A bill that could help families and others that could harm vulnerable people are facing legislators as the Kentucky General Assembly’s 2024 session nears its end.
Senate Bill 142 would provide four weeks of paid parental leave for state employees. It passed the senate and now awaits action in the House.
The Catholic Conference of Kentucky, the public policy arm of the state’s bishops, said the bill would help families and makes practical sense for Kentucky.
“Building a culture of life means supporting families in difficult circumstances,” said Jason Hall, the conference’s executive director. “Paid leave is huge because it gives parents the ability to be home with their children.”
The conference has advocated for a variety of “pro-family” proposals over the years that would help mothers and babies as well as whole families, Hall said.
“We’re looking at a spectrum of support for families, especially families with young children. Medicaid coverage for postpartum, childcare assistance, pro-family tax policy. There’s a lot of things we could do to support families on the economic margins that we’re not doing,” he said.
Senate Bill 142, he added, “is a very modest step.”
Two other bills, House Bill 5 and Senate Bill 20, have the potential to increase incarceration rates and that raises the conference’s concerns, Hall said.
“What we’re seeing with House Bill 5 and Senate Bill 20 … there seems to be an interest today in punishment for punishment’s sake.”
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is “trying to help folks with re-entry and with the social cost” of incarceration, Hall said.
House Bill 5 creates a new crime of unlawful camping that would make it illegal for a homeless person to sleep on the streets, even in Kentucky counties where there are no shelters.
“We want to address homelessness, but not in the criminal justice system as a first resort,” Hall said.
“There were efforts to amend that section to offer them shelter before they could be arrested. But those were rejected. We have a lot of counties that don’t even have homeless shelters, but this crime would be a crime everywhere.”
Senate Bill 20 could diminish a judge’s discretion when it comes to hearing a juvenile’s case in adult court. The bill would move cases involving teens 15 and older to adult court, regardless of mitigating factors if a firearm was present.
“Currently, a juvenile who is charged with a serious crime in their mid to late teens is almost always going to be moved to adult court,” Hall noted. But a judge reviews a list of factors that determine that decision.
As originally written, the bill “takes away the discretion of the judge to consider mitigating factors, such as mental capabilities,” Hall said. The bill was under consideration March 20 in the House and its final wording could change.
Hall noted that both of these bills seem to be motivated by a concern about rising crime rates. Yet the data doesn’t show a rise in crime.
The FBI released crime data on March 18 showing a six percent reduction in violent crime in 2023 over 2022.
Hall said he urges legislators to “exercise caution and base policy on research.”
Hall also called on Catholics to contact their lawmakers and ask them to support SB 142 and reject HB 5 and SB 20.
He also suggested Catholics add a thank you to legislators for passing House Bill 2.
“House Bill 2 is a big bright spot,” Hall said. “It passed with big majorities in both houses. After almost 30 years of advocacy, education choice is going to be settled by the voters in November.”
The bill will put a proposed amendment to the constitution on the ballot in November. The ballot will pose the following question:
“To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated 8 below? The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools.”
This bid to amend the constitution comes after the Kentucky Supreme Court struck down bipartisan school choice legislation passed in 2021. The legislation allowed for state tax credits on donations made to organizations that award need-based tuition assistance to non-public schools. The high court ruled that the law violated the section of the Kentucky Constitution that prohibits the state from raising money for non-public schools.
The Catholic conference supports school choice legislation that helps parents choose and afford the best education options for their children, Hall said.
“The vast majority of states have some form of school choice, and it does not have to be public education versus private education,” said Hall. “Whatever programs are adopted to help empower parents to make choices, it does not have to take funding from public education.
“We want fully funded public schools and programs that help parents find the best options for their kids,” he said. “We’re not talking about the government giving money to private schools. We will be advocating for programs that are need-based to expand choice to those who don’t have financial means currently. And we will advocate for robust funding of public schools if this were adopted.”
When it comes time to vote in November, Hall said the conference urges people to vote “Yes” on the education amendment.
To contact Kentucky lawmakers, call 800-372-7181. The operator can help callers identify their representatives.
The public can read these and other bills at lrc.ky.gov.
