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Social Concerns

Budget Proposal

A proposed budget is a moral document that allocates funds to provide services for citizens. The Governor has presented a budget and the House and Senate have begun to review it. We will review the budget through the eyes of a Faithful Citizen to see how it affects the least among us: whether it provides for medical care for the poor; the right to a legal defense when charged with felonies and no money to pay an attorney; fair and equitable means of taxation to pay for services.

The budget bills are all assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee

These bills have been amended by the House A&R Committee and will debated on the House floor on March 9. Then they will go to the Senate for more amending and debate.

The Senate A&R Committee is still meeting to discuss these bills, even though only one regular legislative day remains. The General Assembly may use veto days to vote on these bills.

Consumer Protection

Some legislation can harm low- and fixed-income persons. Although it might change we asked a Senate committee to go slowly in approving SB 215, a complicate measure related to telecommunications. It appears to deregulate the industry in ways that might limit access of low- and fixed income persons: students, working poor, elderly. AARP has also questioned the measure for similar reasons.

Criminal Justice

SB 21 proposes to allow a person whose driver's license is suspended for violating general traffic laws an opportunity to receive an hardship driver license for the purpose of employment.

This bill has many safeguards to protect its intent from being misused and we are monitoring it because it will enable persons to keep jobs and support families.

SB 64 requires a mental health assessment of those being admitted to jails.

In a pastoral statement of the United States Catholic Bishops, Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice, we find the following:

"Likewise, crimes are sometimes committed by individuals suffering from serious mental illness. While government has an obligation to protect the community from those who become aggressive or violent because of mental illness, it also has a responsibility to see that the offender receives the proper treatment for his or her illness. Far too often mental illness goes undiagnosed, and many in our prison system would do better in other settings more equipped to handle their particular needs."

SB 64 was amended and we are supporting the Senate Committee Substitute, SB 64SCS. It recognizes that persons with mental illness need identification and proper treatment when arrested and requires the state to fulfill its responsibility to them.

After a lengthy delay in the House committee, it was passed out and was posted for passage on March 23. With one day left there is only slim hope this bill will survive.

SB 64 died, but lawmakers added its provisions to HB 157, related to brain injury, on the last day of the session.

SB 272 creates a new section of KRS Chapter 44 to permit convicted felons who were wrongfully incarcerated to bring a claim in the Board of Claims for wrongful incarceration; it places limits on damage awards at $25,000 per year of incarceration, plus attorneys fees.

With only one day left in this session, this legislation cannot advance.

HB 275 calls for identifying nonviolent substance offenders serving time in prison and requiring the parole board to consider them for parole twice each year. If paroled, substance abuse treatment is mandatory.

This legislation is in accord with the spirit of the bishops pastoral on crime and CCK is monitoring its progress.

HB 371 allows for the expungement of criminal records under certain circumstances. Reintegration into the community is important and this bill recognizes that a prison record should be removed and the person fully restored to community life.

HB 371 won House approval on March 15 and is headed for the Senate. CCK is supporting this.

ACTION: Contact your State Senator and ask him/her to encourage Senator Stivers to give HB 371 a hearing in Judiciary and then vote YES for HB 371 when it comes up for a floor vote.

Senator Stivers did not grant a hearing to HB 371, so there will be no floor vote.

HB 409 allows certain felony offenders to serve the final six months of a sentence in home incarceration programs. This is in accord with the principles we espouse for treatment of offenders.

This bill would help persons reintegrate into the community as they complete serving a prison sentence. We support this concept and will monitor progress.

This bill was sent to the Senate and stayed in committee there. However, Senator Stivers has filed an amendment to HB 161 which includes the provisions of HB 409: create a new section of KRS Chapter 532 to permit convicts selected by the Department of Corrections to serve the final 60 days of their sentence on home incarceration with a monitoring device; permit the inmate to be charged with escape if they violate the provisions of home incarceration.

Homelessness

HB 376 would direct state agencies to develop and implement a homelessness prevention pilot project that offers institutional discharge planning to persons exiting from state-operated or supervised institutions.

This pilot project will operate in Jefferson County and one of the following counties: Clinton, Cumberland, McCreary, or Wayne Counties. We support this much needed program to help persons returning to the community find and have suitable housing.

HB 376 passed the House. Finally sent to the Senate floor by the Senate State and Local Government committee. It is on the consent calendar for passage. Could pass on last day, but would have to return to the House because it was amended.

ACTION: Contact your State Senator and ask him/her to urge Senator Kelly to give this bill a floor vote on Monday, March 29.

Immigration

SB 170 allows allow undocumented persons to drive legally in Kentucky. CCK has joined the Coalition for a Safer Kentucky, an advocacy group promoting SB 170 and seeking its passage. The Conference is  helping find others to join. To join the Coalition email us at cckstaff@ccky.org and ask for a membership form. To view talking points supporting SB 170, click here.

Passage of SB 170 will protect the residents of our county and state by making Kentucky roadways safer for all drivers. Many of the people who currently drive without licenses do not know our rules of the road or the laws that govern them. Yet they still drive to work, to take their children to medical appointments and to school. Working families make valuable contributions to Kentucky’s economy through their labor and their consumer spending. If these individuals were given the option to apply for a driver’s license, they would be required to learn our driving rules. With a license, this group of people will also be able to get insurance which benefits all citizens.

Assignment to this Senate committee and not the Transportation Committee is a hostile act intended to kill this legislation.

ACTION: Contact State Senator Dan Seum - chair of Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee - and ask him/her to schedule a hearing for SB 170. Also leave a message for Senator Williams and Senator Kelly: please urge Senator Seum to give SB 170 a fair hearing with a vote as soon as possible. Toll free message line: 1-800-372-7181.

This measure will need to be brought back in future sessions.

HB 562 makes several changes to current law. It's original language was very damaging to certain non-citizens; but a House Committee Substitute was drafted that removed the damaging language; it passed out of committee and is now on the House floor ready for debate and a vote.

It will give circuit clerks discretion to question the integrity of documents and, should they choose to do so, refer the applicant, citizen and non-citizen alike, to the Transportation Cabinet in Frankfort or to a Transportation Cabinet field office. If it passes, then the broad discretion given the circuit clerks needs monitoring for discrimination purposes, especially in the categories of national origin and ethnicity.

HB 562 was amended on the House floor to include reporting requirements by Circuit Clerks and the Transportation Cabinet and then sent to the Senate where it was assigned to the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee. Unless there is a special meeting of this committee on the last day or it's provisions are added to another bill on the last day, it cannot pass.

Marriage

There are several bills and resolutions introduced regarding the definition of marriage.

"God established the family as the basic cell of human society. Therefore, we must strive to make the needs and concerns of families a central national priority. Marriage must be protected as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman and our laws should reflect this principle.. Marriage, as God intended, provides the basic foundation for family life and the common good. It must be supported in the face of the many pressures working to undermine it. Policies related to the definition of marriage, taxes, the workplace, divorce, and welfare must be designed to help families stay together and to reward responsibility and sacrifice for children. Because financial and economic factors have such an impact on the well-being and stability of families, it is important that just wages be paid to those who work to support their families and that generous efforts be made to aid poor families." Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility

Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Unions addresses issues raised by the resolutions and the bills listed here.

HCR 17 passed in the House on March 2 and will be sent to the Senate. After languishing in a Senate Committee HCR 17 has now been sent to the Senate Floor and may still be voted on during the few hours left. It urges Congress to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage.

ACTION: Contact your State Senator at 1-800-372-7181 and ask him/her to vote for HCR 17.

SB 245 cleared the Senate and failed to come out of the House Elections Committee on March 23. On March 24 it was reconsidered and amended with language from HB 615. It came out of committee during a late night meeting and is scheduled to receive a vote on Friday, March 26. On March 25, Kentucky's Bishops endorsed the legislation on the condition that language related to the Court of Justice is deleted. Read statement here.

On March 26, the House of Representatives decided not to vote on the original language of SB 245, but to vote on the amended version containing the language about the Court of Justice. The measure failed. Press reports indicate SB 245 could be on the agenda again on Monday, March 29, 2004.

ACTION: Contact your State Representative at 1-800-372-7181 and ask him/her to vote for SB 245.

Revenue Proposals

Governor Fletcher presented a plan relatively late in the session and it has received hearings in the House and Senate Appropriations and Revenue Cabinet. On March 23 the Catholic Conference wrote members of leadership in both houses suggesting they wait until the Governor calls a special session so there is time to deal adequately with this important issue. Click here to read the letter to the House and Senate leadership members.

Revenue Recovery is an issue that has interested CCK for several sessions. View these related press releases: Refundable Income Tax Credit, Grassroots Coalition, Clarify Position on Charitable Gaming. Also, view article by our former Executive Director, Jane Chiles, in July 1999 edition of Witness.

HB 298 and HB 299 reform the current tax structure in Kentucky. HB 298 changes the law so that the poorest of Kentucky's citizens pay no taxes. It also provides a state version of the Earned Income Tax Credit equal to 20% of the federal credit. HB 299 relates to corporation taxes and removes exemptions and closes loopholes in the current law.

HB 298 and HB 299 represent the type of legislation supported in the 1991 pastoral statement, Putting Children and Families First, in which the U. S. bishops asserted: "We welcome proposals to reform the tax code to help families cope with the high cost of raising children. These proposals, which have drawn bipartisan support, would allow middle income families with children to keep more of what they earn and would help lift low income families out of poverty.... We continue to support an expanded earned income tax credit to assist poor, working families. This pro-work, pro-family provision needs to be enhanced and supported as an important contribution to tax fairness."

ACTION: Contact your State Representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor both HB 298 and HB 299, if he or she has not already done so. You can see the list of co-sponsors by clicking on the bill number.

SB 82 and HB 268 also amend the tax code to permit Individual Development Accounts (IDA). Self-help programs are considered by many as the best way to help poor people break the cycle of poverty and become independent, successful members of society. The Church's Campaign for Human Development has promoted and funded self-help programs for decades. IDA's are self-help programs. These companion bills create the Commonwealth Individual Development Account Program to assist low-income individuals and families and to expand IDA programs already offered by some Kentucky nonprofit organizations.

SB 82 and HB 268 require that a public or nonprofit organization certified by the state treasurer’s office serve as an intermediary between the individual account holder and the bank holding the funds. Funds in the account can only be used for certain purposes, such as educational expenses, first home purchase, starting a business, home renovation or automobile purchase and repairs. These organizations also provide IDA participants with financial training and counseling, as well as help people with budgeting, money management and working through their credit problems.

In light of Kentucky’s budget constraints and revenue shortfall, the IDA tax credit, granted to corporations that contribute to the IDA fund, is limited to $1 million a year.

ACTION: Contact your State Senator and State Representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor SB 82 in the Senate and HB 268 in the House, if he or she has not already done so. You can see the list of co-sponsors by clicking on the bill number.

HB 107 and HB 310 are both seeking to increase the tax on tobacco. CCK supports this effort because revenue is needed to fund important social services, especially for low-income families and persons and because evidence indicates that the higher taxing of cigarettes reduces teen smoking rates.

HB 107 would recoup more income for the State and help more persons, so CCK prefers it over HB 310. If these stand-alone bills do not pass, CCK urges that tobacco tax increases be part of any broad revenue reform measures.

ACTION: Contact your State Representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor both HB 107 and HB 310, if he or she has not already done so. You can see the list of co-sponsors by clicking on the bill number.

HB 45, HB 46, HB 47, HB 636, HB 637, SB 249, and SB 250 expand non-charitable gaming in the state. HB 636 and SB 249 call for a constitutional amendment and they are the bills most likely to receive consideration. The three bills introduced earlier in the session are dead.

We oppose all efforts to expand gambling in Kentucky, charitable and non-charitable. See July 1999 edition of Witness for fuller treatment.

HB 636, HB 637, SB 249, and SB 250 seek to open 9 casinos, 5 operated by the racing industry and 4 operated independently. A percentage of the income is returned to the State for distribution to certain programs. Our position is that to fund programs for Kentucky, the tax system needs updating and revising so that all pay their fair share. We do not approve and urge you to vote against. We should not be paying corporations to collect our taxes, which is, in effect, what passage of this legislation accomplishes. It is also a regressive tax, in that lower income persons end up spending much more than do those in higher income brackets.

In addition, this legislation to establish gambling centers leads to increased gambling addictions, like putting a cookie jar in front of a two-year old.

ACTION: Contact your State Representative and State Senator and ask him/her to vote AGAINST HB 636, HB 637, SB 249, and SB 250 should they reach the floor of the House or the Senate.

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Catholic Conference of Kentucky

1042 Burlington Lane

Frankfort, Kentucky 40601

502-875-4345 502-875-2841 Fax cckstaffATccky.org

Last modified: August, 2008