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Senate resolution would end COVID-19 emergency declaration in Kentucky

A photo from Thursday’s Senate session can be found here. It shows Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, testifying on Senate Joint Resolution 150, which would end the COVID-19 emergency declaration in Kentucky.

FRANKFORT— A resolution that would end the COVID-19 declaration of emergency in Kentucky next month received approval Thursday on the Senate floor.

Senate Joint Resolution 150, which passed 28-8, would terminate Kentucky’s declaration on March 7. The measure’s primary sponsor, Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, told lawmakers it’s time to move past the emergency.

“When the virus was first announced, there is no doubt that there were a lot of unknowns,” he said. “The medical community, the scientific community and yes, I dare say even the political representatives were caught off guard.”

However, Douglas said, instead of proceeding down a purely medical path, politics assumed a major role in decision-making. Some treatments for COVID-19 were ignored or dismissed, while people lost their jobs and schools were shut down, he said.

“The emergency seemed to be more about emotion and feeling and a lot less about objectivity and facts,” Douglas said.

He added that SJR 150 provides the governor and his executive agencies time to determine if any administrative regulations related to the pandemic need to be filed or changed. He called the measure a thoughtful approach that doesn’t aim to interfere with any federal funding.

However, critics argued that Kentucky’s emergency declaration does not include any statewide restrictions, and they cited concerns about unintended consequences, such as the potential loss federal nutrition assistance.

Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, said she voted against the measure because it’s too soon. She noted that Kentucky is still experiencing a 12.3% positivity rate and that 60% of residents have received a single vaccine so far.

“That’s the highest number we have,” she said. “So, we haven’t done the work that other states have done to get to this point. I think my colleagues know that I felt like that was a responsibility we took on and a responsibility that we did not meet.”

Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, also said he couldn’t stand behind the measure.

“Why are we doing this,” he asked. “It doesn’t change anything. I understand – I want it to be over. The resolution, I actually cannot wait until I can join in support of it, but what is the rush? I vote no."

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