FRANKFORT - Over the past 15 years, the General Assembly has re-dedicated itself to
helping veterans and those men and women still serving our country.
Some of the more high-profile laws enacted during that time include
establishing a series of nursing homes and state-run cemeteries
benefiting veterans and their families; excluding active-duty military
pay from the state's income tax; and making it easier for veterans to
use their military training when applying for jobs in such fields as
education and emergency services.
On Tuesday last week, the House unanimously passed three bills that, if
approved by the Senate, would go a long way toward building on these
accomplishments.
House Bill 225, for example, would continue the trend of allowing
veterans to use their military training when applying for jobs in the
private sector. In this case, the legislation calls on all professional
organizations issuing licenses or certificates to let applicants use
that training if it is determined to be appropriate. This would cover
those still serving as well as those who have been honorably discharged
within the previous two years, but would not supersede a college
education or qualifying exam if those are required.
In a related measure, House Bill 127 calls on the Council on
Postsecondary Education (CPE) to establish a statewide policy on
awarding academic credit earned as a result of military service.
Currently, the standards differ from school to school.
With House Bill 183, disabled veterans who are business owners would be
eligible to join a new program highlighting their wounded status, a move
that would make customers more aware of the business owner's military
service and sacrifice.
As chairman of the House Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Safety
Committee, I was proud to advocate for these measures and look forward
to helping shepherd them through the process they'll undergo in the
state Senate, which will hopefully approve them as well.
Two other bills the House voted for last week would aid victims who have
been exploited by others. House Bill 256 would make it possible for
those whose identity was stolen to expunge crimes they had been
erroneously charged with. This would also provide some financial relief
if the identity theft caused the victim to pay higher insurance
premiums.
House Bill 132 targets a different type of exploitation: Those who take
booking photos and charge extremely high fees to remove them from their
websites or publications. The photos are normally removed by law
enforcement after a case has been resolved, but the websites refuse to
take the photo and related charges down unless the victim pays hundreds
of dollars. Often, the photos and charges are on several sites,
multiplying the costs.
Under the bill, those who require payment to remove booking photos could
be sued and required to pay up to $100 a day.
Beyond spending time considering legislation, the House and Senate were
also busy last week welcoming hundreds who had traveled to Capitol for
events. That included many representing the Kentucky Community and
Technical College System (KCTCS) and our county governments, both of
which were there to advocate for legislation important to them.
In other good news, we learned last week from CPE that few states are
seeing a higher percentage of students succeed in college. In comparing
the 2003-04 school year to 2012-13, the number of degrees and
credentials earned rose by almost 60 percent. That placed Kentucky
eighth among the states.
A breakdown of that figure shows our undergraduate workforce training
programs were the most successful, increasing by 159 percent. Two-year
degrees grew by half, while four-year degrees went up a fourth. While
there is certainly room to grow, this is nonetheless good news and shows
we are doing a better job than most states when it comes to getting our
citizens the education and training they need.
In other state-related news, the Kentucky Department of Revenue is
warning taxpayers that refunds are being slowed in the near term because
of increased fraud and identity theft.
This is not a problem facing just us, of course. The IRS estimates it
lost almost $6 billion in 2013 to bogus refunds, for example, and states
collectively lose as much as $9 billion a year. The Department of
Revenue warns everyone to take further precautions when filing taxes and
to more closely monitor their credit reports and bank accounts.
As we near the end of February, there is only about a month left for the
General Assembly to complete the bulk of its work. Because of that, it
is more imperative than ever to let me know if you have any questions or
comments.
My address is Room 351A, Capitol Annex, 702 Capitol Avenue, Frankfort,
KY 40601; or you can email me at
Will.Coursey@lrc.ky.gov<mailto:Will.Coursey@lrc.ky.gov>.
To leave a message for me or for any legislator by phone, please call
800-372-7181. For those with a hearing impairment, the number is
800-896-0305.
I hope to hear from you soon.
