Bill to reopen KY chiropractors and require plans for other businesses fails

A coronavirus relief bill in the Kentucky legislature that would have put chiropractors back to work failed Wednesday night in the final hours of the 2020 General Asssembly.

Senate Bill 136 passed the House of Representatives 86-3 Thursday evening but was not taken up by the Senate. It would have required all other non-essential businesses to get the governor’s say-so before reopening.

Senate spokesman Noah Lucas said there were some issues with the bill that the Senate didn’t have time to correct.

Along with requiring the reopening of chiropractor’s offices, the bill would have required licensing boards and industry groups — including the Kentucky Restaurant Association and Kentucky Hospital Association — to develop safety guidelines for reopening businesses that would be presented to Gov. Andy Beshear.

“The piece I’m working on does not tell the governor what to do,” said Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville. “It just directs the boards to come up with a plan to present to the governor.”

Despite a push among Republican lawmakers to start the conversation about reopening the economy as Kentucky faces a record number of unemployment claims, the only bill directly related to the coronavirus that passed Wednesday was House Bill 387, which Senate President Robert Stivers said would give the governor more flexibility in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Stivers said it would allow Beshear to declare it a “necessary government expense” to purchase protective gear for health workers and first responders and permit him to delve into unrestricted state funds, such as the rainy day fund, to pay for them.

The bill received final passage around 10:00 p.m.

Beshear, a Democrat, grew testy Tuesday as the bill dealing with chiropractors and other businesses was being written, saying it would ultimately be up to the Kentucky Department of Public Health to determine when things reopen.

“I guarantee you that public health officials are going to provide the guidance of when we open up and what we open up,” Beshear said. “That decision will not be driven by lobbyists.”

Beshear has said there are a number of factors limiting the state’s ability to reopen — increased COVID-19 testing capacity, more personal protective equipment, and increased staffing for contact tracing. He also has repeatedly stated that the number of coronavirus cases has not yet peaked in Kentucky.

Beshear originally asked health care facilities to stop performing all “non-essential” procedures, but the governor said he had to turn his request into an order after some groups thought they should be an exception, including chiropractors. Beshear said a group of chiropractors had been “exceedingly difficult.”

Under the failed bill, regulatory boards would have to provide guidance to businesses every 15 days about safe practices during the epidemic. The governor and public health officials would ultimately determine when businesses could open.

Any individuals or businesses regulated by an administrative body may have their license, certification, or registration suspended if they open in a manner that violates the guidelines under the bill.

Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said he supported the legislation Wednesday morning, but he added that it just required the boards to do something the governor is already doing.

“The governor is talking to the hospitals, is talking to the restaurants, is talking to the business community,” McGarvey said. “He is getting input from them all the time about what’s going on.”

He suggested the bill was more about politics than policy. The legislature has been criticized for meeting during the pandemic and this bill will allow lawmakers to say they worked on legislation related to COVID-19, he said.

“I think this is one of those bills the legislature is introducing so they can say they are handling COVID-19 bills but also take care of a couple of political priorities they didn’t get done during the first few weeks of the session,” McGarvey said.

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 6:18 PM.