Five things to watch as another Kentucky legislative session begins in Frankfort
Divided government returns to Frankfort Tuesday.
When the Republican-led General Assembly convenes at noon Tuesday in Kentucky’s Capitol, they’ll have to work with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration as they craft a new two-year budget and tackle other policy issues.
Here are five things to pay attention to as the 2020 legislative session heats up.
The Budget
The $23 billion dollar question hanging over this year’s legislative session is the two-year state budget. Kentucky is expected to bring in an additional $422 million over the next two years, which is far less than the estimated $1.8 billion increase needed for things the state is obligated to pay for, such as the pension system, Medicaid and the funding formula for K-12 schools.
That $1.8 billion doesn’t include all the promises Beshear made on the campaign trail, such as raising teachers salaries by $2,000, which Beshear estimated would cost $84 million a year. And it doesn’t include funding for a school safety bill approved last year, which is expected to cost $18 million in the first year and then $121 million annually for counselors and safety officers.
Beshear’s staff writes a suggested budget, but ultimately it’s up to the legislature to decide what gets funded and what doesn’t. It’s also the legislature that will decide the fate of revenue bills that would generate the revenue necessary to pay for Beshear’s pledged emphasis on education.
Already, Republican leaders in the Senate have shut down Beshear’s promise for allowing casinos in Kentucky, but there appears to be an opening on sports betting, which failed in the House of Representatives in 2019. They’ve also shown little appetite for tax changes that are not revenue neutral.
One of the biggest clashes of the session is likely to be between the governor, who has promised more government spending, and Republican legislative leaders who think Kentuckians should be able to live within the means of an $11 billion annual General Fund.
Education
In his first month in office, Beshear has been attempting to pay back the people who got him elected — educators. He’s signed executive orders that have had substantial impact, like restructuring the State Board of Education, and symbolic impact, like rescinding former Gov. Matt Bevin’s stance on how to handle teachers who took part in “sick outs.”
But many of Beshear’s biggest promises to educators are dependent upon the legislature. In addition to teacher pay raises, Beshear has repeatedly stressed that he wants to make significant investments in education.
“Every year that we shortchange education, even at the expense of something else that we would agree is important, is a detriment to that generation,” Beshear said. “The way that we ultimately become everything that we want to be as a state is to have a highly educated, highly skilled, healthy workforce and population.”
Republican lawmakers, though, may have different priorities.
There is one area in education unlikely to see much progress, however: charter schools. The legislature has repeatedly chosen not to provide a funding mechanism to allow charter schools, defying Bevin’s wishes in the process. Now, with a governor who opposes funding charter schools, the idea of creating a funding mechanism is even less likely.
Criminal Justice Reform
There has been a growing clamor for criminal justice reform in Frankfort, especially as the opioid epidemic has contributed to overcrowded prisons and regional jails throughout the state.
Past efforts at reform, though, have hit a wall of indifference among lawmakers. In 2018, an omnibus criminal justice reform bill couldn’t get the backing it needed to pass. Then, in 2019, a bill designed to specifically deal with bail reform died after it was opposed by a group of judges and prosecutors who feared it would take away judicial discretion.
Kentucky’s broken bail system, where bail varies based on where you get arrested or which judge handles your sentencing, has led to the overcrowding of regional jails, where inmates who have not yet been convicted of a crime may be forced to sleep on roll-away cots.
Even if the legislature addresses bail reform, it still wouldn’t address the overcrowding of Kentucky’s prison system. Even as more and more lawmakers have talked about the need for criminal justice reform, bills have passed in Frankfort creating new felony penalties, the type of crime that fills up prisons. For example, a much heralded bill in the 2018 session to address the opioid epidemic included harsher penalties for people charged with the distribution of heroin and fentanyl, at a time when the prisons are crowded with addicts.
Sports Betting
Expanded casino gambling has been taken off the table by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, but there are discussions about expanding sports betting in Kentucky after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the activity last year.
Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, has long been a proponent of expanded gambling in the legislature and launched a failed effort last session to pass a sports betting bill he said would have raised between $20 million and $48 million in revenue.
Now he’s back with the same sports betting bill, one that would require in-person sports betting in Kentucky to be done at a horse racetrack or the Kentucky Speedway. The state would get 9.75 percent of the profit for in-person sports betting and 14.25 percent on wagers placed online.
The bill may change before it reaches a vote and Koenig said there is a good chance he will amend the bill to allow people to bet on University of Kentucky and University of Louisville sports teams.
Koenig said the bill may be easier to pass this year (revenue measures require a higher vote threshold in non-budget years), noting there is a grassroots movement raising awareness and support for the bill.
Plus, it raises revenue.
“I certainly think it helps,” Koenig said. “We’ll be looking for money everywhere. I think this is certainly a way of raising revenue without raising taxes.”
Social Issues
Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington, has already proposed a “bathroom bill” for schools which would require children to use the bathroom that matches the gender they were assigned at birth.
There hasn’t been much appetite for “bathroom bills” in the legislature over the past three years and Chris Hartman, president of Kentucky Fairness, doesn’t think that will change this year.
“I see this as election year pandering to David Hale’s base,” Hartman said.
Hale was not immediately available for comment.
Instead, Hartman said a compromise bill that expands LGBTQ rights might get serious consideration.
“I think there’s quite a bit of movement afoot on both sides of the aisle for how to expand rights for LGBTQ people in Kentucky,” Hartman said.
Kentucky is one of 28 states without laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.
Hartman said he thinks lawmakers might be willing to consider a compromise bill, similar to one passed in Utah and one pending at the federal level, that would provide some protections to LGBTQ people while carving out exemptions based on religious beliefs.
“It’s not the way that I prefer, but I would definitely applaud any statewide protections,” Hartman said.
