- February 18, 2021
News Outlook
COMMUNITY
SENATOR BRANDON l. STOBM’S lElilSlA'l'lllE IIPIIA'I'E
On Thursday, the Ken-
tucky General Assembly
officially reached the half-
way mark of 30day
session, but not without
Mother Nature making
presence known. I
you remained safe
during winter
rolled into the Blue-
grass late last week. Join
me in taking a moment to
thank the fantastic folks
who have braved ele-
ments to keep our lights
on and our roads clear.
They are unsung heroes.
For the first time as your
State Senator, I testified
before a legislative com—
mittee in favor of a bill that
I am proud to be sponsor-
ing—Senate Bill (SB) 131.
The bill would move the
Motorcycle Safety Edu-
cation Program from the
Justice and Public Safety
Cabinet to Transpor-
tation Cabinet. The bill
also expands the program
include training for nov-
ice riders rather than just
experienced riders. I ap-
preciate opportunity
to carry this bill and hope
to present it before the full
Senate soon. The bill went
through the Senate Trans-
portation Committee, of
which I am honored to
serve as Vice-Chairman.
Legislation receiving
passage in the Senate this
past week includes:
SB 12 preserves
nonprofit nature of eye
tissue donation by pro-
hibiting for-profit entities
from procuring any eye,
cornea, eye tissue, or cor—
neal tissue. It ensures that
a person may not, for valu-
able consideration, know-
ineg purchase, sell, trans-
fer, or offer to buy, sell, or
transfer any human organ
for transplantation or ther-
apy.
SB 16 updates Co—
lon Cancer Screening
Program with its fund and
advisory committee to in-
clude "and Prevention" in
the title. It requires funds
from the sale of special
cancer prevention license
plates be directed
the program fund and
used solely for colon can-
cer screening and preven-
tion. The bill also updates
the membership of the
program's advisory com-
mittee. It requires the
Department for Medicaid
Services to present sta-
tistics on cancer services
related to colorectal can-
cer annually and upon re-
quest.
Kentucky has done
an excellent job in re-
cent years on the cancer
screening and preven-
tion front. We were once
ranked 49th in this area
and have reached a rank-
ing as high as 17th. We
currently rank about
22nd. More work is left
to do, but better focusing
our efforts through good
legislation will improve
our ongoing fight against
cancer.
SB 29 provides Ken-
tucky's Attorney Gen-
eral, Commonwealth’s
Attorneys, and County
Attorneys security against
financial liability result-
ing from the good faith
performance of sworn du—
ties prosecute state law.
Losses would be compen-
sated by funds appropri—
ated to the Finance & Ad-
ministration Cabinet.
SB 36 removes the au-
tomatic transfer of a child
from a district court to a
circuit court to be tried as
an adult in cases involving
the use of firearms. The
bill brings juvenile cases
involving a gun in align—
FRANKFORT, February 10 — Sen. Brandon Storm, R-London,
presents Senate Bill 131, a bill that would transfer the Mo-
torcycle Safety Education Commission and the motorcycle
safety education program to the Transportation Cabinet, in
the Senate Transportation Committee.
ment with the standards
applied to any other juve—
nile case. It would also re-
quire the district court to
consider whether or not
the child has a severe in—
tellectual disability.
SB 73 extends the time-
line for action for the
Kentucky Commission on
Human Rights in cases
before them. Currently,
the commission is strug-
gling with Caseloads that
staffing levels are not fully
able to manage.
SB 74 renames the cur-
rent Office on Alzheimer's
Disease and Related Dis—
orders to the Office of De-
mentia Services. The bill
serves to elevate demen-
tia—related services within
the Cabinet for Health and
Family Services (CHFS).
Additionally, it updates
the membership and du-
ties of the Alzheimer’s
Disease and Related Dis-
orders Advisory Council.
SB 74 establishes a De-
mentia Coordinator posi-
tion that will help refresh
the statehealth plan 'évgary‘
four years to improve di-
agnosis and treatment of
dementia and help apply
for federal grants that can
be used to treat demen-
tia. Appropriation for this
position will need to be
allocated by cabinet
or appropriated in future
budgets. Dementia-relat—
ed diseases are the 6th
leading cause of death.
The enactment of this bill
would be a step toward
improving state's ef-
forts to treat these hor-
rible diseases.
SB 77 improves diver-
sity on superintendent
screening committees by
reforming committees'
membership in school dis-
tricts where the minority
student population is 50
percent or greater.
SB 80 will increase so-
cietal trust, and the bill
has the support of law en-
forcement across the state
and their organizations.
The Kentucky Sheriffs As-
sociation, Kentucky Asso-
ciation of Chiefs of Police,
Kentucky Fraternal Order
of Police, and the Ken-
tucky Law Enforcement
Council are all in support
of this piece of legisla-
tion. The bill Strengthens
. oversight of peace officers
conduct themselves
in a criminal or unprofes-
sional way by easing a
council’s ability to revoke
certification. The bill also
puts in place hiring proce-
dures that will help ensure
an officer will not avoid
consequences by leaving
one agency to work for
another.
SB 84 provides women
in state correctional fa-
cilities who are pregnant
with an understanding of
the community—based re—
sources available to them
by connecting them with
social workers to help in
the child's placement. This
bill ends placing pregnant
inmates, or those within
six weeks of delivery of a
child, in solitary confine-
ment. I consider this a
pro-life measure. We must
keep the best interest of
an innocent child in mind.
SB 120 allows for the
continuation of historical
horse racing gambling fol-
lowing a Supreme Court of
Kentucky ruling that this
gaming was incompatible
with the definition of pari-
mutuel wagering. I voted
"no" on this bill for sev-
eral significant reasons.
First, I think the process
utilized was incorrect.
According to Section
of our state constitution,
only lottery and chari-
table gaming are current-
ly permitted in Kentucky.
The more appropriate ap-
proach to achieving this
bill's goal is to amend the
Constitution of Kentucky.
That would have occur
by placing an amendment
on voters' next general
election ballot make
a final determination on
this issue. Kentucky
Lottery was established in
this manner back in 1988.
It seems only appropriate
that should apply that
same standard other
forms of gambling. The
only way this issue finally
gets settled is when the
voters of Kentucky make
their wishes known.
Opposition the pro-
cess notwithstanding, I
opposed SB 120 because I
believe the government’s
endorsement of this rev-
enue mechanism is mis-
placed and inappropriate.
I see this bill as a step
toward further expanding
other forms of gambling;
it provides no reassuranc-
es. Finally, SB 120 is likely
be challenged in court.
As you can see, Gen-
eral Assembly is hard at
work. I am hopeful that
inclement weather will
not slow down our ef—
forts. Should the weather
remain as brutal as it has
been, please avoid being
out at all costs. This will
help lessen the potential
calls for first responders’
service and enable road
workers and linemen to
do the challenging jobs
they have. If you must be
out, please be safe and
mindful.
It is a real honor to rep-
resent Laurel, Jackson,
Estill, Powell, Menifee,
and Bath Counties in the
Kentucky State Senate. If
you have any questions
about these public policy
issues or any other mat—
ter of importance to you,
do not hesitate contact
my office toll-free’by call-
ing 502-564-8100. You can
also email me at brandon.
storm@1rc.ky.gov. Stay
safe. God bless.
I ’ I I
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