A legislative update (of sorts)

Sometimes you just bite off more than you can chew. Such is the case with me trying to follow along with all of the current activity taking place in Frankfort during this year’s legislative session.

I wrote a column a couple of weeks ago where I explained that, while my background does not include a lot of coverage of the legislative processes in this state, I felt that it would be worthwhile to try and do a deep dive into what all is being discussed in the capital by our elected officials in the House and Senate.

What I have discovered is that is a full-time job all on its own.

I wish that I could get up every day and really focus on this, as I have found it to be very interesting and important (we are talking about lawmaking after all), but the fact of the matter is that I simply don’t have the bandwidth to keep up with everything. There are A LOT of bills being considered right now, with some having passed through the House to be looked at in the Senate, some having passed through the Senate to be looked at in the House, and some still being reviewed by various committees and/or being amended before any further progress can be made.

With all of that being said, I wanted to take some time this week to have a quick look at some of these bills, consider their importance, and once again direct everyone to where you can follow along as future developments take place between now and the end of the legislative session in mid-April.

HB 194 – This House Bill, which I wrote about earlier in the month, deals with consequences for those who commit workplace violence against healthcare professionals. It has successfully passed through the House of Representatives, and has been received in the Senate.

HB 323 – Another House Bill that I previously looked at, this bill deals with establishing a re-imbursement program for cancer screenings on firefighters. It has also passed through the House, and has been received in the Senate.

HB 193 – One more House Bill that was previously mentioned, this bill was designed to increase protections for workers in and around highway construction zones by stiffening penalties for drivers who violate certain safety laws. Same as the previous two examples, it has also passed through the House, and has been received in the Senate.

HB 509 – Touched upon by our own Mark White in a column last week, this House Bill seeks to redefine what is a “public record.” This is of particular interest to us in the news business, and has been a big topic of conversation in recent days. As Mark said in his column last week (now available online at thenewsjournal.net), there are reports that efforts are ongoing to revise or completely overhaul the bill. For more on why this is important, I will refer you back to his column, which mainly looked at why many intoxicated drivers do not receive jail sentences, but also dedicates 5-6 paragraphs to encapsulating the issue with HB 509 toward the end.

HB 418 – Here’s a new one that I’ve been keeping an eye on… House Bill 418 sets out to “amend KRS 262.850 to decrease the minimum number of acres to qualify as an agricultural district from 250 acres to 50 acres.” It does some other stuff too, but basically, KRS 262.850, otherwise known as the Agricultural District and Conservation Act, defines an agricultural district as land meeting certain requirements that is set aside in order to “protect and encourage development and improvement …for the production of food and other agricultural products.”

I am only scratching the surface of the potential effects of this particular bill, and I may very well have a full story on it at some point in the future, but I did want to go ahead and call your attention to it, as it has passed through the House of Representatives. If the Senate also passes it and the Governor signs it into law, then I assume there is a good chance that we could see much more land suddenly falling into the agricultural district category. I am interested to know how this could impact us here in Whitley County and surrounding areas, and what that would mean for not just farmers, but also conservationists and agents who are employed by our local cooperative extension office.

As I said, a full story on this could follow at some point in the future, so stay tuned.

HB 674 – Just days ago, the Kentucky Press Association shared the news on their official Facebook page that House Bill 674, filed by Rep. Steven Doan of Boone and Kenton Counties, seeks to make Kentucky “exempt from the advancement of time provision known as Daylight Saving Time.” If passed, the Commonwealth would permanently move to standard time as of November 1 of this year. It is important to note that this has been tried before without success, but hey, maybe this is the time that we’ll actually see it go through.

HB 694 – The filing of this bill is another brand-new development that took place just days ago as of this writing. Announced by our own 82nd District Rep. Nick Wilson via his official Facebook page, Wilson said of the filing, “I am a proud co-sponsor of House Bill 694 filed by Rep. Chris Fugate on Friday, which will provide teachers and school employees with stipends each of the next two years. I hope we can pass HB 694 to provide for our teachers, without adding pressure onto our devastatingly underfunded state retirements systems.”

Again, this bill was just filed, so only time will tell how things will proceed from here.

As I said before, the ongoing activity in Frankfort is a lot to keep up with. Of course, when any major developments take place, especially those that could potentially have a major impact on our home region, then we here at the News Journal will do our best to provide you with those details.

In the meantime, in order to track the progress of ALL bills moving through the House and Senate yourself, go online to www.legislature.ky.gov. From the home page, you can select the “Bills” sub-heading, and then click on “2024 Regular Session.”