Week 6 of the 2021 Regular Session
Severe winter weather forced the Kentucky General Assembly to pause Regular Session activity during the week of February 15. My colleagues and I returned to Frankfort on Monday to resume legislative work on your behalf.
I hope that you and your family remained safe during the period of heavy ice and snowstorms. We really cannot say enough about the men and women who work to keep the roads clear and the lights on. Stories across the Commonwealth included county personnel helping other counties, emergency efforts to get necessities to people who were without, and so much more. During crises, the general good in people shows through, and the storm is braved together. Thank you to all involved in helping restore normalcy.
Upon legislators’ return to Frankfort, the House and Senate got back to work, each passing several bills out of their respective chambers this week.
Several priority bills continued through the legislative process including:
Senate Bill 4 is a bipartisan measure that would create procedures and requirements for the issuance of both search warrants and arrest warrants that authorize entry without notice, commonly known as no-knock warrants. They would be allowed for instances where someone was believed to be in immediate danger, such as kidnapping cases. The no-knock warrants would also be allowed when sought in connection to cases involving certain violent crimes, terrorism, or weapons of mass destruction.
An officer seeking a no-knock warrant would have to get approval from supervisors and certify the warrant application hadn’t been “shopped,” the practice of trying to find a receptive judge. The bill would also make clear that an officer’s false statement in a warrant application constitutes felony perjury. And the approving judge’s signature would have to be legible.
SB 4 serves to make potentially dangerous circumstances safer for both law enforcement personnel and the public while also strengthening the public trust in agencies.
Senate Bill 6 enacts new safeguards to ensure ethical behavior within the executive branch, particularly regarding actions and behaviors of gubernatorial transition team members. Transition teams consist of folks who help a Governor-Elect transition from candidate to the official office. They will help select individuals who will serve in the various positions within the Governor-Elect’s administration and help determine policy goals and the new administration’s general framework.
Senate Bill 7 is a critical measure that relates to unemployment insurance benefits. This bill is in response to the overpayment of benefits carried out by the executive branch early on during the pandemic.
The issue of Unemployment Insurance here in the Commonwealth is staggering. How the Office of Unemployment Insurance has handled claims and distribution has resulted in countless backlogs, unanswered phone calls, and thousands of frustrated and desperate Kentuckians without the means to provide for their families. People are hurting, and SB 7 is just a small step taken to help remedy that.
Senate Bill 10 also made passage in the Senate. I feel that this measure can lead to meaningful dialogue and create a conducive environment for considering solutions for challenges facing communities across the Commonwealth. If passed, SB 10 would establish a Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity within the legislative branch to conduct studies and research where disparities may exist across sectors of educational equity, healthcare, economic opportunity, criminal justice, and more. The Commission established would have the authority to hold monthly meetings, seek comment and testimony from various individuals and organizations, and provide research to recommend data-driven policy initiatives.
During this time of great divisiveness, I think it’s essential all involved consider the benefit of sitting with others in honest, open conversation with the intent to listen. No, that will not always lead to an agreement on policy, but it will lead to better understanding and rapport. While we all come from unique backgrounds, endeavors like SB 10 promote more exact pathways.
Other bills passing in the Senate this week included a number of bills that I am proud to sponsor this session:
Senate Bill 49 is a bill I sponsor. It confirms the independent contractor status of contracted 1915c home and community-based support service providers through Medicaid. The bill will ensure the quality services independent contractors provide to Waiver participants will continue.
Senate Bill 51 takes a step toward making it easier for doctors to treat patients struggling with substance use disorders by prohibiting insurers from requiring critical evaluations known as utilization reviews (UR). A UR requirement for matters such as addiction treatment can be unnecessarily onerous. Prior authorization requirements can similarly prevent patients from receiving needed treatment when they are ready. Removing requirements on this front can allow us to save lives here in Kentucky.
Senate Bill 56 limits the number of managed care organizations (MCO) contracts to operate the Medicaid program to three. Currently, there are five. Limiting them to three will increase efficiencies within the Medicaid program and lower administrative costs for healthcare providers. I have supported this bill for several years now, and I’m hopeful it will pass into law this year. The excessive number of MCOs operating in our Commonwealth is costly to providers and provides no additional benefit to Medicaid recipients.
Senate Bill 65 nullifies administrative regulations that were found deficient during the 2020 Legislative Interim and prohibits their re-enactment for a designated period if identical to or substantially the same. One regulation the legislature found deficient last year would have provided Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to parents of children who have chosen to be absent in the child’s life.
Senate Bill 67 allows for the purchase of alcohol-to-go as long as it is in association with a takeaway or “to-go” food order. All existing laws and regulations on alcohol would apply to the sale of alcohol-to-go, such as recognition of “dry territory” laws and license requirements.
Senate Bill 115 seeks to build on the Read to Achieve (RTA) program’s tremendous success. The bill would repurpose grant funds to replicate proven methods across all school districts. Many students have benefited from the RTA program, so we should expand access to more students. I’m extremely excited about the potential of this expanded program. Reading is at the core of young students’ success, and this program shows great promise!!
Senate Bill 135 relates to the postsecondary education performance fund. The bill revises the definition of “formula base amount” and establishes a definition of “funding floor” for purposes of priority funding for Kentucky institutions.
SB 135 would add a hold-harmless and stop-loss prevention of 0% for the upcoming fiscal year and beyond. It also establishes how amounts distributed from the performance fund should be treated during the budget process.
Senate Bill 148 returns child care classroom sizes to pre-COVID-19 numbers and allows those facilities to combine classes during the opening and closing hours once again. This is critical to centers struggling to survive with the limits related to classroom size and the ability to combine classes. The bill also establishes child care as an essential service critical to the economies of local governments and the Commonwealth, and it calls for local governments to consider family child care homes separately when making decisions on conditional use permits in residential zones. This is one of my priority pieces of legislation for the session, and it is receiving very broad support as it moves through the legislative process.
Bills making it to the governor last week for his consideration included Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 6. SB 3 moves the current Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy, also known as GOAP, under the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture’s jurisdiction. It passed the Senate earlier in the session and was recently passed by the House with a new amendment. The House’s amendment added a requirement that designated people report directly to and only to the Agriculture Commissioner. The Senate concurred with the House’s amendment. HB 6 provides teeth to an already existing legislative committee, which with the passing of HB 6 would become the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee. The bill would codify subpoena powers, give the committee authority to maintain the confidentiality of investigative documents, and impose fines on those in non-compliance with the committee’s efforts.
As you can see, the General Assembly is not taking any time for granted. We are now past the halfway point of the 2021 Regular Session, with much work left to do. I will continue to provide weekly legislative updates in the weeks ahead. God Bless.
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. Or, you can review the legislature’s work online at www.Legislature.ky.gov.