Commonwealth of Kentucky
Senator Danny Carroll
The 2023 Legislative Session is moving along, with Senate committees approving numerous measures for the full chamber’s consideration. Several bills have cleared the chamber and have made their way over to the state House.
Before summarizing legislation, I want to acknowledge a special occasion from week three, the 7th Annual Military Kids Day event.
We had over 100 military kids participate in the legislative process and witness their state government in action. When you added parents and others supporting the day’s events, your legislature hosted nearly 200 people.
Kids served as Senate pages, were honored during a committee meeting and in the House and Senate chambers and were treated to lunch where they heard from special guest speakers, many in the military themselves. The event was certainly the most successful yet, and I hope next year will exceed this year’s success.
A bill providing funding for the Bowling Green Veterans’ Center was signed into law in week three, while several bills cleared the Senate. They were:
Senate Bill 24 — Expands homeschooled students’ access to Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship funds. KEES provides money to high school students mainly based on GPA and ACT scores. Homeschooled students are currently only eligible for 20 percent of available KEES money because they don’t have a traditional GPA. The bill will allow the KEES base to be calculated by an equivalent GPA determined by the homeschooled student’s ACT score.
Senate Bill 25 —A clean-up bill from the previous session’s Senate Bill 59. It clarifies the distinction between articulation and dual college credit for school accountability purposes.
Senate Bill 49 — Seeks to alleviate teacher workforce challenges by extending how long a provisional teacher certificate lasts. This bill provides more time for candidates with baccalaureate degrees to complete alternate teacher certification.
This bill revises the provisional certification period from three to five years for those with baccalaureate degrees who seek alternative teacher certification through Options 6 and 7.
Kentucky, like all states, is facing multi-industry workforce challenges. The same is true in public education. According to recent reporting by the Louisville Courier-Journal using figures from the Kentucky Department of Education, the state is short approximately 1,700 classroom educators. This is vastly lower than the 11,000 figure oft-cited by Governor Andy Beshear but is nonetheless an issue lawmakers are committed to addressing.
Senate Bill 150 — Strengthens parental engagement and communication within public schools by ensuring school curriculum transparency regarding the subject of human sexuality and requiring notifications of health services offered and recommended by schools. Additionally, the bill provides First Amendment protections to both staff and students. A significant amount of misinformation has targeted this bill, many deliberately and carelessly lumping it in with other proposed measures; most—if not all—are not even filed in the Senate chamber. Despite theatrics and misdirected hyperbole in opposition to the bill, I believe it is a good bill and is a win for parents, guardians, staff and students.
Looking back to September 2021, you may recall Governor Andy Beshear, citing security recommendations from the Secret Service and Kentucky State Police, closing the portion of Capital Avenue in Frankfort between the State Capitol and the Capitol Annex.
The Governor’s roadway closure to vehicular traffic came nearly one year after he spent over $300,000 on a security fence to be placed around the Governor’s Mansion and the complete closure of the State Capitol to visitors from March 2020 to July 2021. Since the route’s closure, there has been a tremendous increase in vehicular traffic through the Capitol Annex parking lot, and many are concerned about an increased risk of pedestrian injury.
Senate Bill 11 cleared the Senate in week three and is now with the House for consideration. It would reopen that portion of Capital Avenue, once more providing residents and out-of-state tourists access to the beautiful campus. The bill allows emergency responders and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to stop traffic flow while temporarily fulfilling any duties they may have on State Capitol grounds.
I updated you last week on the efforts of the Department of Juvenile Justice workgroup I co-chaired. One result of the workgroup’s efforts will be Senate Bill 162, which I introduced this week. The bill would ensure mental health care is provided in state detention centers and allows for confidentiality for kids to speak openly in treatment. A provision of the bill strives to provide Medicaid health coverage for these kids. My bill would also work to ensure staff members in DJJ facilities can protect themselves by providing them with non-lethal defensive equipment such as pepper spray. One of several concerning things the workgroup realized in our conversations is that a toxic culture exists within DJJ, and the people who show up to work do not feel safe. We aim to make a course correction for these kids and the dedicated people working in DJJ facilities.
Another measure on this topic, Senate Bill 158, was filed to allow for a thorough and independent audit of Kentucky’s Department of Juvenile Justice system.
In closing, I’m happy to report the Senate Judiciary Committee approved my Senate Bill 80 this week, qualifying it for consideration by the full chamber. The bill would restore third-degree assault protections for healthcare workers providing medical care in an emergency room. A third-degree assault is when a person is guilty of recklessly, with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, intentionally causing or attempting to cause physical injury.
Additionally, Senate Bill 80 would serve to further protect kids from sexual predators by keeping registered sex offenders from being within 1000 feet of schools, playgrounds, daycares, public swimming pools and splash pads. The bill would also restrict them from being the sole operator or occupant of any mobile business within 1000 feet of those locations.
You can follow bill statuses at legislature.ky.gov and watch live legislative activity at KET/org/legislature. You can also track the status of other legislation by calling 866-840-2835, legislative meeting information at 800-633-9650, or leaving a message for lawmakers at 800-372-7181.
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.
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Senator Danny Carroll, R-Benton, represents the 2nd Senate District, including Ballard, Carlisle, Livingston, Marshall, and McCracken Counties. He serves as Senate Families and Children Committee chair. He is also a Senate Education, Health Services, and Judiciary committee member. Additionally, Carroll is a member of the Public Pension Oversight Board and the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee. For a high-resolution .jpeg of Carroll, please visit: https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators%20Full%20Res%20Images/senate102.jpg.