2015 Interim LEGISLATIVE Volume 28, No. 5 August 2015 RECORD * Read online at www.lrc.ky.gov/legislation.htm Lawmakers focus on preserving military bases by Jim Hannah LRC Public Information FRANKFORT – The best way to preserve Ken- tucky’s two largest military installations – Fort Knox and Fort Campbell – is to make them more economi- cally viable for U.S. Army to operate. That’s what Col. (Ret.) David Thompson, executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs, told members of the Interim Joint Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection on Aug. 13 in Frankfort. “The theme is to reduce their costs,” Thompson said. “They don’t have the money they had before. Any time we can help the installations, to pull the cost burdens off them for operating the installations, the better.” He said it’s vital Kentucky does everything it can to preserve the two bases, in addition the Blue- grass Army Depot in Richmond. The military brings $15.3 billion into Kentucky’s economy annually, Thompson said. Much of that is because of the three installations. For example, Fort Knox’s annual eco- Photo by Bud Kraft/LRC Public Information nomic impact is estimated at $2.5 billion. WWII veteran Bluford “Buddy” Smith, 92, of Hi Hat, testifies on his difficulty receiving VA benefits before the Interim Joint The three military installations are threatened Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection while House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, center, by the budget sequstration of 2013, or the automatic and Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Heather French Henry look on. federal spending cuts in particular categories. Those Command. As the military reduces the number of bases, cuts have the military scrambling to reduce its ranks. “It is important to note that despite the sig- Thompson said he thinks that Kentucky has a chance Fort Campbell in western Kentucky was large- nificant turmoil in the Department of Defense, the to be the home to new consolidated operations. ly unscathed by the most recent cuts, Thompson Commonwealth of Kentucky is well positioned with Fort Knox has recently added two Germany-based said. Fort Knox lost its Armor Center and School to regards to our installations,” Thompson said. “We engineer companies, and the Army’s Recruiting Fort Benning, Ga., but gained the Human Resources have a lot of growth potential going forward.” Continued on page 2 School readiness is goal of early child care changes by Rebecca Hanchett five-star rating program, expanded under 2015 on Aug. 5. LRC Public Information House Bill 234, the Governor’s Office of Early Only 50 percent of Kentucky children were Childhood Executive Director Terry Tolan said the ready for kindergarten during the last statewide kin- Sometime before the end of 2017, a plan will goal – “kindergarten- readiness” for all Kentucky’s dergarten readiness screening in 2014, meaning over be put in place to rate the quality of every public- children—is crystal clear. 24,500 children were unprepared, said Tolan. The ly-funded early child care facility in Kentucky. “We want to see more children enter kinder- percentage of children who were prepared for school And while it will take some time to see re- garten ready to be successful on the first day,” Tolan increased only one percent from 2013. sults from the All-STARS (Accelerating Learning told the Kentucky General Assembly’s Tobacco “If we do what we’ve always done, we’re not Statewide Through an Advanced Rating System) Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee Continued on page 2 THE KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1 Child care, Military, from page 1 from page 1 and Retention School is moving to Fort Knox from reduce the costs at these installations.” Fort Jackson, S.C. In addition, the post became the For example, Fort Campbell has agreed to going to have more children ready for kindergarten. new home of a summer ROTC training course this lease a section of its private railroad to Hopkinsville, We’ve got to continue to find ways to reach more summer. which hopes to use the railroad families, put more kids in high quality early learning “The more we can drive these tracks to provide better access to its experiences.” said Tolan. costs down on these installations … Col. (Ret.) David mega economic development zone Once fully implemented, she said there will the more sensible it is going to seem Thompson said one under development. be more than 2,000 quality-rated child care centers for the military to put forces at these Fort Campbell also received a for parents and guardians to choose from across the installations where they can save on way to help preserve $3.1 million grant from Kentucky Commonwealth. base operating costs over the long the installations is to to help pay for a five-megawatt so- Funding for the All-STARS program—which term,” Thompson said. make Kentucky an lar array that will reduce its energy will expand the current STARS for KIDS NOW Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, costs. rating system and be implemented by the fall of asked what state officials can do, or attractive place for Sen. Dennis Parrett, D-Eliz- 2017 —will be drawn from a $44 million federal have done, to preserve the installa- military personnel to abethtown, said Fort Knox also Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant that tions. retire. produces its own energy from alter- Kentucky received last year. That money is expected Thompson said one way is to native sources such as geothermal, to run out sometime in 2017, although the Cabinet make the state an attractive place for military per- natural gas and solar. and Early Childhood Advisory Council will have sonnel to retire. He said several states don’t require Parrett asked if military installations in other plans in place to sustain the All-STARS program people disabled in the military to pay property taxes. states were doing the same to stay competitive. before that happens, explained Tolan. In addition, 22 states don’t collect taxes on military Thompson said Kentucky is leading in that Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, retirees’ pensions. regard. He said Fort Knox’s move toward energy explored what those plans may be. “Short of asking “There are a lot of things we can do with these self-sufficiency makes it a more valuable military for appropriations, which everybody would expect, installations to preserve them,” Thompson said. installation because it won’t have to depend on the what else is there--what can you do?” he asked “Right now, local governments are engaged with energy grid in the time of crisis – either caused by Tolan. Fort Knox and Fort Campbell … in partnerships to war or natural disaster. Part of the plan, she responded, will likely be to make sure that investments are paying off. “We all want to make sure that the dollars we Advocates for mentally ill are investing are getting us where we need to be…or getting kids where they need to be, more important- urge passage of “Tim’s ly,” said Tolan. “But yes, at some point, it’s going to Law” take some additional investment to sustain programs they don’t have to go to the hospital and they don’t going forward.” by Rob Weber LRC Public Information have to be handcuffed in the back of a sheriff’s car Westerfield said he has been told that earning and taken through that whole process,” Schuster a higher quality rating could be “cost-prohibitive” Thirty-seven times, Tim Morton was placed in said. for some early child care facilities. Tolan responded handcuffs and taken to the hospital to receive care “We want to do it in the most humane way, rec- that having more qualified staff and better staff-to- for a severe mental illness. ognizing the civil liberties of people who, through student ratios does cost more, and the state plans to “They’d get him back on medications. He no fault of their own, have a brain disorder,” said craft a rewards system—backed by Race to the Top would regain lucidity and say he was fine,” said Dr. Schuster, a longtime mental health advocate. “I dollars—to alleviate some expense. Sheila Schuster, executive director of the Kentucky know that all of us, probably, on some level have a “(The rewards) will be tied to the ratings,” said Mental Health Coalition. philosophical problem with taking away civil liber- Tolan. But the Lexington man was unable to recog- ties of someone because they have a brain disorder. Increased reimbursement for quality programs nize that he had a serious mental illness and would But, folks, I’ve been here 30 years talking to you that serve low-income children, better access to quit taking his medication each time he was released all and I’m telling you we’ve got to do something scholarships, and discounts on products to improve from the hospital, Schuster said. different in this commonwealth.” classroom quality are all possibilities, she said. “He did not take care of himself and he had a The proposed legislation would also “strength- In addition to the Race to the Top early learn- number of physical ailments that eventually led to en a statute already on the books that is not being ing grant, Kentucky puts 25 percent of its annual his death,” Schuster said. Morton was 56 when he used sufficiently,” Schuster said. “It’s for people share of funding from a 1998 national tobacco settle- died in 2014. in the hospital under a court order to give them the ment agreement toward early childhood education.