The (First) Finale
The final two legislative days may not come until the March, but Friday marks the GOP-led General Assembly's final chance to pass bills that can survive a veto by the governor.
Votes come fast and furious, both on long-debated bills and hasty patchwork legislation. Language that may have appeared dead for the session is often revived and attached to other bills, new provisions suddenly appear, as others fall victim to the fast approaching deadline.
It also brings out frequent complaints from minority party members. Take Democratic Rep. Pamela Stephenson, who described one measure as a "garbage disposal of many bills stuffed in here, and the public hasn't had a chance to read them. The representatives haven't had a chance to figure out the impact on the people of Kentucky."
But the speed is also a product of a formal process called concurrence, where the chambers pass amended bills back and forth in an effort to get agreement. If not, those bills head to conference committees where lawmakers try to hash out compromises.
As for concerns about transparency, Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said the chambers have the law on their side.
"What a lot of people don't realize is people say things on the floor, but (the process) is well-founded in fact, law, and constitution that this is the way it happens," he said.
After midnight tonight, attention shifts to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who can take his veto pen to the bills. Those vetoes rarely stick these days with Republicans able to easily reverse them when they return at the end of the month.
Ch-Ch-Changes
In recent days, lawmakers have introduced language making it easier to lower the state's income tax; provisions they say will "clarify" abortion laws; and a committee substitute barring hormone and surgical coverage for transgender residents on Medicaid.
Senate Bill 19 — originally creating a mandatory moment of silence at the beginning of school days — saw the addition of a new option allowing public school students to exit school for an hour each week for district-approved "moral instruction." The phrase raised concerns for Democrat Cassie Chambers Armstrong.
"This is a big deal to take one hour every single week of school time for something that quite frankly should be happening in families and outside of school hours," she said.
The bill says the program must take place off school property and be "voluntary and free from coercion by school personnel," with pupils who do not participate remaining in school and participating in other educational activities.
Meanwhile, Stivers said one issue under discussion is Gov. Beshear's move to extend the tax filing deadline to November 3rd for individuals and businesses affected by severe storms.
"We may have a problem because we can't sit here and not have collection of revenues for seven months," he told reporters.
House and Senate members did reach a compromise on relief for school districts closed by weather disasters. Under the agreement, schools can ask to waive five required days and make up for lost instructional hours by adding more time to school days.
A new amendment to House Bill 392 would require all prison facilities to direct that all prisoners be assigned to facilities based on the prisoner's "original biological sex."
Stivers said the amendment is not about discrimination or being "mean-spirited," but rather ensuring people are not placed in environments where they feel unsafe.
"Certain communities don't want to be in a room, a bathroom, a shower, and it makes them uncomfortable," he said.
The most recent data showed 67 inmates in Kentucky identified as transgender.
This is an ongoing story.