Greetings from Frankfort where snow is on the ground and we are having a first week of session like I have never seen before. Majority leadership has made the decision to pass several bills in this first week which we have passed in the Senate for years but have been held up by the Democratic House pass the first week. Since it takes five days to pass a bill—and that is without any hiccups—and our first day of session was Tuesday, it means that we worked this past Saturday, January 7.
The bills that should be signed into law by the time you read this column are: Right-to-work legislation, medical review panels, repealing prevailing wage on public projects, and pro-life legislation. All these bills have been vetted thoroughly in previous years, so I was comfortable voting on them on short notice. However, I expressed my concern to our leadership that we not move too fast and only consider bills which have been well-vetted.
Sen. Schickel
One bill I have been working on for several years now is judicial redistricting, which has been labeled Senate Bill 9. I am thankful that this bill has been made a priority by our caucus and labeled as Senate Bill 9. This is so important because it has to do not only with the efficient use of resources which we spend on our justice system but also the most basic tenant of the justice system—equal justice under the law. Our current court system was set up in the early 1970s and we have not made adjustments since then. High-growth areas, such as Northern Kentucky, have been shortchanged with resources while areas that have been losing population have an overabundance of resources. This is unacceptable.
Chief Justice Minton is to be complimented for his work in this area because politically, it has been a heavy lift. However, there is no question that this is the right thing to do. I look forward to working with him and my colleagues during the session to advance Senate Bill 9 so that it will become law by the end of the session.
Congratulations to my colleague, Senator Wil Schroder, and State Representative Diane St. Onge, who were elected chair and vice chair of the Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus this week. The Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators who advocate for Northern Kentucky.
The caucus will hold a legislative forum on Saturday, February 11, at 10 a.m. at Northern Kentucky University for citizen input.
Overall, I am very happy with the session so far, and we have made huge changes in the business climate for Kentucky which I believe will benefit Kentucky’s working families in the long run with an improved economy.
As always, if you have any questions or comments about this issue or any other public policy issue, please call me at 502-564-8100, Ext. 617, or visit my LRC webpage to submit a message. You can also follow me on Twitter at @SenatorSchickel. You can review the Legislature’s work online at www.lrc.ky.gov.
Senator John Schickel (R-Union) represents the 11th District in Boone County. He serves as chairman of the Senate Licensing and Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee, as well as a member of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee; Judiciary Committee; Natural Resources and Environment Committee; and Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary.
The Governor, and both legislative leaders said the main objective of this session was JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! And what do we get right out of the chute is fast tracking of anti-abortion bills to prove that there really is a war on women, bills to bust the unions and lower middle class pay, and a bill trying to justify our Governor’s mishandling of the U of L board reorganization. Quick, do it before the citizens know what’s happening. Watch out Mississippi, here we come! That loud sound you hear are the high five’s from ALEC, The Heritage Foundation, the Koch Brothers and Mr. Burns.
Ole Marv is quick with the rhetoric and short on substance as usual. Try reading the article first next time. Especially when it’s stated that these bills were already vetted; the Democrats were the ones who held things up. How hypocritical to pronounce that women should “have a choice” but employees shouldn’t…
Mr. Thornton: By “vetted”, you mean by Republicans which have been trotting them out for several sessions now and are “Republican approved” although I admit some Democrats voted for the abortion bills also. By your logic then, if workers don’t have a choice to unionize then women shouldn’t have a choice in their health care.
The Right to Work bill stipulates that joining a union is not a prerequisite for obtaining a job, nor are your dues automatically deducted; you have a choice to do those things. A woman has a choice (under normal circumstances) to engage in intercourse. Having choices is good. Mandates, not so much. Change can be difficult, Marv, but don’t worry too much and who knows, things might actually improve here in the Commonwealth!
P.S. Marv, I’ve seen more, heard more and read more this last year about what’s been going on legislatively than in the previous eight. You may not like what’s happening but you can’t say they’re trying to hide anything.
P.P.S. No, there’s never been a “war on women”, no matter how often you repeat it.