcohol quotas.

I sponsored two bills that passed through Senate committees this week. SB 19, which
was requested by detectives with the Paducah Police Department, increases the
penalty for sex offenses when the victim has an intellectual disability. The bill
also legally establishes the ability of an individual with an intellectual
disability to give consent to sexual activity if he or she is able to communicate
consent and understands the nature of the act and its consequences. The second
bill, SB 142, ensures that all residents of the state have access to telephonic CPR
instructions when they call their local E-911 center.

On Thursday of this week the Joint Education Committee heard testimony from a
national expert on school shootings, Mr. Bill Modzeleski. Mr. Modzeleski gave very
insightful and compelling testimony to the committee based on his 40 years of
experience in school safety. This meeting was held at my request in hopes the
information gained would help direct the state as we move forward on school safety
issues. Mr. Modzeleski did not disappoint, and he had several clear evidence-based
recommendations we can build on from this point forward. I would like to thank
Marshall County School Superintendent, Trent Lovett, for making the trip up to
attend this very productive and popular meeting.

Finally, I had several guests in Frankfort this week including Miss Abby Brown, who
paged for me on Wednesday; Dr. Carl and Jill Baker; Marshall County E-911 Director
LaDonna Coriell, Dispatcher Maranda Brown, and Dispatcher Tonya Clevidence; Paducah
Police Detective Matthew Scheer, who testified on SB 19; and WKCTC President Dr.
Anton Reese, who was in Frankfort representing WKCTC as the Senate recognized all
the community colleges in the Commonwealth on the twentieth anniversary of the
Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

Thank you for your calls, emails, and visits. With only a few weeks left in the
session, we still have much work to do with the passage of SB 1 and the state
budget. It is an honor to represent you in Frankfort, and I look forward to
continued dialogue on a number of issues during these last days of the 2018 Session.

If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy
issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or email me at danny.carroll@lrc.ky.gov. You can also review the Legislature’s work online at www.lrc.ky.gov.