Senate Republicans focus on illegal immigration as KY lawmakers return to Frankfort
In the opening day of the 2020 legislative session, Republicans in the Kentucky Senate named their first priority of the legislative session — a bill taking aim at illegal immigration.
Senate leaders said a bill pre-filed by Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, that would prohibit the creation of “sanctuary cities” in Kentucky, would be Senate Bill 1, which is the designation given to the Senate’s highest priority bill. It also would prevent public colleges and universities from enacting, adopting or enforcing any “sanctuary policies.”
He filed the bill after Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said Lexington would only assist agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement if ordered by a judge, as has been Lexington policy for about 20 years.
“This is an important issue,” said Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester. “We have heard there would be indications they want to become cities where they would not enforce or assist immigration and naturalization agencies.”
Clay County, where Stivers is from, is 94 percent white.
The bill also includes language that would allow law enforcement agencies to adopt policies that allow law enforcement officials and their employees to ask about nationality and immigration status of a victim of a crime or a witness to a crime, but only if the inquiry is relevant to the law enforcement agency’s investigation or if it provides information about visas designed to protect people who provide information to law enforcement.
The bill does not apply to school districts or boards of education, or information about students protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The focus on immigration sends a message to Gov. Andy Beshear, who has said finding more money for education is his top priority for the 2020 legislative session. The state’s two-year budget bill must start in the House, which is also led by Republicans.
Beshear has said there is no need for a bill prohibiting sanctuary cities because there are no sanctuary cities in Kentucky.
There were five priority bills filed in the Senate Tuesday, the same day Senate Republicans celebrated the 20th anniversary of taking control of the Senate. Stivers said the Senate will unveil five more priority bills next Monday.
Senate Bill 2 would require voters to present photo identification, a campaign promise of newly elected Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams. Kentucky already has a law that requires identification to vote, but it does not require photographic identification.
Senate Bill 3 would move the election of constitutional officers — the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner and state treasurer — to even numbered years starting in 2028. The senate has passed similar bills in previous sessions, but the legislation typically dies in the House of Representatives.
Senate Bill 4 would strip the governor of his autonomy in appointing the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet (currently Jim Gray), placing some control of the appointment with a nine-member citizen board that would be appointed by the governor. The board would vet and prioritize statewide transportation projects, including a biennial highway construction plan, and recommend candidates for Transportation Cabinet secretary to the governor.
The board also would have the power to fire the cabinet secretary.
Senate Bill 5, a repeat of a Senate bill that has failed before, would require “special purpose governmental entities,” such as a library board, sewer district or volunteer fire department, to get approval from a county fiscal court or city council before increasing taxes. The bill exempts airport boards.
Supporters of this change have argued that unelected appointees who run local agencies should not be authorized to raise taxes without the oversight of officials who answer to voters, which is the present situation.
Unlike the Senate, the House of Representatives did not file their priority legislation Tuesday. Osborne said the chamber’s priority is the budget.
“That’s more of a Senate tradition,” Osborne said.
Osborne said the top issues of the Republican House caucus are still being discussed.
“I think you’ll see those things roll out over the coming days,” Osborne said. “But we’re going to continue on the agenda we set forth three years ago, which was to make Kentucky a better place to build a business and a better place to raise a family. We will continue to focus on those things that will create jobs, improve workforce participation. At the same time we will be very mindful of families and child welfare.”
Heading into the session, Beshear has called for expanded gambling in Kentucky and lawmakers have begun to line up behind a bill that would allow sports betting in the state. That bill is estimated to raise between $20 to $48 million and Beshear said he thinks there is a good chance it will pass.
Osborne said there is interest in the bill among his caucus, but that there has been no whip count to see how many Republicans support the legislation.
“It will certainly get due consideration,” Osborne said.
Lawmakers in both chambers paused for a moment of silence for Rep. Bam Carney, R-Campbellsville, who is in the hospital recovering from a severe case of pancreatitis and infection. Carney filed for reelection Tuesday by having someone turn in the necessary paperwork for him.
“I ask that you continue to add him to your thoughts and prayers as well as his family as he goes down that path to recovery,” said House Speaker Pro Tempore David Meade, R-Stanford. “I look forward, like many of you, to watching the gentleman from Taylor walk back in here and take this microphone.”
Meade will perform Carney’s role for the remainder of the week, said House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect. It is uncertain who will take over for Carney after that.
“Now that Leader Carney is awake and responsive we’ll try to have a more in-depth conversation with him about how to proceed, try to get a better feel for how long his absence might be and make some more permanent arrangements,” Osborne said.
Herald-Leader reporters John Cheves and Alex Acquisto contributed reporting for this article.
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 2:46 PM.
