FRANKFORT — The Kentucky General Assembly wrapped up its 2017 legislative session
on Thursday night after a final swirl of meetings, debate and eleventh-hour votes.
After leaving Frankfort for a nearly-two-week veto recess, members of the House and
Senate returned this week for two final days during which several major pieces of
legislation achieved final passage and seem poised to become law.
One of the most closely-watched measures was Senate Bill 1, which makes sweeping
changes to public education in Kentucky by changing how students, teachers, and
schools are evaluated and held accountable. The bill is designed to return more
control to local school districts, giving them a stronger voice in measuring and
improving performance, including that of schools that are struggling.
Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, Kentucky schools would review and revise
academic standards with recommendations from educators and suggestions invited from
members of the public. Local school boards would also be responsible for evaluating
teachers, the amount of paperwork now required of teachers and administrators would
be reduced, and new locally-controlled accountability measures would be enacted for
success indicators such as graduation rates and college admissions. The bill had
widespread support from education groups and easily passed both the Senate and the
House of Representatives.
Senate Bill 1 comes on the heels of another major change for education in the
Commonwealth – the passage of the charter schools bill earlier in March. House Bill
520 passed both chambers, clearing the way for local school boards to authorize and
operate charter schools in Kentucky. Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, such
schools can be established by contract and governed by independent school boards,
providing students with programs that meet or exceed student performance standards
adopted by the state’s Board of Education.
A third measure affecting Kentucky schools was House Bill 128, which establishes a
method for allowing public high schools to offer courses in Bible literacy. The
classes, which would be voluntary for schools to offer and elective for students to
take, would be part of a school’s social studies curriculum. The bill passed the
Senate on Wednesday after being cleared earlier by the House, so it is now in the
hands of Gov. Matt Bevin.
Also achieving final passage this week was Senate Bill 120, which is designed to
give convicted felons an easier path to successfully re-enter society. The bill
would enable prisoners to gain work experience while still incarcerated, reduce
probation and parole times for certain offenders, and prevent defendants from being
jailed for inability to pay their court costs.
One of the week’s more vigorously-debated measures was House Bill 333, which would
prevent physicians from prescribing more than a three-day supply of opioid
painkillers such as fentanyl and carfentanil, with some exceptions allowed. The
bill, which is now in the hands of Gov. Bevin, also increases penalties for
trafficking in opioids and authorizes the Kentucky Office of the Inspector General
to investigate trends in drug usage and trafficking in a further effort to tackle
the state’s increasing problem with painkiller addiction.
Also achieving final passage this week were:
* House Bill 524, a measure to prevent and reduce human trafficking,
including sexual and labor exploitation, in Kentucky. The bill requires public
schools and highway rest areas to post hotline phone numbers for reporting human
trafficking.
* House Bill 253, legislation to require unannounced welfare checks on
children who have been the subject of reported child abuse or neglect. Such visits
would continue until the child’s safety has been ascertained, and schools would be
unable to deny access to a child who is the subject of an investigation.
* House Bill 309, which enables tenants who are victims of domestic violence
to terminate a lease with 30 days’ notice to their landlords and prevent abuse
victims from being denied a lease because of their history as domestic violence
victims.
Finally, the General Assembly voted this week to override Gov. Bevin’s vetoes on
four pieces of legislation that had been approved by the legislature earlier in the
session:
* Senate Bill 91, which will allow court-ordered outpatient treatment for
certain mentally ill people and hospitalization in some cases after getting a
petition from loved ones, legal guardians, law enforcement or medical professionals.
* Senate Joint Resolution 57, which will designate honorary names and sign
placements on Kentucky roads.
* House Bill 540, which will create state regulations for drones.
* House Bill 471, which will create funding for public charter schools. The
governor’s line-item veto on this bill would not have affected charter school
funding, though. It only targeted a portion of the bill dealing with the
disbursement of funds from a multimillion dollar legal settlement with Volkswagen
Although the legislative session has concluded, constituents are still encouraged to
contact their Representatives and Senators to voice their opinions about issues of
interest. If you’d like to share your thoughts and ideas with state lawmakers,
please call the General Assembly’s toll-free message line at (800) 372-7181, or find
contact information for individual legislators at
www.lrc.ky.gov<http://www.lrc.ky.gov/>.