Bills signed into law and what to expect at the ballot
While you often see legislation passed make the headlines during a regular session, some of the bigger items go unnoticed, leaving voters uninformed. This session has been filled with a robust number of measures passed that will undoubtedly make Kentucky a better place to live and work. For this update, I would like to inform you on a few bills that have already been signed into law and constitutional amendments that you will have the ability to vote on in November.
Preventing human trafficking: Protecting our children as well as Kentucky’s most vulnerable populations has been and always will be a priority in the legislature’s agenda. Recently, the Governor signed HB 3 into law, which takes steps to create a working group whose sole purpose will be to investigate ongoing human trafficking concerns in Kentucky, as well as establish parameters for human trafficking reporting in publicly frequented places such as hotels and highway posts. While this measure doesn’t directly solve the human trafficking crisis taking place in our state and across the nation, it will grant us the ability to investigate and report in ways that aren’t otherwise available to us.
Protecting online data: As we live in a digital age, it is common to be apprehensive about the data we share online and with others. Often times, we see news of data breaches and other cybercrimes that would compromise our personal data. Earlier this month, HB 15, a measure to grant consumers additional rights to their data was signed into law. This measure’s primary objective is to protect the data of online consumers in the commonwealth by guaranteeing them the right to any data that is collected on their behalf, as well as allowing them to ask for their data to not be sold and / or be discarded by the company that collected it in the first place.
Establishing additional resources for veteran mental health: Veteran suicide is a prominent issue that continues to affect Kentucky veterans. According to the statistics from the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health, 111 Kentucky veterans died by suicide in 2021. While this number seems to be improving through the years, there is still much work to be done. Last week, the Governor signed HB 30, which creates the Kentucky Service Members, Veterans, and their Families Suicide Prevention Program within the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. This new law also requires the program to work with community partners, nonprofits and state and federal programs to reduce barriers to mental and physical health services. This will serve as an additional resource to veterans who may be struggling.
Through any general election cycle, the legislature has the ability to place up to four proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot. Constitutional amendments are treated like any other piece of legislation; they go through the vetting process of hearings and rounds of voting to deliver to you the best final product. The only differences are, it is delivered to the secretary of state to be added to the ballot, and it is finally decided on by the voters. So far this session, we have seen several constitutional amendments filed, including HB 4, which passed both chambers and was delivered to the secretary of state. If approved, this constitutional amendment would update constitutional limitations on when the legislature can meet, giving lawmakers more flexibility in setting our session schedule by letting us determine the date a regular session can end. The language you will see on your ballot will read as follows:
“Are you in favor of amending the present Constitution of Kentucky to add a new section allowing the General Assembly to establish the date a regular session shall end, and to meet in regular session for no more than twelve additional days during any calendar year if convened by a Joint Proclamation of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives?”