the gallery pass is one month old!
and she's already crawling!
The Gallery Pass has survived, if not thrived, for exactly one month now! Thanks for making that possible, y’all.
As a gift, I will save you from a cold open about my recent attempt at self tanner and go straight into ~the news.~
We got choice about choice
How fitting! As promised, House GOP leadership filed a second school choice constitutional amendment bill for lawmakers’ consideration: House Bill 2.
Like the first school choice measure — House Bill 208 from Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington — HB 2 would ask voters to add a section to Kentucky’s Constitution allowing state dollars to go to charter and private schools.
Both bills would clear the way for charter schools, education opportunity accounts and school vouchers to legally exist in Kentucky.
But Calloway’s measure says that such dollars should go to families with limited financial means (that term remains undefined), while the new bill would let money go to any student.
Calloway’s version also says that any money that goes to non-public schools should not come from public school funding. The new bill does not say that.
Big anti-crime bill advances
House Bill 5 — the “Safer Kentucky Act” or the “Suffer Kentucky Act,” depending on who you ask — is now in the hands of the Senate after passing the House Thursday afternoon.
HB 5, sponsored by Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, passed after hours of debate, failed motions, direct questions and a rather dry reading of roughly 19% of Bauman’s list of sources, which he does, apparently, actually have despite not sharing it with Dems. It was a 74-22 nearly party-line vote:
GOP Reps. Steven Doan, Savannah Maddox and Felicia Rabourn — all “liberty”-leaning Rs — sided with Ds against the bill.
Dem Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty was the sole D to vote in favor.
Keeping with HB 5’s tradition of radically changing every time it is publicly presented, Bauman made a series of changes to the bill on the floor through a floor amendment:
In one of the biggest changes, those who sell fentanyl that results in someone’s death would not be eligible for murder charges. There are also some new provisions to protect people who try to get medical help for someone ODing.
Another big change: Sleeping in your car (as long as it isn’t illegally parked) is now OK.
It has yet to receive a committee assignment in the Senate.
What’s new, what’s moving
Students would not be allowed to use their cell phones in class under district policies that would be mandated under House Bill 383 from Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon.
IDK if any of y’all have talked to a teacher recently, but student cell phone use in class is a huge problem. This would block their use outside of emergencies and when the teacher says it is OK.
Big problem here is, like, how? Schools and districts can already outlaw phones, but it is really tough to actually enforce.
Two House Dems are backing a measure to repeal last year’s Senate Bill 150, one of the toughest anti-trans laws in the country.
The problem is they are Democrats in a GOP-dominated legislature. Don’t expect this to move.
A measure that would allow guns to be temporarily removed from folks deemed at risk of hurting themselves or others has officially been filed.
Senate Bill 13, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, has some bipartisan support, while Westerfield said he thinks it has a “tough uphill climb.”
Houston, we have a teacher pension bill: Senate Bill 4, from Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, focuses on teacher sick days.
I’m no pension expert, but I believe SB 4 makes some of the changes Higdon suggested in the name of sick day-related transparency in a December Public Pension Oversight Board meeting.
The House’s big anti-DEI-in-higher-ed measure — House Bill 9 — got assigned to the House Education Committee late last week.
While I would be surprised if they called it for a committee vote so soon, the House Ed Committee meets next Tuesday morning, most likely at 8 a.m.
Sources tell me to expect some changes to the measure ahead of its first vote, whenever that happens. Here’s a rundown of what it currently calls for.
It is up to 19 co-sponsors.
Let’s look at the week ahead
As always, this is Frankfort and all of this is subject to change.
Monday:
The House Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation will be discussing Gov. Andy Beshear’s road plan at 2 p.m., should anyone be interested.
House and Senate gavel in at 4 p.m.
Senate Bill 75, the bill to open the road between the Capitol and Capitol Annex we talked about last time, is on Monday’s Orders of the Day. That doesn’t guarantee it a vote, but it looks promising.
Tuesday:
The daily committee schedule hasn’t dropped yet, but keep an eye out for the House Education Committee and House A&R Committee to meet in the morning.
House and Senate gavel in at 2 p.m.
Senate Bill 80, which would prohibit voters from using student IDs to verify their identity when voting, is on the Orders of the Day. Again, doesn’t guarantee it a vote.
Wednesday:
Again, more committee meetings TBD. The standing committee schedule can always be found right here, but please remember that committees cancel meetings or add special meetings or shift their start times all the time.
House and Senate gavel in at 2 p.m.
Thursday:
Yes, more committee meetings TBD. The Senate Education Committee meets around 11 a.m., typically.
House and Senate gavel in at 2 p.m.
Friday:
House and Senate gavel in at 9 a.m.
Where to find my work
As always:
The Gallery Pass, obvs. Tell your friends to subscribe and/or upgrade to a paid subscription, plz plz plz.
Live updates go on Twitter.
TikTok is for bill explainers + answering questions.
Instagram is very much for the aesthetic (but also shareable recaps of what’s going on, so you can show your friends you are hip and with it).
LEO Weekly will be home for all of my full-length, original reporting.
ok, g2g attempt to style my bangs by myself for the first time, byeeee!