Beech Tree News Network

A Week in Review: Bills clear committee, head to full House

With the 2023 Regular Session in full swing, we had a full week of committee meetings, House Floor debate, and a ruling from the Supreme Court of Kentucky in a case involving legislation passed in previous sessions.

One of the biggest stories of the week was a Kentucky Supreme Court decision on two abortion-related laws. When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, it triggered a Kentucky law that essentially bans all abortions in the state except for cases of medical emergency that threaten the mother’s health. Almost immediately, organizations sued the state, and a Jefferson County Circuit Judge placed an injunction on the law, allowing abortions to continue. But then the Court of Appeals reversed that order, allowing the law to take effect. This week, the Kentucky Supreme Court allowed the Appeals Court’s decision to allow the ban to continue to stand while sending the case back to Circuit Court for consideration. It was a victory for the pro-life movement in the commonwealth, but we still have a lot of work to do to ensure these laws stay in place. The legislature is committed to standing up for women and their unborn children and will continue defending life. 

As I mentioned, House committees moved several bills and resolutions this week, all aimed at tackling the challenges Kentuckians face. Among them are the following measures:

Making Kentucky a Second Amendment Sanctuary State: This week, we saw the discussion of HB 153, which is a bill aimed at protecting your Second Amendment rights. The bill would prohibit law enforcement agencies and officers, public agencies, public officials, or employees of a local government from enforcing federal firearm bans. In the last couple of years, we have seen an increase in rhetoric from federal agencies and the current presidential administration about increasing regulations on firearms. HB 153 would prevent federal firearm regulations enacted after January 1, 2022, from being enforced with Kentucky tax dollars. This bill protects law-abiding Kentuckians from becoming criminals overnight because a federal agency uses the regulatory process to make laws without a legislative vote cast.

Establishing a Kentucky Urban Search and Rescue Program: In the last two years, Kentucky has experienced the largest natural disasters in the state’s history, placing an emphasis on rescue programs. Local rescue teams and first responders lead these rescue efforts, but it can be hard to assist everyone when all their resources are being used. This is where the Kentucky Urban Search and Rescue team would come in to assist with rescue efforts; this specialized team can locate, extricate, and provide medical stabilization of victims trapped in urban and rural areas. HB 157 would create this much-needed program by establishing two task forces and 10 regional teams.

Addressing the Benefits Cliff: HJR 39 directs the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) to review and implement programs to address the harm caused by a sudden decrease or elimination of public benefits that often happens when recipients get a job or small pay increase. Commonly called a benefits cliff, this often prevents people from entering the workforce because there pay will not allow them to afford health care, transportation, or childcare. This resolution results from discussions held by the 2022 Interim Benefits Cliff Task Force. It first directs CHFS to review all public assistance programs administered by the cabinet. Next, the resolution seeks to direct the cabinet to study the annual cost of maintaining changes to the Child Care Assistance Program funded by COVID-19 relief funds as well as defining what those programs will look like when the funds are exhausted. It also calls for the creation of a Benefits Cliff Calculator, which would provide a realistic estimate of what an individual’s benefits would look like if they get a job or pay raise. Lastly, it directs cabinet to implement an outreach program to increase awareness and utilization of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.

The full House voted unanimously on Friday to approve HB 75, which would harness federal resources to help increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for Kentucky hospitals without using state dollars. The Hospital Rate Improvement Program (HRIP) allows the state to draw down federal funds to pay a supplemental Medicaid payment to Kentucky hospitals; hospitals then pay an assessment to fund the state match. Reimbursement to hospitals covers only inpatient services leaving many rural hospitals, which primarily perform outpatient services, without money to cover those costs. HB 75 would address this issue and allow hospitals to cover inpatient and outpatient services to better stabilize their finances.

As always, I can be reached here at home anytime, or through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181. Feel free to contact me via email at [email protected]. If you would like more information, please visit the legislature’s website at www.legislature.ky.gov.