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Senator C.B Embry's Legislative Update

The final week of the 153rd regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly saw the ceremonial signing of a sweeping measure to enhance school safety that is widely considered many lawmakers’ highest-priority bill of the year.

The School Safety and Resiliency Act, or Senate Bill 1, was among more than 200 bills that had passed by the time the 30-workingday session ended this evening. I was proud to co-sponsor this momentous piece of legislation.

SB 1 was the product of a specially formed committee that traveled the state last year to discuss school safety and collect feedback. The measure will create a state security marshal to conduct onsite visits to ensure schools were compliant with all provisions of the omnibus bill. The goal of SB 1 is to improve student safety by boosting safety and prevention training, promoting the assignment of a school resource officer to every school, increasing awareness of suicide prevention efforts, encouraging collaboration with law enforcement and hiring more counselors in school districts. Legislative leaders said funding the provisions of the bill are expected to be a priority when lawmakers put together the state’s two-year budget next year.

Most new laws – those that come from legislation that doesn’t contain emergency clauses or special effective dates – will go into effect in late June.

A partial list of bills that the General Assembly approved this session includes measures on the following topics:

Abortion. House Bill 5 will make it a felony to perform an abortion due to a decision based on the unborn child’s gender, race, color, national origin or disability. Senate Bill 9, known as the fetal heartbeat bill, will prohibit abortion in Kentucky once a heartbeat is detected in an unborn child. (A federal judge in Louisville has issued temporary restraining orders blocking enforcement of SB 9 and HB 5 after lawsuits were filed challenging the measures.) Senate Bill 50 will require health providers to report prescriptions written for RU-486 or any drug intended to end pregnancy to the state. House Bill 148 will outlaw abortion in Kentucky in most cases should the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling be reversed.

Budget. House Bill 268 authorizes $25 million in bonds for economic development and $50 million in bonds for state parks to be spent on emergency repairs on everything from leaky roofs to backed-up sewers. It would also provide $290,000 for Kentucky State University to match federal money available to land-grant universities.

Felony expungement. Senate Bill 57 will expand the number of Kentuckians eligible to have low-level felonies expunged from their criminal records. It will do this by expanding discretionary expungement to all Class D felonies with some exceptions for crimes such as stealing in office, abusing children and sex abuse. It includes a five-year waiting period to apply for expungement, a $250 application fee and provisions for prosecutors to object and judges to reject the applications.

Hemp. House Bill 197 will expand the legal definition of hemp to include the seeds of industrial hemp, derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids and isomers, among other components. That is the same definition found in the new U.S. Farm Bill, signed into law late last year, which removed hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Lobbying. Senate Bill 6 will require disclosure of executive agency lobbyist compensation. The measure will also prohibit compensation contingent on awarding of a government contract. It will provide oversight, in part, by requiring executive branch lobbyists to register and list their clients. That’s already required of legislative lobbyists.

Taxes. House Bill 354 will provide tax relief to banks and nonprofits in addition to strengthening Kentucky’s ability to collect sales tax on online purchases. The measure will transition the taxation of Kentucky-chartered banks from a franchise tax to state corporate income tax in an attempt to curb the takeover of community banks by banks from states with lower tax rates. This bill came as a result of Kentucky having the 5th highest taxes on banks in the nation. HB 354 provides minimal relief to these financial entities.  Another section of HB 354 will provide relief to nonprofits by exempting those groups from collecting and remitting sales tax on admissions to charity events in addition to making it clear in statute that sales from one-time fundraising events are not subject to the sales tax. Thirdly, HB 354 will increase tax revenue by requiring online marketplace providers to collect and remit sales tax for sales made using their platform.

Tobacco. HB 11 would ban the use of tobacco, e-cigarettes and vaping devices on public school campuses, in school vehicles and at school activities beginning with the 2020-21 school year. School districts would have up to three years to opt out of the ban should they choose. The individual districts not opting out will also be able to set the penalties for violating the ban.

Lastly, my Green Alert bill, Senate Bill 55, dealing with veterans at risk and my Senate Resolution designating a portion of the Western Kentucky Parkway as an Interstate 69 spur, both passed this session.

My next legislative update will be a big-picture summary of notable legislative accomplishments made by the 2019 General Assembly this session.

Thank you for your continued feedback and support. It is an honor to represent you in Frankfort, and I look forward to continued discussion on a number of issues facing our district and the Commonwealth.

If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or email me at [email protected].  You can also review the Legislature’s work online at www.legislature.ky.gov

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