Written by Mark Payne, politics and government reporter
It was a short week in Frankfort, as the General Assembly convened early on Thursday and canceled the session on Friday due to the weather. The House and Senate will now gavel in for the 23rd day of the 60-day session at 4 p.m. on Monday.
The last day for House bills to be filed will now be on March 1, and the last day for Senate bills will be on March 3.
While some important things happened at the capital this week, the weather dominated headlines when Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.
“Beginning tomorrow morning, Kentucky is going to experience what we believe a severe weather event that is going to be dangerous to extremely dangerous to most of the residents of the state,” Beshear said Wednesday. “We are looking at an ice storm that may make travel difficult to impossible.”
On Monday, Secretary of State Michael Adams drew ballot positioning for the primary races in May. There’s a unique ritual in Kentucky where the secretary pulls numbered blocks from a bourbon barrel.
Every semester the NKU Future Leaders Internship program places qualified interns with legislators in Frankfort. This semester, Jamie Collins is interning with Rep. Buddy Wheatley (D-Covington), and the Library Informatics major is researching bills that will impact all Kentuckians.
One of those bills, House Bill 56, passed the House on Thursday. Co-Sponsored by local Reps. Buddy Wheatley (d_Covington), Kim Banta (R–Ft. Mitchell), Sal Santoro (R–Union), among others, the bill seeks to provide benefits for first responders that passed due to COVID-19.
Northern Kentucky Rep. Savannah Maddox has co-sponsored two gun bills this session. HB 124 will seek to eliminate gun-free zones. HB 122 will reduce the age for concealed carry from 21 to 18.
“I don’t see where it is appropriate to allow these types of infringements on our second amendment rights,” Maddox said of HB124. “I think that that is what we have seen in so much as postsecondary institutions, in particular, have restricted the rights of people to bear arms.”
The two main House budget bills, 1 and 241, are currently waiting to go through the Senate Appropriations and Revenue committee. A third budget bill that involves transportation, HB286, is headed to the Committee on Committees for a vote.
Taxes are also an essential part of the Republican Caucus agenda this session and are expected to be taken up soon.
Photo: The capital building. (Mark Payne)