Recap of the Legislative Week

By Senator Morgan McGarvey

The mise en scene was gloomy.

Dark landscape. Patchy moonlight. Spindly winter tree silhouettes. Occasional wisps of fog.

Then a scary montage. Big rock in the road, big noise when it rips the left front tire, full shudder as the car lurches onto shoulder. Three more crippled cars pull over in front of us and switch on emergency blinkers, also disabled by roadway rubble.

A couple of hours later this sequence ends, wearily but happily, with a tire change in the Walmart parking lot at Frankfort to which we were hauled.

This little drama on the interstate was an unwelcome interruption in an evening marked by welcome pleasantries. Lots of good will expressed, not only by Gov. Andy Beshear as he impeccably delivered his first State of the Commonwealth address, but also by Republican leaders who expressed cautious optimism. All of which reset the tone of a relationship between executive and legislative branches that was strained, at best, over the past four years.

The pace began to pick up as bills began to move last week, including a House committee’s approval of sports betting legislation that’s overdue. At least 10 other states already are reaping financial benefits totaling $140 million in tax revenue. New Jersey leads, as of last Dec. 31, with $47,761,913. I don’t expect numbers like that when we have sports betting in operation throughout Kentucky, but any new revenue is welcome, given a budget challenge that begins with what Gov. Bevin’s budget director described as a billion-dollar-plus hole to fill.

We also received good news about medical marijuana, which became more likely this week when House Speaker David Osborne signed onto House Bill 136.

I voted yes on Senate Bill 3, which moves the election of constitutional officers, including the governor, to even-numbered years, which should increase the numbers of people casting ballots in those important races. I’ve long pushed for an expanded democracy, including automatic restoration of voting rights for non-violent offenders who have completed their sentences. I challenged the Republican supporters of SB 3 to be equally enthusiastic about other changes that would increase participation, such as expanded voting hours, allowing votes earlier and/or later than the current election days, and making Election Day an official work holiday.

SB 3 passed 31-3.

Not all the news was good news. I voted no on SB 11, which passed 29-5. It explicitly states landlords may charge tenants with a criminal offense when they are alleged to have intentionally or wantonly defaced, destroyed, or damaged residential rental property. The problem with this bill is that current statutes already allow criminal charges in such situations. This bill was lobbied for by landlords who want to be able to point to statutory language when threatening tenants with criminal prosecution, even if they know prosecutors are likely to decline to pursue charges. The bill would further tilt the power balance toward landlords and against renters. Most such disputes ought to be resolved as civil matters.

Kentucky lawmakers know they’re going to oppose some bills, especially if they’re in the kind of minority that Democrats constitute in both Senate and House. The legislative road is bumpy, filled not with big unexpected rocks but with sincerely felt policy differences. At least along the lawmaking route we haven’t had any surprises like drivers ran into last week, down near Pine Knot on Highway 92, when they encountered an electronic road sign telling them to “send nudes.” The Transportation Cabinet blamed a hacker.

It was no surprise this week when we again received all manner of visitors - from an inspiring Special Olympics athlete to gun safety activists, and many more, most of whom had something to say about specific legislation. That included some of my favorite folks: suburban fire district leaders, who are concerned about the Senate Bill 5 provision that would require them to consult the 26-member Metro Council about proposed hikes in property taxes or fees, or the addition of such taxes or fees.

No such bureaucratic roadblocks slowed the Bullock Creek students in Midland County who wanted to raise revenue for their Michigan high school’s robotics team. They just went to work making a pyramid out of 27,434 toilet paper rolls, which they sold after being checked for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.

This week I signed on as the primary co-sponsor of legislation that I’ve pushed in the past, to outlaw the so-called “conversion therapy” that’s touted by some as a way to change the sexual orientation of young people. If you are in doubt on this issue, read Boy Erased: A Memoir by Garrard Conley, whose family in Arkansas subjected him to this practice after learning that he was gay. Or see an equally harrowing film focused on the same subject called The Miseducation of Cameron Post, based on a young adult novel that was inspired by a real life incident.

Eighteen states have banned this cruel practice. We should join them.

It wasn't all talk for lawmakers. This week we filled bags of food that will be given to children at risk of going hungry, offering them everything from pasta to canned veggies, pudding cups to juice boxes - three meals and two snacks in each of the 2,100 bags, destined for 18 schools or Head Start programs. We hoped this would also cheer up one of the project’s planners, Rep. Bam Carney, the House Majority Leader, who is slowly recovering from a very serious pancreatic illness. We wanted to do it for him, too.

FYI, my left front tire and wheel have been replaced. The minor boulders have been swept to the side of I-64. And I’m writing thank you notes to the generous young National Guard guy who stopped to help us, as well as the tow truck driver who hauled us to the Walmart parking lot when none of us had a wrench big enough to pry the spare tire loose from underneath the passenger’s seat of my wife’s minivan.

I’m signing off here now, but I’m doing it electronically.

You may think we’re a bunch of spendthrifts in Frankfort who waste taxpayers’ money on frills. Well think about this. The White House pays a woman named Lee Ann Clark $99,400 per year as chief calligrapher. She and two assistants write out invitations, certificates, name cards, programs and other documents. For what it’s worth, you get my electronic sign-off free.

See you next week, God willing and no more rocks in the road.

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