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Republicans Hail 'Transformative' 2017 Session

Josh James
/
WUKY
A nighttime view of the Kentucky Capitol on the final day of the 2017 legislative session.

Kentucky Republicans rounded out their first legislative session since securing control of the House of Representatives by passing a new anti-drug measure, approving gubernatorial appointees, and okaying an eleventh hour $15 million request for an unnamed economic development project.

The General Assembly adjourned just before midnight Thursday having made good on a long list of pent-up conservative policy priorities, leading Gov. Matt Bevin to dub the short 30-day session "transformative." 

With major campaign promises like charter schools, "right-to-work," and new abortion restrictions already secured early in the session, the Republican-led House and Senate focused mostly on lower tier bills in the final hours. Measures refinancing the debt of Louisville's Yum! Center and restricting some pain pill prescriptions to a 3-day supply found their way to the governor's desk, but lawmakers were eager to reflect on the General Assembly's prolific output throughout the session.

"There was more significant legislation passed in the 2017 session than in any session in recent memory," House Speaker Jeff Hoover told reporters.

While most of the legislation aligned with administration thinking, both chambers broke with Gov. Matt Bevin in dramatic fashion on Wednesday - overturning all four of the chief executive's vetoes and breathing life back into Tim's Law, a measure relating to court-ordered mental health treatment. Senate Pres. Robert Stivers said the move shouldn't have come as a surprise.

"As I said early, when [Bevin] came in, we are going to work together but we're not going to be any type of just a rubber stamp," the Manchester Republican said.

Meanwhile, House Democrats - now in the minority for the first time in nearly a century - say they expect that the GOP's pro-business legislation won't sit well with lower and middle class Kentuckians.

"There was really some bad policy that was passed when it comes to working families of Kentucky and when it comes to public education for our children of Kentucky and our teachers," House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins commented.

Lawmaker's work isn't likely over for the year. Gov. Bevin has promised to call a special session dedicated to tax reform.

In all, the legislature passed more than 120 House bills and roughly 70 Senate bills.

New Drug Laws

Now a perennial issue during legislative sessions, prescription drug abuse and how to best combat it was again on the docket - this time in form of House Bill 333. The measure boosts penalties for trafficking in fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and limits some prescriptions for pain pills to a three-day supply.

Union Republican John Shickel told colleagues it's time to get tough on traffickers.

"I'm sorry. They're not victims. They're criminal and they need to be punished," he said, echoing what he described as growing frustration in his district.

Others urged caution in restricting drug access for patients in acute pain.

"At what point is that anyone else's right to determine how much pain someone else should suffer," Sen. Ray Jones asked.

The bill allows for a number of exceptions, including cancer treatment, chronic pain, and end-of-life care.

Attorney General Bill Times Out

The most politically-charged debate centered on the reining in the powers granted to the attorney general, one of just two remaining constitutional offices currently occupied by a Democrat.

Republicans had been floating different measures designed to limit the office's authority. Thursday, the Senate approved a version of HB281 that would have transferred the AG's power to file amicus, or "friend of the court" briefs, on behalf of the state to the chief executive.

Attorney General Andy Beshear said the move mirrors the themes of the 2017 session.

"I'm concerned that this entire session has been about removing power from the people and trying to give it to the governor, or removing protections from the people to try to benefit big corporations," Beshear told reporters. "And I'm the people's lawyer."

House Speaker Jeff Hoover said he favored the bill, but the clock ran out.

"We wanted to get these other bills done," he said. "Look, if we were going to do 281, it would have taken up the rest of the night after we got it." 

Republicans have been unhappy with briefs filed by Beshear and argue he hasn't properly defended laws passed by the new GOP-led General Assembly. Sen. President Robert Stivers dismissed the notion that the governor was behind the move.

"I've been doing this long before the governor ever got here, having running battles with the attorney general about what they can and can't do," he said.

Mystery Project

State lawmakers have agreed to let Gov. Matt Bevin borrow up to $15 million to convince a company to bring up to 500 full-time jobs to struggling eastern Kentucky.

State officials say Kentucky is in the running to land a major economic development project that would bring an investment of $1.3 billion, 1,000 construction jobs and 500 full-time jobs with average annual salaries of $75,000.

Lawmakers approved the bill late Thursday night on the final day of the legislative session. Republican Sen. Chris McDaniel said the bill was written in such a way that the governor can only use the money for this one project. If the project falls through, the state would not borrow the money.

Bevin told reporters the project is "alive and well," adding "there's no guarantee of anything."

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.
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