2020 December PUBLISHED BY LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH COMMISSION Volume 33, No. 8 LEGISLATURE.KY.GOV/LEGISLATION/PAGES/DEFAULT.ASPX Many ways to stay connected with General Assembly action by Rob Weber FRANKFORT -- No matter what part of Kentucky you’re in, you can stay closely connected to the General Assembly’s 2021 session, which starts at the State Capitol on Jan. 5. Kentuckians can use online resources to: •See the General Assembly’s daily schedule. •Tune in to live video coverage of legislative meetings. •Find out who represents you. •Contact lawmakers and offer feedback. •Read bills and resolutions. •Receive a notice when a bill advances. •See how lawmakers voted on bills and resolutions. • View informational materials on topics being considered by committees. • Learn about the legislative process and much more on the General Assembly Home Page: https://legislature.ky.gov Following the General Assembly’s work often begins with a daily look at the Legislative Calendar. To find the calendar, go to the General Assembly’s Home Page and click on “Legislative Calendar.” The calendar shows which committees are meeting and when the Senate and House will convene. Livestreams of legislative action can be viewed through feeds provided The Kentucky General Assembly’s 2021 legislative session begins on Jan. 5. by Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and the Legislative Research Commission (LRC.) In recent months, LRC has made significant tech near the top of the General Assembly Home Page. You can also look up who upgrades in committee rooms to improve videoconferencing capabilities, represents your district. audio systems, and video livestreams for those viewing meetings remotely. KET livestreams all chamber proceedings, while committee meeting coverage The online Legislative Record has information on every piece of legislation is provided by both KET and LRC. To find links to the livestreams, go to the introduced in the Senate and House. You can read summaries, the full text of General Assembly Home Page and click on the “Live Coverage” button on the bills, resolutions, amendments and see exactly how far each piece of legislation bottom right. has advanced in the process. Bills can be looked up according to bill number, sponsor, or topic. If a bill has been voted on in a chamber, you can see how You can find each lawmakers’ contact info, biographical info, committee assignments and sponsored legislation by clicking on the “Legislators” tab Continued on page 3 THE KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1 Lawmakers share details on health- related proposed legislation by Jordan Hensley FRANKFORT— As the 2021 session of the Kentucky General Assembly inches closer, lawmakers are already hard at work preparing their pieces of legislation to formally introduce in January. On Dec. 15, members and a few guests of the Interim Joint Committee on Health, Welfare and Family Services shared their upcoming health-related bills during the committee’s last meeting of 2020. Committee co-chair Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Hill, discussed two bills she will sponsor during the upcoming legislative session. First, is a bill on giving local governments more control over tobacco sales and marketing in an effort to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related illnesses. “This bill is not a local mandate,” Moser said. “Rather it gives local elected officials a tool that they can use to improve health in their communities if they choose to use it.” The legislation is supported by the Foundation for a Health Kentucky, Coalition for a Smoke Free Tomorrow and the Kentucky League of Cities. Moser also discussed Bill Request 966, which she is the primary sponsor of. This bill would eliminate prior Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Mill, discusses legislation she plans to sponsor during the authorization for medication for addiction treatment. 2021 session of the Kentucky General Assembly. “Most of you know that prior auth(orization) is used to either approve or deny treatment, which has been prescribed by In the same spirit of providing more coverage to Kentuckians, Rep. Kim your healthcare provider,” Moser said. “Prior authorization forces your Banta, R-Ft. Mitchell, has pre-filed a bill relating to Medicaid eligibility for healthcare provider to contact your insurance company or your pharmacy individuals diagnosed with breast cancer. benefit manager to get approval before you can start certain treatments.” BR 86 would allow people diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer from Moser added that prior authorization requirements can often delay time- to eligible for Medicaid services without a long delay. sensitive treatment for those with substance abuse disorders for several days Banta asked Vanessa Ashley, a 55-year-old Kentuckian battling metastatic or weeks. breast cancer, to speak on behalf of the bill. Committee co-chair Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, shared info on Ashley said many people diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer cannot BR 35, which would regulate out-of-network billing. work or eventually have to quit their jobs and are at risk of losing their health insurance. This is especially true for unmarried patients who do not have a “The key thing on the proposal that I’ve got is it holds patients harmless,” spouse’s insurance plan to fall back on. Alvarado said. “So if someone does have a surprise bill of some sort, it would require their insurance coverage to make a payment to the provider based Currently, there is a three to five month processing time period with an off of the current median in-network rate or the median in-network rate for additional two year waiting period before accessing metastatic breast cancer 2019, whichever is higher.” Medicaid benefits, Ashley said. This gap in coverage could keep metastatic breast cancer patients from receiving the care they need due to the high cost Alvarado noted that a similar bill is making its way through Congress of the treatments they require. and could be passed by the end of this month, which would make his bill obsolete. In addition, Rep. Deanna Frazier, R-Richmond, also shared information on BR 163, which would keep most of the state’s pandemic telehealth policies in place permanently. 2 2020 Interim LEGISLATIVE RECORD Legislative panel hears testimony about gas taxes by Jordan Hensley FRANKFORT— Two organizations KACo’s presentation also advocated for fees “I know its easy to say, ‘just get these things representing Kentucky’s cities and counties want for electric vehicles, expanded broadband, criminal accomplished,’ but we need the governor to step up lawmakers to make increasing the gas tax to improve justice reform, expanded access to substance abuse on some of these issues and he’s not been willing to roadways and bridges a legislative priority during treatment, jail relief and more. do that thus far,” Alvarado said. the upcoming legislative session. Following KACo’s presentation, Sen. Other than advocating for an increase in the gas Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, said tax, KLC’s presentation also focused on changing some of their legislative goals the state constitution and state law to allow cities will require support from to diversify its revenue, limiting no-knock warrants “leadership from and more. t h e t op.” The Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) and Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) advocated for a gas tax increase during their Nov. 17 presentations to the Interim Joint Committee on Stay connected, Local Government. from page 1 “In our members poll, a majority of them told us that each lawmaker voted by clicking “Vote more than 40% of the county roads History” on a bill’s summary page. Find are in need of moderate to significant repair the Legislative Record on the General and a quarter of our members said that more Assembly Home Page by clicking on than 60% of their roads needed repair,” said “Bills” near the top of the page. Madison County Judge-Executive and KACo President Reagan Taylor. Bill Watch, a bill tracking service, provided through a partnership of Taylor said KACo has roughly 1,500 Kentucky.gov and LRC, sends users members and about two-thirds of attendees email notifications each time bills they representing 92 counties at KACo’s annual are interested in takes a step forward. conference last month participated in the To sign up for Bill Watch, click the “Bill poll. Watch” button near the bottom of the General Assembly Home Page. He also pointed out that the state’s gas tax revenues have been dropping in recent Information about legislative committees is available in the “Committees” drop-down list, years and an increase in the gas tax is needed found near the top of the General Assembly Home Page. To view materials such as info sheets, as the cost to maintain roadways and bridges handouts, and PowerPoint presentations that are compiled for lawmakers to review at committee increases and the funding to complete these meetings, click on the “Meeting Materials” tab on the left side of each committee’s page. projects drops. To share feedback on an issue with lawmakers, call the General Assembly’s Message Line at KLC President and Mayor of London Troy 1-800-372-7181. Kentuckians with hearing loss can use Kentucky Relay by dialing 7-1-1. Rudder also advocated for a gas tax increase on behalf of the organization and its members. A Spanish language line for legislative information will be available throughout the General Assembly’s 2021 session by calling 1-866-840-2835. “The success of our state is tied to the success of our local communities,” Rudder said. “They depend To directly reach a lawmaker’s office, call 502-564-8100. An operator will transfer the call on our infrastructure. We must have reliable and to the office of the lawmaker you want to reach.