Staff report
Two bills spearheaded by NKY representatives have been approved by the Kentucky House and are headed to the Senate for consideration.
Most of the 1200-plus bills introduced in the legislature are still immersed somewhere in the system.
So far, with just a few weeks of the 2024 session remaining, only three bills have become law, one of them as a result of an override of the Governor’s veto. Those bills are Senate Bill 5, relating to hunting and fishing licenses and declaring an emergency; House Bill 161, relating to elections and declaring an emergency; and House Bill 18 (overriding the Governor’s veto), relating to the rights of property owners and declaring an emergency.
‘Momnibus’ — championed by Rep. Kim Moser
A maternal health bill nicknamed “Momnibus’ was unanimously approved by the Kentucky House last week after about 20 minutes of discussion, it was reported by Isabella Sepahban, a University of Kentucky student, for the Kentucky Lantern
Kim Moser (File photo)
The bipartisan Momnibus came out of a working group of Republican and Democratic women in the House and the Senate.
The Momnibus legislation would expand the Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) program and allow for home visitation programs to be available up to three years after a child’s birth. It also would educate mothers on topics such as the benefits of breastfeeding, safe sleep for infants, and provide lactation consultation and equipment. These services would also be available via Telehealth.
Supporters say Momnibus addresses Kentucky’s high rate of maternal deaths following childbirth.
Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, the bill’s sponsor, said that “53% of women who die in the year following childbirth die as a result of their substance-use disorder.”
Other factors that increase maternal mortality include diabetes, heart disease and mental illness.
“These are all made more difficult during and after pregnancy,” Moser said, “and can cause dangerous situations.”
Although these situations are harmful and at times, even deadly, Moser said that “deaths due to any of these factors are usually preventable, and the ways to prevent these deaths are to identify and treat these diseases early in the pregnancy, if not before. This is why prenatal care is so critical.”
Momnibus aims to help decrease these high maternal mortality rates by ensuring access to insurance coverage for pregnant women.
Although there are special enrollment periods to buy insurance coverage for marriage, divorce, and fostering children, there are no special enrollment periods available for pregnancy, said Moser.
Momnibus also aims to address the lack of mental health care available to pregnant women by implementing a new psychiatric access program called Lifeline for Moms.
Momnibus now heads to the Senate for consideration.
House Bill 337 — Easing the teacher shortage
Legislation containing several provisions which are designed to ease the teacher shortage in Kentucky, won unanimous approval in the Kentucky House on Friday, according to Tom Latek, Kentucky Today.
Rep. Kim Banta
House Bill 377 is sponsored by Rep. Kim Banta, R-Ft. Mitchell, a retired teacher, who described its provisions when presenting it on the House floor.
“This would pay student teachers a stipend of $5,000,” she said. “Teachers would also have an opportunity for loan forgiveness after they graduate. It is for public school teachers once they graduate to work in a public institution.”
Rep. Tina Bojanowski, D-Louisville, who is also a teacher, thanked Banta for sponsoring the bill. She mentioned remarks made by Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Marty Polio before a legislative committee.
“He called for us to do three things: get more teachers in the seats and keep them there, get more bus drivers and get our students to school,” Bojanowski said. “This bill directly impacts getting more teachers in the seats and supporting them when they get there, so I fully support this bill.”
The vote on the bill was 87-0,
This bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
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