It was a short week for me due to the flu, but I came back ready to work on Thursday. By Friday morning, two pieces of legislation that I sponsored passed the House Floor and I celebrated having my first page, Carter Keown from Leitchfield.
We still have a great deal of work to do, and the remaining legislative days promise a rapid pace. Monday, March 2nd, is the last day left to file new legislation, and almost two-thirds of this session is behind us. While we already have more than 500 bills filed for consideration, this is quite a bit fewer than previous sessions.
On Thursday morning, the House Standing Committee on Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee advanced a bipartisan proposal that many lawmakers see as a step toward local tax reform.
The proposal set out in HB 475 would allow Kentucky voters to decide whether the state Constitution should be amended to remove restrictions on ways the General Assembly can allow local governments to levy certain taxes. Supporters of the proposed amendment—including around 50 bipartisan cosponsors to HB 475—say it would allow the General Assembly to create a statutory framework for local creation of much-needed tax modernization.
Among the bills that passed the House chamber this week, HB 331 and HB 390 were both two pieces of legislation that I introduced. House Bill 331 would allow money saved through 529 education savings plans to be spent on apprenticeship program expenses, such as tuition, books, and equipment.
This legislation aligns Kentucky law with the federal SECURE Act that was signed into law late last year. The SECURE Act expanded the definition of qualified tuition programs that 529 education savings can be used to include apprenticeship programs. The apprenticeship program must be registered and certified with the United States Secretary of Labor.
House Bill 390 would require a private employer with a personal leave policy in place to include adoptive parents with birth parents. This bill does not mandate employers to provide paid leave. Instead, it stipulates that whatever leave time is already given to a birth parent should also be allotted to an adoptive parent. The personal leave time would only be given to an employee when the adopted child is under the age of 10.
This measure would give private employees the same benefits as state employees. Under current law, state employees who adopt are offered the same leave time as birth parents.
In addition to these two bills, the House approved legislation aimed at closing a loophole in current open records law to protect victims and their families. Currently, the law allows individuals to obtain and publish graphic and disturbing crime scene photos and videos. If passed by the Senate, HB 174 would prevent the use of the open records law to access images and videos used in court proceedings which show death, rape, physical or sexual assault or abuse.
While I believe our government should be open and transparent, I think we can all agree that we can do better to help victims and their families heal and overcome. The bill is named the Bailey Holt/Preston Cope Victims’ Privacy Act in honor of the two high school students murdered in a mass shooting at Marshall County High School in January of 2018.
Before I finish, I would like to share some information about the General Assembly’s Legislative Page Program. This is a great educational opportunity to experience democracy in action by serving a day on the House Floor during the session. They work on the floor, delivering messages, running errands, and copying materials. Page supervisors oversee the program, ensuring that pages are safe and behaving appropriately. Children must be ten and older, and a parent or guardian must also be present. We all enjoy having the children in the chamber and, frankly, they serve as a fitting reminder that the work we do will impact our state for generations.
If you have any questions or comments about this session, I can be reached during the week from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (EST) through the toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181. They will ask you to share contact information, but I will get the message and I do indeed appreciate hearing from constituents. You can also contact me via e-mail at Samara.Heavrin@lrc.ky.gov. You can keep track of committee meetings and potential legislation through the Kentucky Legislature Home Page at www.lrc.ky.gov and you can also follow me on Facebook @kyrepsamaraheavrin.
By Rep. Samara Heavrin
