Legislative Update With Rep. Michael Meredith: House Continues to Pass Meaningful Legislation

By Representative Michael Lee Meredith:
Wrapping up yet another week in Frankfort in the 2024 Regular Session, we have officially surpassed the halfway mark. We now have less than 30 legislative working days to conclude our business for the year, and pass even more legislation to make Kentucky even stronger.
 
One of those measures, HB 563, was filed Thursday, and would create a first of its kind framework for funding water infrastructure improvements that many of our communities desperately need. This measure would create two distinct revolving loan funds. The first, the Kentucky Waste Waters Fund, a loan pool modeled after the successful Kentucky Product Development Initiative would target troubled, economically-struggling systems that do not qualify for grants or loans through existing programs. Additionally, HB 563 creates the Emergency Kentucky Waste Waters Fund. Similar to the other fund, the emergency revolving loan fund would provide capital to systems during a state of emergency in order to restore utility service. This legislation would ensure millions in funding for water and waste water infrastructure reaches the state’s most troubled water districts, and I look forward to considering this bill in the weeks to come.
 
Further enhancing our elections: Members of the Elections, Constitutional Amendments, and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee approved HB 53 this week. This measure would revise the election verification process in all 120 counties, establishing a publicly visible hand-counted ballot process to ensure full integrity in our elections.
 
Strengthening our families: Members of the Families and Children Committee considered several incredibly important pieces of legislation in their last meeting starting with HB 105, which establishes the Mentorship for At-Risk Male Students Grant Program, the Responsible Father Initiative Grant Program, and requires the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to identify children that are involved with both systems of care and provide a report to the General Assembly each year that includes actions taken by both agencies to better serve these children. It also adds promotion of father engagement activities as part of the Kentucky HANDS Program. Next, they considered HB 367, which would prohibit the state from taking certain actions regarding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP) including increasing the eligibility standards for participation in the program, granting non-cash, in kind, or other benefits to individuals in the program unless those individuals are eligible for those benefits under a different program, exempting individuals from the gross income and financial resources standards for benefits, applying for, seeking accepting, or renewing any waiver of work requirements for able bodied adults without dependents. It would remove the provisions that allow the Cabinet to waive certain requirements within the SNAP program without obtaining authorization from the General Assembly.
 
Teacher Recruitment and Retention/HB 377: This measure establishes the Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program and the Student Teacher Stipend Program. The Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program provides that students accepted into an eligible program will be eligible to receive $5,000 per semester, and those who have declared a major in an eligible program will be able to receive up to $2,500 per semester. Students who accept these awards will be required to teach in the state for one year for each semester award accepted. Students accepted into the Student Teacher Stipend Program will be eligible to receive up to a $5,000 stipend during the academic term in which the student is a student teacher.
 
Protecting Students from Abusive Conduct/HB 275: This bill prohibits school districts from signing nondisclosure agreements with faculty accused of abusive conduct toward a student. The measure also instructs schools to investigate all allegations of abusive conduct until a conclusion is reached. Additionally, HB 275 requires school districts to conduct reference checks with past school districts of teaching applicant. Past school districts must disclose all records of abusive conduct of an individual to the districts hiring the new personnel. HB 275 was approved by the House and now awaits consideration in the Senate.
 
As always, I can be reached anytime through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181. You can also contact me via e-mail at [email protected] and keep track through the Kentucky legislature’s website at legislature.ky.gov.