How Did KY Repugs Fuck You Over This Year?

 Every anti-worker, pro-rich, corporatist, freakazoid, homophobic, misogynistic, unconstitutional way they could.

Tom Loftus at the Courier:

Charter schools
House Bill 520 will allow publicly funded charter schools to operate in Kentucky beginning next school year, although none are expected to begin operation until 2018-19. (All students who need extra help because of disability or poverty will be shunted into unfunded public schools.)

Education reform
Senate Bill 1 is a sweeping measure streamlining how students are taught and tested and how teachers are evaluated. It will give local schools more control over teacher evaluations and create a new way for intervening in low-performing schools that gives more authority to local school districts. (There is no end to the mischief this law allows: creationism, bibble inerrancy, forcing trans students to piss and shit themselves in class, encouraging students to harass and attack non-straight, muslim and/or immigrant students ... the horrors are endless.)

Right-to-work
House Bill 1 prohibits membership in a labor union or payment of union dues as a condition of employment. (No, this law takes away the last protections workers have from wage-stealing employers.)

Prevailing wage repeal: House Bill 3 repeals a law that requires a regional prevailing wage rate be paid as a minimum for workers building public schools and other state or local public buildings. (Back to minimum wage, you workers!  Thanks to the above, your union is dead.)

Abortion: House Bill 2 requires doctors to display and describe the details of an ultrasound to a woman prior to an abortion procedure. Women can decline to look at the ultrasound image or listen to the fetal heartbeat if they choose. (This law mandates doctors commit object rape on their own patients.)

Abortion: Senate Bill 5 bans abortion beginning with the 20th week of a pregnancy. The prohibition does not apply when an abortion is needed to save the life or prevent serious risk of permanent bodily harm to the mother.

Planned Parenthood funding: Senate Bill 8 puts Planned Parenthood at the end of the line behind other health care providers for getting any federal family planning funds. (Are you a minimum-wage worker who needs a mammogram or a pap smear? Tough shit. Get back to work before your cancer metastasizes.)

Medical malpractice:  Senate Bill 4 will require that a panel of doctors review malpractice complaints before the complaint goes to court.  (Did your stoned-on-oxy surgeon cut off the wrong let?  Tough shit.  His doctor buddies will protect him from your lawsuit.)

And more.

Some Kentucky Laws Other States Want to Copy

Notice that the "Freakazoids Don't Have to Obey Any Laws They Don't Like But Fuck You Atheists" law did not make the list. 

From the Legislative Research Commission:

The Council of State Governments will consider adopting 12 bills from Kentucky as model legislation at its August annual meeting.

 

The bills, all of which became law, range from the well-publicized Juvenile Justice Reform Act to a lesser-known bill that provided civil liability protections to engineers and architects who volunteer their services after a natural disaster or emergency.

 

The council annually publishes suggested legislation about topics of current importance to states. The goal is to compile draft legislation so states can learn from the experience of others and not to influence the enactment of state legislation, according to the council.

 

A special committee of the council meets at least twice a year and typically reviews approximately 80 pieces of legislation per meeting, voting to include an average of 30 to 40 bills in its yearly volume of suggested legislation. It prefers to consider legislation that has been enacted into law by at least one state.

 

State officials and their staff, council and council staff can submit legislation to be considered. The committee also considers legislation from other sources, but only when that legislation is submitted through a state official.

 

The other Kentucky bills being considered including measures to:

 

·         set emission standards for power plants ahead of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

 

·         require businesses to report data breaches of individuals’ personal information.

 

·         allow victims forced into prostitution by human traffickers to take steps to clear their criminal records.

 

·         make “upskirting,” the practice of taking photos up women’s skirts without their knowledge, illegal.

 

·         make the possession of cash registers altered to avoid recording all sales illegal. Known as “tax zappers,” the devices are used by merchants to avoid reporting sales taxes.

 

·         automatically terminate parental and custody rights of anyone convicted of felony rape when the mother chooses to keep the child.

 

·         create an adult abuse registry to allow employers to find out whether potential adult-care workers have been the subject of a substantiated finding of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

 

·         allow Kentucky to share prescription drug monitoring information with other states. It is designed to stop “doctor shopping” among prescription pain pill addicts.

 

·         create exemptions that permit some mini-trucks to operate on public highways. Mini-trucks are sold as off-road vehicles, such as the John Deere brand of Gator utility vehicles.

 

·         allow victims of domestic violence and sexual assault to remove their addresses from public voter registration rolls.

 

The Lexington-based council describes itself as a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy.

 

New Laws Take Effect July 15

In this presidential election year, Fourth of July is a good time to remind ourselves that the laws that have the biggest impact on our daily lives are passed not in Congress and signed by the president, but are passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor.

The 2008 General Assembly session may not have gotten the big issues settled - no casino gambling, a budget on the verge of shutting the state down - but it still passed a shitload of new laws that mostly flew under the radar.

Starting July 15, here are some of the new rules:

Adventure Tourism. Senate Bill 196 will boost the Kentucky's adventure tourism industry by allowing the state to enter agreements with private property owners for the use of their land for recreational activities. The agreements would allow property owners to permit public use of the land without facing the liability issues they otherwise would.

Alcohol vaporizers. House Bill 202 will ban the sale, purchase or use of alcohol vaporizing devices, which can be used to inhale intoxicating fumes of alcohol.

Amusement park safety. SB 203 will require more frequent inspections of amusement park rides and prevent anyone under 18 from operating the rides.

Animal cruelty. SB 58 will increase penalties for those who torture dogs or cats. Causing physical injury to a dog or cat as a result of torture would be a Class A misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail, while causing serious physical injury or death would be a Class D felony punishable by 1-5 years in prison. Currently, all torture cases involving a dog or cat are Class A misdemeanors for a first offense.

Blood donations. HB 139 will allow 16-year-olds who weigh at least 110 pounds to donate blood with written parental or legal guardian consent. The bill was crafted to help address blood shortages.

Booster Seats. SB 120 will require young children who are too big for infant car seats to be placed in booster seats when riding in vehicles. The bill states that children under 7 years old and between 40-50 inches tall must use the boosters. (Police will only issue courtesy warnings to violators until July 1, 2009. After that, a violator will face a $30 fine, which can be dismissed if the violator shows proof that a booster seat has been acquired.)

Bullying. HB 91 will require local school authorities to alert law enforcement when school harassment involves a potential felony. Yearly reports on school harassment will be made to the Department of Education and the Legislature.

Early voting. HB 479 will give citizens greater access to the voting process by allowing them to request absentee ballot applications via email. The bill also allows members of the military to return unused absentee ballots and still be allowed to vote on Election Day.

Elections. HB 370 will erase the requirement that runoff elections be held in gubernatorial primary races if no candidate receives at least 40 percent of the vote.

Golden alert. SB 125 will create a "Kentucky Golden Alert" to make local media aware when an impaired adult, such as a person with Alzheimer's, is reported missing. The program will be similar to the Amber Alert program, in which cases of missing children are publicized so that more people will be on the lookout for the missing person.

Military. HB 168 will allow active duty military serving outside the state up to 90 days to renew their driver's licenses after returning to Kentucky. They could not be cited for driving without a license during that period.

Sex offenders. HB 211 will broaden Kentucky's child sex abuse laws while increasing penalties for abusers and those who fail to report abuse. The bill will include older children under state laws that protect minors from first-degree sexual abuse by raising the age of children covered by the law from 12 to 16, or 16 to 18, if the perpetrator is in a position of trust or authority.

Stolen Valor Act. HB 110 will make it a Class A misdemeanor for anyone to falsely apply for a special military license plate or misrepresent current or former military status with an intent to defraud, obtain employment, or be elected or appointed to public office.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.