Advocacy organizations have become part of a growing force ensuring the fair and equal treatment of our most vulnerable citizens. This is especially true during General Assembly, when the voices of the powerless often get drowned out by the louder voices of the powerful.
The Kentucky Equal Justice Center (KEJC) has worked diligently to protect public interests through advocacy work in Kentucky’s legislature since 1976. The executive director of KEJC, Richard Seckel, spoke with Forward Kentucky about the bills they’re watching closely this session, both good and bad.
Keeping hopes high for these bills
Seckel told Forward Kentucky that KEJC has remained supportive of legislation addressing issues that have brought attention to the Commonwealth in recent months, particularly Breonna’s Law (HB21).
Said Seckel, “I think Representative Scott (D-41) has put her heart and soul into this. Really been responsive to the community and thoughtful about something that is distressing, and its violence against community members. So we want to be supportive of issues like that. We’d like to see that go forward. I was pleased to see that the bill was posted in committee. … The Senate has tried to do a version that may not meet her standing with the best way to approach, and so we want to be supportive of her.”
Many organizations, such as KyPolicy, have turned their efforts towards watching the state budget. Within the highly-contested budget, Seckel noted that KEJC is paying close attention to funds being allocated towards continuing Medicaid expansion and enrollment:
“In a way, the [elephant] in the room is the budget. It’s been in kind of silent mode, but it’ll come back. We were really excited when Kentucky did such a good job of implementing Medicaid expansion, connecting and getting people enrolled in healthcare. Even the Bevin administration, with a different philosophy than the Beshear administration, fully-funded Medicaid expansion and kept that program going. We’re hopeful that this General Assembly will do that same thing.
“There are a number of other states that haven’t expanded Medicaid and people are just anguished by the fact that they can’t get coverage for preventative services or life-threatening things. So Kentucky’s done a good thing. And we’re hopeful that the budget will continue and extend that.”
Among KEJC’s other important bills to watch this session, some are related to removing the barriers for formerly-incarcerated individuals to access benefits that would help them reintegrate into society.
“Budgets are skimpy and programs are filled with barriers. People’s lives get harder and it seems like nobody cares about them. … House Bill 497 has multiple provisions intended to help people when they’re leaving confinement to get back in the community, to get jobs, and be able to connect with the same public benefits to help them get established. … So, we’d like to see that go forward. That appears to have bipartisan support. It’s nice to see that.”
In an unpredictable session, many of the wins have come from obtaining bipartisan support for issues on the table, Seckel told us. “We’re really happy to see the death penalty bill, House Bill 148, set aside the death penalty for people with serious mental illness … that too seems to have bipartisan support.” he stated.
Some causes for concern
Seckel continued, “I have to admit, I tend to live in defense mode, because the clients that legal aid programs serve are so vulnerable.”
Here are some of the bills that KEJC is particularly concerned about that seem to be making progress this session, according to Seckel.
“Senate Bill 211, which I’ve labeled the riot act. It seems to be creating sort of fearsome repercussions for people who do go out and demonstrate. That’s kind of troubling; we’re supposed to have free speech, and one of the consequences in the act was to bar people from getting public benefits. That is unrelated and just plain punitive.”
“One thing you might have noticed and we’re watching closely, are what people have labeled ‘mule bills.’ Those are bills that are filed that don’t actually say much,” Seckel explained. “They’re called mules because they may end up carrying much more significant content later. … We’ve been watching those to see what gets put in there.”
A bill filed earlier this session by Representative Thomas Walker (R-8), originally intended to make certain language gender-neutral in Kentucky Revised Statutes, has since become a mule bill according to Seckel. “House Bill 475 was an innocuous bill.” he told Forward Kentucky.
“When it came out of committee in the House, it said: well, Kentucky should never have an Occupational Safety and Health standard stronger than the federal standard. Why would we want to tie our hands like that on protecting Kentuckians at work, in a state with logging and mining and things that we really might wanna be diligent and protect people on? That troubles me.”
He reflected on how the pandemic has brought health protections in the workplace to the forefront of everyone’s mind: “COVID-19 has raised people’s awareness of how safety at work is a crucial element, and we need to have actual, functioning, vigorous, watch dogs on that. … I feel like it does deserve more attention.”
Where should Kentuckians concentrate their efforts?
He told Forward Kentucky that time is quickly running out: “There have been very few bills that made it to the finish line.” Seckel says there is one bill in particular that would benefit from citizen-based advocacy at this point:
“Well, there’s a good effort already on House Bill 497 (the “helping incarcerated person re-enter society” bill). It’s visible …. people seem to get it and feel that it’s time. There’s a chance for someone to jump in even if they’re not experienced at this, and be part of a winning effort. … We hope it’ll get that far. You know, it’s really just taking these first couple of steps. There’s not a not a lot of time left.”
He’s hopeful that people recognize the importance of the legislation in order to make an impact:
“You know, it has bipartisan support, it addresses that intersection of criminal and civil law in very concrete ways that will help people, and kind of destigmatizes public benefits and recognizes they have a role.”
However, Seckel is unsure if HB 497 is on track to become law before the clock runs out:
“It’s a little hard to tell. It’s a committee chair bill, it’s not a leadership bill. However, the committee chair, Representative Moser (R-64), is respected. She does attempt to work cooperatively with the state agency and the parties. The enemy of that one may be the time clock, although it’s always a little difficult to say.”
With the General Assembly’s regular session soon coming to an end, individuals can access bill descriptions and track their legislative progress through Forward Kentucky’s in-site bill tracker tool. The Kentucky Center for Equal Justice has additionally compiled a list of their bills of interest as an advocacy tool, including primary legislative sponsors.
If you want to make a difference on these (or any) bills, you can leave your feedback with your legislator by calling the LRC Legislative Message Line at 1 (800) 372-7181. It only takes a minute, and can help make a difference in Frankfort – just as KEJC does.
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