Kentucky lawmakers prepare for a special session on COVID-19 that may start next week
Kentucky Republican legislative leaders have scheduled several committee meetings this week to consider possible actions against the coronavirus pandemic, setting up a possible special law-making session as soon as next Tuesday.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, the only one who can call lawmakers into a special session, said Monday that he plans to call lawmakers back to the Capitol as soon as legislative leaders and he reach “a general consensus” on what steps to take to fight the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
He said he would like to have the law-making session soon to keep in effect the state of emergency for the pandemic he declared in March 2020. That order is set to expire on September 10.
Beshear had been unilaterally setting policies for dealing with the virus but a recent Kentucky Supreme Court decision said the legislature, under laws approved this year, must approve any emergency orders that last longer than 30 days.
Beshear and legislative leaders have been in negotiations since the high court’s ruling to see what policies they can agree on.
House Speaker Pro Tem David Meade, R-Stanford, said Monday night on “Kentucky Tonight,” a public affairs show on the Kentucky Educational Television network with host Renee Shaw, that legislative committee meetings will be held this week to set the stage for a special session.
“We are getting the feedback that we need ... to go in and, in a word, have that session,” he said. Meade was joined on the show with Senate President Pro Tem, David Givens, R-Greensburg; Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville; and House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, D-Shively.
Meade said the committee meetings will allow lawmakers to get a special session done quickly. A special session costs taxpayers about $68,000 a day and typically runs for five days.
The GOP House leader said the policies under consideration are diverse, including allowing medical professionals from other states to work in Kentucky, adjusting the continuing education requirements for professionals and making it easier to be foster parents.
Democratic House leader Jenkins said a major decision to be made is one “that may not be politically popular with folks, such as masking for school children.”
She said evidence shows that is the way to keep children in school and to keep them from going to school all next summer.
Beshear said Monday that he supports “universal masking” in schools. He had a school mask mandate in place but withdrew it soon after the Supreme Court decision. The Department of Education, however, implemented its own emergency mask mandate, but the legislature will ultimately decide the issue.
“I don’t think you are going to see the General Assembly excited about mandating for or against lots of things,” said Givens. “You are going to see us drive it to local control.” He said he “feels strongly” that many schools still will mandate masks in schools if given the option.
He added that the legislature will not ban masks in schools as some states have done. The Biden Administration announced Monday that it is opening a civil rights investigation into five states that ban masks on the grounds that it may violate the rights of students with disabilities.
McGarvey said he would like to see the legislature give the governor authority to order mask mandates. He said such executive leadership is necessary “to make those types of unpopular decisions to keep our kids safe, our businesses open.”
Givens replied that masks are now mandated in schools and the virus is still surging. The answer is vaccination, he said.
McGarvey said everyone should be vaccinated but he noted that Warren County schools made masks optional and in the first week several thousand students had to be quarantined.
“They went into a mask mandate and cut that number in half,” he said.
Another major COVID-19 issue the legislature has to address, said Givens, is giving schools more flexibility in the number of non-traditional instruction days they can offer. Earlier this year, the legislature limited schools to 10 virtual learning days this school year.
Givens said Beshear has given legislative leaders “four pages of priorities.” He said some will win quick approval, like putting in place orders to prevent price-gouging during the pandemic, but others will take more deliberation.
Meade said the special session would not take up several controversial pre-filed bills on COVID-19, such as a measure to provide workers’ compensation benefits to those who must take the vaccine to keep their job and suffer side effects.
Legislative committee meetings on tap this week to discuss COVID-19 include a joint meeting of the Local Government and State Government committees at 10 a.m. Wednesday, when Attorney General Daniel Cameron will testify about the recent Supreme Court decision.
The Education Committee will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday and the Health, Welfare and Family Services Committee will meet at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
