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Here’s a legislative update from this week’s newsletter, covering a number of important bills. Give it a read, then go sign up, so you can get good stuff like this each week!
MOKP legislative update
SB 84 – Dignity Bill – Jazmin
The House unanimously passed Julie Raque Adams’ Dignity Bill 94-0. This bill provides better pregnancy and postpartum care for incarcerated people. It passed with a committee substitute, so now it goes back to the Senate. The Senate’s bill allowed for the child to be with the parent and required access to hygiene products and nutritional products for 72 hours after the birth. The House changed that language to “up to 72 hours.”
SB 211 – Insulting a police officer – Jazmin
This bill is an anti-protest bill. Sen. Danny Carroll is the chief sponsor and Sen. Michael Nemes is a co-sponsor. It passed committee 7-3 but hasn’t been voted on by the full Senate. A lot of people are talking about the part of this bill that makes it a crime to insult a police officer but the bill does a lot of other (bad) things:
- Strengthens self-defense law when it occurs during a riot.
- Creates new mandatory minimums for assaults that happen during a riot.
- 15 years and $10,000 fine for assault in the first degree.
- 7.5 years and $7,500 for assault in the second degree.
- 4 years and $5,000 for most kinds of assault in the third degree (and disqualifies them from public benefits for a year).
- 4 years and $5,000 for criminal mischief in the first degree (and disqualification from benefits).
- 6 months and $500 for criminal mischief in the second degree, 3 months and $250 for criminal mischief in the third degree.
- 4 years and $5,000 for riot in the first degree (and disqualification from benefits).
- 3 months and $250 for failure to disperse (and disqualification from benefits).
- Adds a new section to assault in the third degree for when an officer has an injury from a chemical agent or firework.
- Makes it an assault in the fourth degree to shine a light, laser, or horn at an officer or emergency personnel. If done during a riot, minimum six months and $500 fine.
- Creates an unlawful camping Class A misdemeanor. If you unlawfully camp during a riot, it’s a minimum six months and $500 fine.
- Six-month disqualification from benefits.
- A subsequent offense is a felony with a minimum four years.
- Makes resisting arrest a felony if committed during a riot with four-year minimum, $5000 fine, and disqualification for benefits.
- Creates a felony for obstructing an emergency vehicle and obstructing a highway during a riot with four-year minimum, $5000 fine, and disqualification for benefits.
- Creates a new section for the riot statutes that includes providing supplies for rioters.
- Creates a new section of the disorderly conduct statute that makes it a crime to insult, taunt, or challenge a police officer.
- If during a riot, 3 months and $250 fine.
- Makes some of these offenses violent offenses (85% parole eligibility).
- Requires 48 hours in custody after arrest
- There’s also some language about agencies showing support and providing adequate funding to law enforcement.
SB 4 (Breonna’s Law) and HB 21 (Stiver’s No-Knocks Bill) – Jazmin
The House Judiciary Committee heard SB 4 and had discussion on Attica Scott’s Breonna’s Law, HB 21. Charles Booker testified in favor of HB 21. They didn’t take a vote on HB 21, but SB 4 passed committee 15-0 with four passes (Democrats who hope that parts of HB 21 would be added as amendments on the floor).
HB 312 – Open Records – Robert
This bill was approved by a Senate committee today. Only Morgan McGarvey and Adrienne Southworth voted no (Southworth voted no because she said there was not enough time spent discussing the bill; they cut off debate after 20 minutes). The newest version of this bill removes the provision that only allows Kentuckians to request records, but it does continue to deny requesters rights to appeal denials to Franklin Circuit Court.
HB 563 – An Act Related to School Choice – Robert
Depending on where you are in the state, “school choice” means something different to you. If you are in a mid-sized county (think: McCracken, Daviess, Pike, Boyd, Greenup, Pulaski), it probably means having the option to going to the independent school district in your county even though you live in the county’s district. If you live in Louisville, Lexington, or Northern Kentucky, it probably means the ability to go to a private school using the money set aside for your child to attend public school.
HB 563 was filed late in the session. Its original intent was to make it easier for students outside of an independent school district to enroll in that school. Again, this is a really significant issue if you live in one of these communities.
There is a version of the bill which, according to the Courier-Journal, includes language about “education opportunity accounts,” which are a type of school vouchers. These are the types of programs which, in the past, have allowed for public dollars to pay for tuition at private or parochial schools.
- The EOAs in this bill are pared back significantly from the programs in past years. The current program allows for third parties to accept donations which qualify for tax relief, and then send that money to needy students for *things,* like tutoring, technology, and other expenses arising from going to school. Under the current law, they could not be used to pay for tuition for private schools.
- The bill also creates a task force which would study how schools are funded in Kentucky.
This bill is interesting in that it addresses a very key priority of lots of teachers and administrators across the state: clarifying how and when students can enroll in independent school districts if they do not live in those districts, while creating a proto-scholarship tax credit.
- It’s hard to say that the EOA program *isn’t* a precursor to having public dollars funding private schools. Scholarship tax credits have been a priority for Republicans since they gained the majority. They want to get it done, and clearly see this as a first step.
- However, the actual text of this specific bill isn’t all that bad.
This is a bill which will start moving later this week. It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction it gets from teachers across the state.
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