2016 Bills

Sponsored

Senate Bill 60: This bill changes the requirement to name a date-certain for certain criminal conduct against vulnerable victims such as children.  Often children, who already have an under-developed sense of time and date, have a challenging time explaining when certain conduct occurred. While you or I would be able to give a date-certain, children often can only remember events as they relate to the season of the year, or how close something happened to a holiday.  This change in the law would give victims in such cases a broader range of time to describe an "ongoing course of conduct" by the accused.

Senate Bill 61:  I was as disgusted as so many others about the atrocious behavior of Planned Parenthood, and I simply will not stand for it.  In addition to co-sponsoring a bill that will prohibit their funding, I have filed this separate bill to explicitly prohibit the sale of bodies or parts of human tissue following an abortion.  (Senate Bill 25 is identical to my SB61, and I've co-sponsored this one as well.)

Senate Bill 81: Military families are precious to all of us and our communities across the country, and certainly in the 3rd District where Ft. Campbell's 101st Airborne resides.  "Military-connected" children and their families can benefit from a number of programs and additional services, but sometimes those children fall through the cracks of government bureaucracy.  This bill creates a unique identifier created by the KY Department of Education to allow schools to keep track of those kids and be sure they get plugged into all the services they need.

Co-Sponsored

Senate Joint Resolution 36: A resolution to urge the Governor of Virginia and the Virginia Attorney General to restore reciprocal recognition of licenses to carry concealed deadly weapons issued by Kentucky.

Senate Resolution 35: A resolution in honor of Lynda Morris Thomas, the late wife of my fellow Senator, Reggie Thomas.  Mrs. Thomas passed away from cancer in 2015.

Senate Bill 2: In 2013 the Legislature made changes to all retirement systems except for the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System (KTRS) because of political maneuvering.  This year's SB2 seeks to finally make substantive structural changes to KTRS to begin righting the ship so that the fund can become solvent once again and teachers can rest assured their pensions will be there when they need them.

Senate Bill 4: When women seeking an abortion they are making a decision about a serious medical procedure that affects two lives.  When all the rest of the world sees their doctor face-to-face prior to even simple procedures to learn about the risks and be able to ask questions, no such meeting is required for women seeking an abortion despite the seriousness of the procedure.  Instead, they can merely listen to a pre-recorded message, allowing no opportunity to ask questions.  This bill makes that face-to-face meeting a requirement.  This marks the fourth year I've sponsored or co-sponsored this bill.  It continues to die at the hands of House Democratic leadership and the Health & Welfare Committee chair.

Senate Bill 5: I vehemently disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down Kentucky's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.  In the aftermath of the Court's ruling, several of Kentucky's clerks expressed a sincerely held religious belief prohibited them from participating in the recognition of same-sex marriages, including fixing their signature to the marriage licenses.  A simple executive order from the Governor could've fixed the problem the same day the Court ruled, but instead we had to wait until a new Governor was elected to get one.  This bill codifies Gov. Bevin's order to change the marriage license forms, removing the necessity for clerks to sign.

Senate Bill 7: I want to defund Planned Parenthood.  Last year PP received about $300k from Kentucky.  This bill cuts that.

Senate Bill 15: Students and teachers alike now feel afraid to make reference to their beliefs, even when not trying to witness to others.  This bill clarifies that teachers and students can freely express their beliefs without fear of punishment or liability.

Senate Bill 25: Identical to my SB61 above.