The state Senate passed legislation to regulate where transgender students may use the restroom in public schools.
The legislation would require public school students to use the restrooms of their biological sex or seek special accommodations, said Sen. C.B. Embry Jr., R-Morgantown, who sponsored the bill.
Known as Senate Bill 76, the legislation passed by a 27-9 vote after a lengthy floor debate.
Embry said the SB 76 had nothing to do with homosexuality, in response to questions from Sen. Reginald Thomas, D-Lexington, who opposed the legislation.
“Passing this bill would cast a shroud of darkness over this body,” Thomas said.
Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, spoke in favor of the bill.
“It is not the responsibility of this body to protect the rights of one particular group,” he said. “It’s the responsibility of this body to protect the rights of all. In this case, this bill does protect the rights of all the students.”
Carroll referenced prior testimony on the bill from a high school student who said she was uncomfortable using the restroom with a transgender classmate.
Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, also spoke in favor of the bill. He stressed that SB 76 is about modesty and protecting minors.
“I think as a parent, I don’t want that situation for my daughter,” he said.
Sen. Gerald A. Neal, D-Louisville, explained why he did not support SB 76.
“This is not about modesty,” he said. “This is about fear.”
SB 76 now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The state Senate voted 25-10 in favor of legislation that would allow electronic pull tabs at bingo halls across Kentucky.
Known as Senate Bill 33, the legislation would legalize the electronic versions of pull-tab bingo tickets that have become staples of church festivals and other charity events across Kentucky for decades, said sponsor Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville.
“An electronic pull-tab game is not a slot machine,” he said. “It is something about the size of iPad that would be made available inside that charitable hall.”
Buford said charities have reported losing about $60 million in the last few years to legalized gambling such as casinos in the neighboring states of Indiana and Ohio.
“By allowing the use of these electronic pull tabs, we are giving charities an additional option to raise funds for their charitable purposes,” he said.
SB 33 not goes to the state House for consideration.
Bills aimed at protecting victims of human trafficking and child rape passed the Kentucky House without a dissenting vote.
The bills are House Bill 515, sponsored by House Majority Caucus Chair Sannie Overly, D-Paris, and HB 427, sponsored by House Judiciary Chair John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville. The bills passed by votes of 90-0 and 93-0 respectively.
HB 515 is designed to improve protections for child victims of human trafficking by prohibiting someone who pays for sex with a child from having a legal defense that they didn’t know the child’s age.
“Too often, the buyers of these children are not being charged,” Overly said. “Unless we combat the demand for child trafficking, we will not be able to stop the exploitation of our children. We must focus on the buyers.”
HB 515 could become the state’s third law directly aimed at human trafficking passed in as many years. The passage of HB 3— known as the “safe harbor” law that targets those who exploit children for sex – in 2013 was followed by the 2014 passage of SB 184, which gives human trafficking victims forced into prostitution and non-violent offenses a legal means to clear their criminal record.
HB 427, known as the “Alicia’s Law” bill, would add $10 to court costs paid in Kentucky’s criminal cases to increase funding for the Kentucky State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Tilley said the task force works to prevent crimes like those suffered by Alicia Kozakiewicz, for whom Alicia’s Law is named.
Now a child advocate in her 20s, Kozakiewicz was abducted at age 13 then raped and tortured for days via live Internet streaming before she was rescued. She is now working to get bills like HB 427 passed in states across the country.
Tilley said passage of HB 427 would make Kentucky the ninth state to pass Alicia’s Law.
Both HB 515 and HB 427 now go to the Senate for consideration.
Saying they want to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, a majority of state Senators today voted in favor of capping Kentucky’s debt.
Known as Senate Bill 94, the legislation would limit general fund supported debt to 6 percent of general fund revenue, said Sen. Joe Bowen, R-Owensboro, who sponsored the bill with Sen. Christian McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill.
“John Adams said there were only two ways to conquer and enslave a nation: One is by the sword, and the other is by debt,” Bowen said. “Kentucky owes more than it owns.”
The road fund is not included, agency debt is not included and there is a provision allowing the governor to declare a state of emergency to go over the debt limit, he said.
A similar bill passed the state Senate two sessions ago by a 38-0 vote but did not become law.
“So what has changed since then?” Bowen said. “Certainly the sense of urgency has been amped up. We continue to add debt, and we continue to encumber future generations with the decisions we are making now as we acquire more debt.”
In state rankings, Bowen said, Kentucky is 48th in the nation in debt as a percentage of gross domestic product, 38th in debt per capita and 43rd in total debt when all unfunded liabilities are included.
“Every man, woman and child in this commonwealth owes $3,400 to the state of Kentucky,” he said. “We have leveraged ourselves to the extreme.”
He said Kentucky’s debt ratio is reported to be 6.7 percent, but it is actually 8.1 percent if you include the nearly $1 billion spent on new county courthouses built across the state in recent years. Bowen said the bonds to build the courthouses were issued in the names of Kentucky’s counties but the state still pays the interest on those bonds.
Bowen said the financial situation is made worse because of a structurally unbalanced biannual budget. He said nonrecurring revenues are routinely used to pay for reoccurring expenses.
“Senate Bill 94 builds in a structural safeguard,” he said. “It builds in a discipline that people all across the commonwealth appreciate. Our constituents want us to operate within certain confines. People want us to operate in a fiscally responsible manner.”
SB 94 passed with a 28-8 vote.
One of the legislators who spoke in opposition was Sen. Ray S. Jones, D-Pikeville. Among his objections to the bill was a provision that specifies how money saved by capping the debt ceiling is appropriated in the future.
“It is clearly unconstitutional for this General Assembly to specify how the General Assembly will spend money two years from now,” he said. “That is clearly an infringement upon future sessions of the General Assembly and their ability to appropriate money as allowed by the Constitution.”
SB 94 now goes to the state House for consideration.
The Kentucky Legislature Home Page, www.lrc.ky.gov, provides information on each of Kentucky’s senators and representatives, including phone numbers, addressees and committee assignments. The site also provides bill texts, a bill-tracking service, and committee meeting schedules.
To leave a message for any legislator, call the General Assembly’s Message Line at 800-372-7181. People with hearing difficulties may leave messages for lawmakers by calling the TTY Message Line at 800-896-0305.
You may also write any legislator by sending a letter with the lawmaker’s name to: Capitol Annex, 702 Capitol Avenue, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.
From Legislative Research Commission