Ban paddling, legalize betting: A doable list of legislation that’s good for Kentucky.
Everyone take a deep breath, because the Kentucky General Assembly starts today for a budget session armed with a 75 percent GOP majority and some unforeseen truckloads of money from federal COVID dollars.
But before anyone starts arguing over the best way to spend that money (and yes, I have some ideas), let’s think of some low-hanging legislative fruit, some easy-peasy, non-partisan, non-controversial ideas that could get the session off to a better than usual start.
▪ Ban paddling in schools. This is one of those “seemed like a good idea at the time” ideas in education, only that time was over in about 1910. The state school board recently limited a school’s ability to beat kids; it’s now time for the General Assembly to make it a law. Surely we can agree on this.
▪ Pay social workers more. Kentucky has the highest rate of abuse and neglect of children in the country. Social workers are the only safety net families have, and they are overworked, underpaid and leaving in droves. Make Gov. Beshear’s temporary pay raise permanent in the budget, and while you’re at it, pay all state workers more. That includes Kentucky State Police. Even if you don’t like state government, we still need good people making it work.
▪ Track domestic violence homicides and other domestic violence statistics. Domestic violence is still a pervasive tragedy in Kentucky, and we don’t really know what works to stop it because we don’t have good state statistics. This year, state Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Crofton, has pledged to file legislation to get better numbers on this terrible problem, and the the rest of the legislature needs to follow his lead.
▪ Make sports betting legal. Listen to a member of the GOP majority, Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, who says over and over again that Kentuckians are betting on sports all the time, but the only beneficiaries are other states where it’s legal. And while you’re at it, listen to Koenig when he releases a plan for a more fair and even taxing plan for horse racing, a discussion that arose out of a task force on historical horse racing and whether it’s being taxed enough. (Hint: it’s not.)
▪ Legalize medical marijuana. Kentucky is one of just 14 states in the country that hasn’t yet done so, despite the fact that its population could derive many benefits from it, both for those who use the product and those who grow it. Of course, like sports betting, legalizing recreational marijuana could also bring a lot more dollars to Frankfort, but we may not be ready. Medical marijuana makes good health and legal policy.
▪ Make the torture of cats and dogs a Class D felony, and make torture include neglect. Another GOP legislator, Rep. Chris Freeland, R-Benton, has worked on this for a long time; he thought the heart-rending tale of Ethan the Dog Who Lived would be enough to pass it. It wasn’t, so let that happen this year.
There are so many, many more good things the General Assembly could do, or not do, but that’s when we get into issues like tax reform, abortion, critical race theory, redistricting, you know, the ones worth arguing about. With this list, you’re off to a productive and painless start. For a little while at least.
