2021 Session Update

The 2021 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly is moving fast! After being unable to meet last week due to weather, legislators are now convening five days a week to complete their work. This is a 30-day session and as of this week we are past the halfway point.

The Legislative Message Line can be reached at 1-800-372-7181. You can call that number anytime to leave a message for your state representative or senator, and if you don’t know who yours are, the operators can, based on your address, connect you with the right members.

As we head into the remaining days of session, here are updates on bills that CCK is working on and that we hope will make it through the process and become law.

HB 91 – Has passed the House and now needs action in the Senate. This would propose a constitutional amendment to clarify that there is no right to abortion in the Kentucky Constitution. Kentucky has passed many pro-life laws in recent years, but in other states we have seen state courts strike down such laws by declaring that the state constitution protects access to abortion more strictly than federal law. HB 91 would prevent that from happening. Passing this bill will put this before the voters in the November 2022 election. 

HB 149 – Has been assigned to the Appropriations and Revenue Committee and posted for committee consideration. This is the Education Opportunity Account bill that would incentivize private giving for much needed support for families to make educational choices that best serve their needs.  The bill gained two new co-sponsors this week, putting the total number of House co-sponsors up to 25.  EdChoice KY recently conducted a poll that found that 63% of Kentuckians support an Education Opportunity Account program, including solid majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.  HB 149 maintains this high level of support despite opponents spending nearly $80,000 in negative and misleading advertising during the month of January. We must continue to make our voices heard in order to balance out the opposition’s spending.  Please contact your state representative using the LRC Message line and encourage them to do everything they can to move HB 149 forward to a floor vote.

HB 148 – Adds a diagnosis of serious mental illness to the disabilities which prevent execution for persons convicted of capital offenses. This bill cleared the House Judiciary Committee with strong support, 16 of the 19 members voting YEA. It is now posted for passage in the House chamber.

HB 210 – Requires employers to provide the same leave for adoptive parents that they provide for birth parents. Has passed the House and now awaits action in the Senate.

HB 155 – Known as the “Baby Box.” This bill provides a safe, anonymous opportunity for someone to surrender a newborn to proper authorities for care. HB 155 is awaiting a vote on the House floor.

There are also a number of criminal justice reform bills that have received significant support and are moving through the process. As a member organization of the Kentucky Smart on Crime coalition, CCK supports the following bills that are moving through the process

HB 126 – Raises the threshold for a theft to be a felony to $1,000, closer to the national average (KY’s threshold is currently a very low $500 for most types of theft). HB 126 has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate.

SB 84 – Establishes requirements to help ensure that Kentucky women who are incarcerated and pregnant receive access to critical resources and have safe and healthy pregnancies. Has passed the Senate and now awaits action in the House.

SB 4 – This is an effort to limit the use of no-knock warrants, an issue which has received increased attention since the killing of Breonna Taylor. SB 4 has passed the Senate and is awaiting action in the House.

HB 25 – Would remove the prohibition on people with felony convictions receiving KEES scholarships for which they are otherwise eligible. Has passed the House and now needs Senate consideration.

SB 36 – Ends mandatory transfer of some cases from juvenile court to adult court. Has passed the Senate and awaits consideration in the House.

SB 80 – Improves police accountability by establishing a duty to intervene and laying out policies to root out officers who break the law or engage in misconduct. Has passed the Senate and awaits action in the House.

And finally, we have seen one bill already become law! SB 9, the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act passed the General Assembly in January.

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