Republicans flex muscle to start session, targeting Beshear, courts, abortion rights
The 2021 Kentucky General Assembly began Tuesday with a push to pass 10 priority bills that would limit the powers of Gov. Andy Beshear, restrict abortions and shield businesses from COVID-19 liability.
After building on their super majorities in the House and Senate in November, Republicans enter the 30-workday legislative session hoping to use their veto-proof power to throw around their political heft — particularly after several months of being sidelined amid Beshear’s efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Republican leaders have said they hope to pass some of their priority bills before taking the traditional three-week break at the beginning of the short legislative session in odd numbered years.
It typically takes five days to pass a bill through the Kentucky General Assembly, so by introducing the priority legislation on the first day, it leaves open the possibility to pass the legislation by Saturday at the earliest.
Getting consensus, even among members of one party, in just a week may prove difficult. Already Tuesday, splits began showing between Republican legislators on some of the bills. House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, said the goal is to pass the bills as soon as possible, but he didn’t guarantee all 10 would pass before the legislature takes a break.
“I think it’s important to get in here and do work,” Osborne said. “I think you will see us take action on some major issues before the end of the week.”
Beshear said during his regular news conference about COVID-19 that he has not read any of the bills Republicans introduced and did not hear any of the speeches about them. He said he has been working full-time on rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine.
As lawmakers walked outside from the annex to the Capitol, they were met with dozens of yard signs saying “IMPEACH ANDY.” Several signs had handwritten signatures or messages, including one that compared Beshear to Joseph Stalin and one that had “make hanging traitors great again” printed on the back.
Democrats, who have little say in the flow of legislation because they are so outnumbered, took issue with the fast-tracked bills.
“It’s a 30-day session, so I don’t mind their fast pace,” said Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville. “What we should be fast tracking are bills that are actually going to help people, not pushing power grabs and political hot button issues.”
House bills on the fast track
The House quickly began fast-tracking their priority legislation, calling the Judiciary Committee into a special meeting to pass House Bill 2, a bill vetoed by Beshear last year that restricts abortion access, and House Bill 3, a bill that side-steps Franklin Circuit Court (where most lawsuits affecting state government must be filed) in favor of appointing three-judge panels across newly-created districts.
Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron said HB 2 “will allow our office to act unencumbered and with clear legal authority when an abortion provider breaks the law.”
In committee, Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, said he believed the bill sidestepping Franklin Circuit Court was unconstitutional and said he didn’t believe any judge in the state would endorse it.
“We’re going to talk a lot about separation of powers in the days to come,” Nemes said. “But in resetting the proper balance of governmental power, I think it’s critical that we ourselves properly execute our power.”
Both bills ultimately advanced out of committee.
Neither of the House bills were available for the public to read before passing out of committee and none of the five priority bills were immediately made available.
The other three pieces of priority legislation in the House related to the powers of the legislative and executive branch. House Bill 1, for example, would prevent the state from shutting down schools and businesses that are compliant with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on COVID-19.
“If they have a plan to stay open safely and operate safely that meets or exceeds the CDC guidelines, they can do so,” said Rep. Bart Rowland, R-Tompkinsville. “So basically we’re saying going forward if you can do those things to protect your businesses, you don’t have to worry about a third shutdown.”
It is unclear how CDC compliance would be defined, as the agency generally does not set regulations that directly say how schools and businesses operate. It also might lead to stricter guidelines in Kentucky. For example, Dr. Deborah Birx, from President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, recommended stricter guidelines for bars and restaurants than Beshear imposed in the fall.
It’s unclear if recommendations from a White House task force, which is associated with the CDC, would be considered a standard for compliance.
Rowland, the bill’s sponsor, did not say what specific guidelines the legislation referenced, but said “we have those in the office.”
He did not answer when asked what happens when the CDC has stricter guidelines than the state.
“We vetted all the organizations and we intentionally used the CDC in the bill as the gold standard,” Rowland said.
Rowland’s bill would also waive “interests and penalties” on unpaid unemployment insurance bills for employers and would allow one “essential personal care visitor” for each resident in residential long-term care facilities (and would require the visitors to sign liability waivers).
Beshear criticized the bill for setting CDC guidelines as the standard for allowing businesses and restaurants to remain open, citing the fact that they frequently change and it isn’t always clear what is a recommendation and what is a mandate.
“I really hope they dig down, because which CDC guidelines?” Beshear said. “You’d be taking very explicit executive orders that you can read and understand who is involved and replacing them with nebulous rules that you have to Google and go out and find.”
Senate bills on the fast track
Five bills were fast-tracked in the Senate, including Senate Bill 1, filed by Sen. Matt Castlen, R-Owensboro, that would put a 30-day expiration date on any executive orders issued by the governor during an emergency unless approved by the legislature.
It also prevents the Cabinet for Health and Family Services from adopting and enforcing “rules” it “deems efficient in preventing the introduction and spread of infectious or contagious disease,” changing it instead to administrative regulations, which are overseen by a legislative committee.
Castlen said in a floor speech that the bill will ensure the state has checks and balances on a governor’s executive orders.
He said one person should not be in total control without input from the legislative branch.
SB 2, sponsored by Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, would provide more legislative oversight of administrative regulations put in place by executive branch agencies. West said highlights of the 60-page bill include allowing interim joint committees and other committees to review regulations. Such review is now done by one review committee.
The bill would limit certain regulations to 30 days if they impact educational institutions, private business, non-profits, political and social gatherings and places of worship. It also would require an expedited public hearings for regulations.
West said the executive branch has not been willing to provide any type of forum for public comment on dozens of regulations enacted during the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Minority Caucus Chairman Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, said public input has been available on regulations and Beshear should be praised for keeping Kentucky deaths due to COVID-19 lower than rates in surrounding states.
SB 3, sponsored by Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, would transfer the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy to the office of Republican Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. It also would remove Democratic Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman from the Kentucky Council on Agriculture.
SB 5, sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, would limit liability of businesses during emergencies, such as the coronavirus pandemic.
Stivers said it would make sure that businesses trying to create jobs properly “have some sense of security that they are not going to be sued.”
He said businesses are “scared to death” because of ever-changing guidelines on how to deal with the virus.
McGarvey, D-Louisville, said the bills represent an overreach by the legislative branch of government, which is not the executive branch and only meets part-time.
Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, had the harshest words for Beshear. He said Beshear often refers to “Team Kentucky” in trying to build up the state.
“I have never felt so left out of a team,” he said, adding that Beshear has “failed our people.”
Another Senate bill introduced Tuesday was SB 9, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville. It would require doctors to provide life-saving care to infants who have survived abortions. Beshear vetoed the bill last year and the legislature did not have time to consider his veto.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 4:57 PM.
