Setting Our Priorities
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Creating Kentucky jobs and strengthening Kentucky families is the Republican Senate Majority Caucus’s mission statement for this year’s General Assembly. I am proud to report that four of our priority bills have passed the Senate in the first week and headed to the House of Representatives.
Once again, the Senate has led the way, electing leadership and appointing members to committees prior to the start of the session so that we can get to work on day one, mindful of the taxpayer’s money.
Our first piece of legislation again addresses the heroin epidemic. Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Senator Chris McDaniel, and which I proudly co-sponsored, provides more tools and resources for law enforcement, treatment sector, and first responders to fight this deadly addiction. SB 5 provides an additional $13.3 million for heroin treatment programs and requires increased reporting so that the effectiveness of the programs can be monitored. Other provisions will allow first responders to administer naloxone, a medication which can sometimes prevent death from a heroin overdose; allows law enforcement to waive certain charges against suspects who voluntarily warn officers that they are carrying needles; and requires convicted trafficking offenders to serve 50 percent of their sentences before being eligible for parole.
Immediately upon the passage of the Heroin Bill, the Senate took up Senate Bill 1, another that I co-sponsored. SB 1 is a jobs bill and would designate Kentucky a right-to-work state, allowing workers to decide themselves whether to join a union or not. After good floor debate, the Senate passed the bill, giving Kentucky another tool when recruiting industries to locate in the Commonwealth and create jobs.
Friday, the Senate passed two more bills. Senate Bill 2, which I co-sponsored, addresses a current imbalance of power regarding regulations that can be implemented by the executive branch without legislative oversight. This bill establishes a system for legislators to have oversight on executive administrative regulations and ensure that they are in line with Kentucky statutes. If it passes this session, Kentucky voters will have the opportunity to cast their vote on the issue in 2016 since it would be an amendment to the Kentucky constitution.
Senate Bill 4 is a pro-life piece of legislation and requires that a face-to-face consultation with a physician, or “informed consent,” between the patient and physician take place before a medical procedure to perform an abortion can occur.
These four bills echo our core principles as a party and set our agenda for the session emphasizing that the Senate is determined to deliver results and make changes by providing legislation to create quality jobs and strengthen Kentucky families.
I encourage you to follow these bills closely, along with any other legislation you may be interested in. Your input is not only valued and appreciated, it can ensure that legislators are aware of your particular interest and concerns and can make a difference in the process. I encourage you to follow the Senate bills which we pass and call members of the House and urge them to pass the bills as well.
In particular, please support Senate Bill 5. Kentuckians are dying in growing numbers due to the current epidemic of heroin addiction. We need legislative action to provide first responders, law enforcement, and medical community the resources necessary to break the hold heroin has on our state. You can express your support for Senate Bill 5 by calling 1-800-372-7181 and asking that the House pass this life-saving measure quickly.