Leaders for the Kentucky House of Representatives have named state Rep. Jeffery Donohue as chairman of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Economic Development, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.
As chairman, Rep. Donohue will oversee budget discussion and negotiations relating to key elements of the Commonwealth’s next two-year budget plan. The House Budget Review Subcommittee on Economic Development, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection is one of seven that comprise the Appropriations and Revenue Committee, which oversees the budget for the chamber.
“I’m confident Jeff will do a great job leading this subcommittee and will be ready to hit the ground running once we have the budget in-hand later this month,” House Speaker Greg Stumbo said. “This subcommittee oversees some critical areas for the state, but they’re in good hands with Jeff’s oversight.”
Donohue currently serves as a member of the House’s overall Appropriations & Revenue Committee, and is the vice-chair of the House Labor & Industry Committee. He also serves as a member of the House committees for Economic Development; Education and Licensing & Occupations.
“I’m excited about this opportunity to provide leadership in the development of the Kentucky’s next biennial budget and thankful for the confidence that has been placed in me by the leaders of the House of Representatives,” Donohue said.
A resident of Fairdale, Rep. Donohue represents the state’s 37th House District in Jefferson County.
Bills that would disclose the value of state legislators’ public pensions and move the governor’s race to federal-election years were passed out of a Senate committee.
Members of the Senate Standing Committee on State and Local Government unanimously voted for the legislative pension bill (Senate Bill 45) and the election cycle bill (Senate Bill 10).
Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, who sponsored both bills, said the pieces of legislation were designed to strengthen the public’s faith and increase citizen participation in the democratic process.
SB 45 would allow pension managers to disclose the name and benefit amount for any current or former lawmaker by making those figures subject to the state’s open records laws.
“The issue of pensions in the commonwealth have been shrouded in a level of secrecy that is unparalleled to elsewhere in state government,” McDaniel said, who is also a member of the committee. “This requirement will introduce a greater level of accountability to those of us who have to cast ballots on some of the most difficult, contentious and painful issues confronting us today.”
Legislative leaders say one of the greatest challenges of this session will be to find more money for the public pension systems. The systems carry more than $30 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. State economists say the main pension plans for government workers and public school teacher are in the most trouble.
SB 10 is in the form of a constitutional amendment. It would move election for governor and other statewide constitutional officers to even-numbered years when congressional and presidential elections are held. If it passes the General Assembly, the proposed change to the state Constitution would appear on the November ballot.
McDaniel said SB 10 would save Kentucky $3.5 million and its 120 counties more than $14 million every four years by consolidating the dates elections are held. That translate to $603,000 in saving for Kenton County, $173,000 in saving for Pike County, $45,000 saving for Clay County and $1.3 million in saving for Jefferson County.
An adolescent is admitted to a psychiatric hospital last April for taking a gun to school. Before the child could shoot a classmate who had bullied him, he elbowed a teacher in the ribs. That’s when the teacher discovered a 9 mm pistol.
The teacher took the gun, and the child, whose father was in prison for murder, was admitted to a psychiatric hospital – but a Medicaid managed-care organization refused to pay for this treatment, said The Ridge Behavioral Health Systems CEO Nina Eisner. She used the example while testifying at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Health and Welfare.
Eisner spoke in support of Senate Bill 20. The legislation would create an independent review process for health care providers to appeal claims that have been denied by managed-care organizations (MCOs), private companies contracted by Kentucky to administer Medicaid. Under the current structure, appeals have to be made directly to the MCOs.
Currently about 1.1 million individuals are served via MCOs in Kentucky, and this accounts for about 69 percent of the total state Medicaid budget. Last year Kentucky renegotiated the MCO contracts in hopes of reducing the number of disputes over rejected claims but health providers testified that it’s still an ongoing problem.
Eisner, who is also the chairwoman of the 42-member Kentucky Association of Hospitals Psychiatric and Chemical Dependency Forum, said there are examples all over the state of patients with homicidal ideations unable to get their care paid for by MCOs.
“Senate Bill 20 is a very important piece of legislation to us because it gives all Kentucky Medicaid providers access … to an independent appeal process to resolve legitimate disputes with Medicaid managed care organizations,” she said. “It is really untenable and it is also unreadable to expect Kentucky providers to deliver health care services for free. The bill gives providers nothing more than an opportunity for an independent administrative hearing to address legitimate disputes concerning medical necessity denials.”
Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, is the primary sponsor of SB 20. The legislation is modeled after, and nearly identical to, existing laws in Virginia and Georgia where three of the five Kentucky MCOs are already operating. Similar legislation was also introduced last year.
Legislation that would allow Kentucky’s courts to expunge the felony records of up to 94,000 Kentuckians cleared the House Judiciary Committee.
House Bill 40, sponsored by House Judiciary Chair Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, and Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown, was discussed for over an hour before the committee approved it. The bill is nearly identical to 2015 HB 40, which passed the House by a vote of 84-14 but stalled in the Senate last session. Other versions of the bill have been considered in earlier sessions.
This session’s felony expungement bill would:
· Allow the expungement—or sealing—of felony charges that did not lead to a grand jury indictment with input from affected parties, including any victim or victims.
· Allow expungement of Class D felonies with input from all affected parties, including any victim or victims. Sex offenders, those who committed an offense against a child or vulnerable adult, those who have recently been convicted of another offense or violation, or those against whom charges are pending would not be eligible for expungement.
· Prevent information pertaining to an expunged conviction from being use in a civil suit or proceedings involving negligent hiring or licensing.
Any felon eligible for expungement, and certain non-felony offenders eligible for expungement under the bill, could petition the courts to have their records sealed no matter how long ago they were convicted, according to the legislation.
Research of smokeless tobacco products like snuff and snuff would get some assistance under a bill that cleared a House committee.
House Bill 83, sponsored by House Agriculture and Small Business Chair Rep. Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana, would expand the state’s definition of reference tobacco— tobacco products made by manufacturers specifically for research and not for public use—to include smokeless tobacco products like snuff and snus when the products are labeled specifically for tobacco-health research and experimental purposes.
Current state law limits the definition of reference tobacco to cigarettes.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration after being approved by the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee.
The bill coincides with the University of Kentucky-based Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center’s application for federal funding to research four types of smokeless tobacco products including snus, center director Orlando Chambers told the committee today. The Federal Drug Administration is expected to announce recipients of the funding next month.
From LRC Communications
I appreciate the coverage the NKY Tribune is giving to the 2016 legislative session. Otherwise we get very little news in this part of the state about the proceedings in Frankfort.