Legislative Update

HB 291, the Family Preservation and Accountability Act, unanimously passed the House on February 26. The bill is meant to reduce incarceration of parents for certain offenses who are the primary caretaker/caregivers of a dependent child or children by allowing alternative sentencing. CCK supports the bill because it will help prevent the taking the primary caregiver out of the home and keep families together which will avoid sending children into foster care, and also help reduce the costs of incarceration and reduce the strain on the already overburdened foster care system.

CCK’s action page for HB 291 can be found here. Please use the form to send a message to your state senator.

SB 60 is an extension of Kentucky's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”), providing for a cause of action for Kentuckians whose rights are being substantially burdened. Currently, RFRA can be raised as a legal standard in an ongoing case, but there is no ability to bring a lawsuit against the government on a RFRA claim. SB 60 would provide that path.  The bill has passed the Senate and now goes to the House.

HB 206 provides for compensation to those who were wrongfully convicted and served time in prison for a crime they did not commit.  The bill was passed by the Judiciary Committee and is waiting for final vote in the House. Please visit the Innocence Project’s Action Page for more information and for help reaching out to your legislators.

HB 414 expands access to perinatal palliative care for families who tragically lose a child during pregnancy or shortly after birth. This can be a crucial support for families during an unimaginably difficult time and helps consider the health of the mother as well. The bill is currently assigned to the Health Services Committee and has yet to be heard.

SB 89 is of grave concern as it will end protections for thousands of miles of headwater ephemeral streams that are critical for slowing floodwaters, filtering pollutants, and supporting aquatic ecosystems, and even more troubling is that the bill  would also no longer protect and significantly compromise Kentucky’s groundwater, impacting the water quality of more than 31,000 private use wells and at least 156 public water systems which is the source of drinking water for nearly 2 million Kentuckians and is used by our farmers for irrigation and farmstead uses. The consequences will be devastating. More pollution will enter Kentucky’s rivers and lakes requiring additional treatment for city and county water systems which will result in higher costs for consumers.  Adding additional pollutants and sediments to streams and creeks can also increase the risk of flooding which we have recently seen can be tragic and catastrophic. Additional contaminants and pollutants in waterways also can pose a threat to Kentucky’s fish and wildlife resources which provide sport, recreation and tourism commerce to the state, and Kentucky is already under a state wide fish consumption advisory for mercury.  

CCK opposes this bill because in keeping with the tenants of Pope Francis’s environmental encyclical Laudato Si and the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, “the earth is our common home that is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us”, and must be protected. Since we all live downstream, whatever happens upstream affects us all. The bill was voted out of the Senate last week and has not yet received a House committee assignment although it most likely will be assigned to the House Natural Resources Committee.

To send a message to your legislators about any of these bills or any other legislative issue, you can call the Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181. The operator will transcribe your message and deliver it to your senator and/or representative. If you don't know who your legislators are, they can determine that for you based on your address. Alternatively, you can find your legislators at this link and send them a direct email.