Each week, LINK nky is publishing a profile of one of our local legislators so that Northern Kentuckians can get to know the people representing them at the state level.
Wellness is more than physical to Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer. It’s mental, the Alexandria Republican and certified financial planner tells LINK nky. It’s also what she calls a “crucial” part of her work in the Kentucky Senate.
To demonstrate her commitment, the freshman senator chose to make wellness of pregnant women and their families a priority during her first legislative session in 2023. Funke Frommeyer filed Senate Bill 135 to require the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services to include information on postpartum depression (along with an assessment tool) on its website. The bill became law and was signed by Gov. Andy Beshear.
“SB 135 was about perinatal mental health in offering a deeper understanding of what sort of disorders including postpartum depression are wrecking the very beginning of a new life, by a mother or a father’s emotional frustrations that aren’t fully understood,” Funke Frommeyer told LINK.
She also proposed a return of freestanding birthing centers to Kentucky in her first session. Right now the centers – which follow a midwifery model of care that extends beyond hospitals and homes – are found in 40 states except Kentucky, although they are allowed under Kentucky law and regulations. Funke Frommeyer’s 2023 SB 67 would have exempted the centers from Kentucky’s certificate of need requirements to make it easier for them to return to Kentucky. But the bill didn’t become law.
The senator said she intends to work on a similar bill during the 2024 legislative session.
“We need something that offers a midwifery model that is holistically healthy, and very focused on the wellness of the mom. I’m so very proud of that legislation which we’ll build on in this next legislative session in 2024,” she told LINK.
Wellness in the workforce and in schools also needs work, said the senator. According to Funke Frommeyer, mental and emotional health issues have a “real stranglehold” on employment and education in Northern Kentucky. Specifically regarding schools, the senator told LINK that current state policy “may not be giving enough strength and authority back to the parents and the teachers to support their thriving students.”
“It’s the student who has to choose to learn and we have such a heavy burden on our parents and teachers with so much heavy administrative oversight,” she said. “So I’d like to see a reduction in the infrastructure so that more money is available for the parents to choose what’s the best education for their child.”
As a freshman, Funke Frommeyer said she has learned that the legislative process (which she calls “truly fantastic”) requires a lawmaker to “truly” understand the culture and dynamics of both the Senate and the House. Knowing what’s happening early in the process, she said, makes for more timely collaboration with other legislators. Then there’s the importance of being available to constituents.
“‘Being a senator is a seven-day-a-week opportunity to truly make a difference and I welcome that,” she said.
Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer represents Senate District 24 which includes part of Kenton County and all of Bracken, Campbell, and Pendleton counties. Frommeyer co-chairs the interim Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary. The senator is also a member of the Senate standing committees on Economic Development, Tourism and Labor; Enrollment; Appropriations and Revenue; Education; Health Services’ and the Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government, Finance and Public Protection. Additionally, Frommeyer is a member of the Interim Joint Committees on Appropriations and Revenue; Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government, Finance, Personnel and Public Retirement; Education; Tourism, Small Business and Information Technology; Economic Development and Workforce Investment; and Health Services. She also serves as a member of the Capital Projects and Bond Oversight Committee, the 2024-2026 Budget Preparation and Submission Committee, and the Kentucky Health and Human Services Delivery System Task Force, as well as serving on numerous legislative caucuses.