Sen. Danny Carroll's Weekly Legislative Update

Hollywood stars, international organizations, and winter weather greeted the Kentucky General Assembly during week six of the 2016 Session. With many guests, packed committee meetings, and energetic rallies, it was another exciting week in Frankfort.

The international organization Save the Children, which promotes health, nutrition, and education for children around the world, had its Action Network President Mark Shriver and actress Jennifer Garner testify in Frankfort on behalf of the organization and their work throughout Kentucky. We were pleased to welcome Mr. Shriver and Ms. Garner to Frankfort, and we thank them for all the work they do for children across the state.

We also welcomed the Kentucky Right to Life Association to the Capitol this week for a Rally for Life in the Capitol Rotunda. As part of the rally, Governor Bevin held a ceremonial signing of Senate Bill (SB) 4, the first piece of pro-life legislation the Kentucky General Assembly has passed in over 12 years.

Another pro-life bill, SB 152, passed out of committee this week and would require women to receive an ultrasound before having an abortion. I am a cosponsor of this bill.  The Senate is still working to pass additional pro-life legislation, and we hope to see those bills move forward as the session continues.

Other bills that passed the Senate this week include:

·Senate Bill 20, which is one of our priority pieces of legislation and another bill I proudly cosponsored, creates an appeals process for Managed Care Organizations (MCO's), will allow health-care providers to appeal a decision relating to the Department of Medicaid. This bill is another step in much-needed health-care reform.

·Senate Bill 53, a bill I sponsored, would offer civil immunity for a person who forcibly enters a locked vehicle believing a cat or dog is in immediate danger of death if not removed from the vehicle. In order to receive immunity, a person must do due diligence to locate the animal's owner and contact the authorities before entering the vehicle.

·SB 78, a bill promoting colon cancer prevention measures, passed this week, and I was proud to be a cosponsor of that legislation.

I am also pleased that two of our priority bills passed out of committee this week: 

-SB 5, which would remove the names of county clerks from marriage licenses. This bill was crafted after Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was criminally charges for standing up for her religious beliefs.  

-SB 1, which is the education reform bill that would take control of our own standards and free up Kentucky teachers to teach and also allow Kentucky teachers to develop our standards. We had many teachers call and write in support of this bill, and we are proud to move forward with legislation. I would encourage all who have an interest in education to read the most current version of this piece of legislation. It can be found on the Legislative Research Commission website at www.lrc.ky.gov.

Finally, I pleased to welcome many guests from the Second District this week on City and County Days. I was honored to have Miss Avril Cole of Calvert City serve as my page Thursday, and I also had the pleasure of presenting Mr. Bryan Carner, outgoing president of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, with a Senate Citation for his leadership and contributions to the Chamber and the community. 

If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or email me at danny.carroll@lrc.ky.gov.  You can also review the Legislature's work online at www.lrc.ky.gov.

Senator Danny Carroll (R-Paducah) represents the 2nd District encompassing Ballard, Carlisle, Marshall and McCracken counties. Senator Carroll serves on the Senate Appropriations & Revenue; Education; Health & Welfare; and Judiciary Committees. He also serves as Chair of the Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government, Finance & Public Protection and as a member of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Education.