FRANKFORT – By any measure, the legislative session we wrapped up last Thursday should be considered the most successful “short (odd-year) session” of the five we have had. We have reformed our end-of-year school exams. We have instituted a bold, comprehensive plan to end the cycle of drug abuse that is ruining our society and wasting tax dollars on prisons. We approved a road plan that will allow us to leverage federal stimulus money into more than $1 billion of transportation infrastructure improvements. We addressed this year’s budget shortfall – and got the budget back in balance.
You have heard about these bills because of the widespread coverage in the media, but since we have concluded the 2009 session of the General Assembly, I want to ensure that you are told about some lesser-known accomplishments.
We took several strong steps to rein in sex offenders. While the state sex offender registry at www.kentuckystatepolice.org tracks names, addresses, photos, and certain other information, we know that sexual predators are not restricted to their local neighborhoods anymore. Thanks to the Internet, they can make contact with children anywhere in the world. House Bill 315 will require sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses, screen names, and other online IDs so we can make sure they cannot target children anywhere from the shadows of their own home. HB 315 also bans registered sex offenders from MySpace, Facebook, and other social networking sites where children can meet them. Sex offenders are the most likely of any felons to slip into their old habits, so we must be vigilant about keeping them away from temptation. It is the safest way to protect everyone involved.
On the subject of protecting children, we also made headway in keeping our student-athletes safer. The death of a Jefferson County football player during practice last fall made national headlines, and we wanted to reduce the risk that any family, school, or community has to face that tragedy again. Under House Bill 383, every high school coach will be required to take a course in student safety, including training in how to prevent student injuries. Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, one coach who has successfully completed a safety course must be on hand at every game or practice. Coaches currently must complete a CPR course, but injury prevention could help save lives.
Approximately three in 1,000 babies born in the United States are born with permanent hearing loss, making hearing loss one of the most common birth defects in America. House Bill 5, which does the same as Senate Bill 160 that I sponsored in the Senate, addresses audiological assessment by establishing mandatory reporting from audiologists who volunteer to be on an approved list of pediatric audiology sites in Kentucky. Parents would be given the list in the hospital at discharge and and via mail. This legislation would improve follow up reporting, assure babies get a full hearing test before three months of age and will increase the number of children who are referred to early intervention services to help them develop to their highest potential.
We also moved to help adults in need, especially those who need home health and other personal services. Senate Bill 22, for which I was the primary co-sponsor, makes sure that all businesses in that sector conduct background checks on their employees and new hires, and bans anyone with a record of drug violations, sex offenses, or abuse and neglect from serving in that capacity. Our most vulnerable populations deserve only the best care from people with the best intentions.
We put real teeth into the state law that limits payday loan borrowers to $500 total. There is currently no way for payday lenders to know whether a borrower has already reached the limit — they have to rely on their word instead. We have seen from the subprime mortgage crisis what can happen when money is borrowed without documentation. HB 444 creates an electronic database so that payday lenders statewide can make sure their borrowers are eligible.
SB 33 will require local governments, as well as the state, to purchase only U.S. and Kentucky flags made in the United States. HB 480 makes sure that teachers who were promised loan forgiveness for teaching in high-need areas can count on those promises being kept before we start granting new loans. There were many people helped by the legislation we passed this session, but the large media outlets cannot report on all of it. I wanted to make sure you were aware.
Of course, every year there are some good bills that just run out of time. Adequate funding for prosecuting attorneys and public advocates, a wide range of economic development incentives to help boost business in Kentucky, and others will simply have to wait. I hope that in the next session we will be able to address
