Rep. McCoy: Session begins to wind down, but the work continues to ramp up

By CHAD MCCOY
50th District State Representative

Sunday, March 25, 2018 — As always, it was a busy and eventful week in Frankfort. Although we had a short week with only four days of action, every day was fairly lengthy and the end result was a plethora of bills and resolutions passed, most of which are heading straight to the governor for final approval.

REP. CHAD MCCOY

Conference committees were also named this week. Conference committees are groups of both senators and representatives that come together to hash out differences on things the two bodies disagree on. The state budget is the biggest item that the conference committees will work on in the coming days, and heading into final negotiations a final budget will be considered based on three proposals: one from the Governor; one from the House; and one from the Senate.

As you can imagine, many compromises and much negotiation to reach a final two-year spending plan will occur over the next few weeks, starting tomorrow. As that process unfolds, I’d like to highlight a few other bills that made strides this week:

House Bill 68, sponsored by Ken Fleming of Louisville, would establish a mental health wellness program for police. The intent of the program is to help Kentucky’s brave men and women in uniform overcome any psychological trauma they experience. The bill passed and now heads to the governor.

While on the subject of police, we passed House Bill 185, which would increase benefits to the spouses of police officers who die in the line of duty. The same guarantee would be given to other first responders, including firefighters, EMS workers, and jail workers. This bill was very important in the House, as many members have a background in law enforcement themselves.

House Bill 132 passed the Senate and is on its way to the governor to be signed into law. The bill, seeks to teach financial literacy in Kentucky’s public schools. No longer will Kentucky be a national left-behind when it comes to basic skills such as financial literacy. If we are to invest in our future leaders, we must make sure they know how to invest in themselves.

House Bill 1, a bill that has tremendous bipartisan support, also passed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. The bill will make sweeping changes to our adoption and foster care systems to reduce barriers for people who want adopt a child into their home, with the end goal of placing every single child in Kentucky into a loving home.

The opioid crisis has a violent grip on Kentucky, slowly killing our residents, and has hit younger generations particularly hard. To join a bevy of bills aimed to reduce the damage and slow the scourge, House Bill 428 passed the House and will allow first responders to detain someone who has overdosed from opioids, take them to a hospital, and get them the treatment they so desperately need and deserve

House Bill 191, which received final passage, will require companies offering eyeglass or contact prescriptions based on virtual eye tests offered by smartphone app or elsewhere to have the prescription signed off on by a Kentucky licensed medical provider. Those receiving prescriptions from such vendors would have to be at least 18 years old and have received an in-person eye exam within the previous 24 months.

These are just some of the highlights from this week. So far, more than 60 bills have passed both the House and Senate this year, and more than 45 have already been sent to the Governor to be signed into law.

As March wraps up, I want to assure you that we will continue to work toward the final two-year budget, which is the most important task for me. There are still numerous issues to tackle in these last few weeks, with the state budget being the biggest challenge, and we will see to it that it all gets done. The people of Kentucky deserve the best, and I will give them mine.

You can reach me through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181, or you can contact me via e-mail at chad.mccoy@lrc.ky.gov. You can keep track of committee meetings and potential legislation through the Kentucky Legislature Home Page at www.lrc.ky.gov.

-30-