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State Senate weakens bill to curb underage vaping
A bill set up a regulatory framework to curb underage vaping passed out of the Senate on Thursday, March 21, but hasn’t yet been assigned to a committee in the House, with only a few days left in the legislative session. Senate Bill 344, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Storm...
Watch Meredith excoriate the anti-vaxxers
HB 274 is a common-sense bill that allows pharmacists to administer vaccinations to children 5 years of age and older with the parent’s permission. It does not mandate any vaccinations; it simple deals with a reality in many rural parts of the state, that there aren’t doctors nearby to do the vaccination.
Civics Education Bill — something good from the KY Legislature?
Despite the plethora of outlandish, unnecessary, and generally stupid bills that emanate from the current Kentucky Legislature, it can, apparently, get something right. Or at least it appears right; we will have to wait for an appraisal from Kentucky educators. HB 535 is titled: AN ACT relating to civic education....
Beshear PAC announces first endorsements
This morning, Governor Andy Beshear’s PAC, In This Together, released its first round of endorsements:. North Carolina AG and gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein. Judge Pamela Goodwine, candidate for Kentucky Supreme Court. “We created In This Together because the anger politics increasingly dominating our country represent a threat to the...
The buzz continues to grow around Comer’s opponent, Erin Marshall
A Democratic challenger hasn’t come even close to beating a Republican congressman in the First Congressional District for at least two dozen years. But Democratic activists in the Jackson Purchase — the state’s long-gone “Democratic Gibraltar” — are abuzz over Erin Marshall. She’s the 29-year-old Frankfort single mom who is taking on incumbent James Comer, whom Northern Kentucky Tribune columnist Bill Straub ID’s as “R-WhereverHeHangsHisHatIsHisHome.” More on why in a minute.
Jamie Comer, alias Comer Pyle, has proved to be abject failure; no facts on his side
Had it been a beer league softball game the mercy rule would have been imposed, before the first pitch. But this didn’t take place on the diamond. It was at a congressional hearing in DC. And the chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, our old pal Rep. Jamie Comer (R-TheFrankfortLoop) emerged from it all like a punch-drunk lightweight who traded blows with Mike Tyson.
Some political humor from DemDaily
The DemDaily newsletter is put out by the folks at DemList. You can sign up for DemList here, and support it here. The following is their monthly collection of late-night humor about politics. On Donald Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court on his claim of presidential immunity from criminal charges...
Schools districts say cuts to SNAP benefits could worsen Commonwealth’s student hunger problem
Kentucky school districts say a proposed bill to tighten restrictions on SNAP participation will lead to an uptick in student hunger. House Bill 367 would lower the income threshold for SNAP eligibility from 200% of the federal poverty level to 130% and would end a policy allowing more people to use the federal food assistance program.
Climate-denying House committee chair wants Kentucky to be a fossil fuel ‘sanctuary state’
Lawmakers are putting large sums of federal funding at risk with a resolution that would declare Kentucky a ‘sanctuary state’ for fossil-fueled power plants. House Joint Resolution 121 says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is “overreaching” its regulatory power. It would also prohibit the state’s environmental cabinet from enforcing federal air quality standards related to power plants.
Overbroad bill risks turning food plant workers, government inspectors, neighbors into criminals
We expect, as a commonwealth, that when lawmakers propose to make activity criminal, that they choose their words carefully. We also expect that government will take action to assure that our food supply is safe, and that workers in the workplace will not be exposed to hazards due to employer negligence.
Kentucky is about to pass the cruelest criminal-justice bill in America
On March 14, the Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve HB 5, the “Safer Kentucky Act.” The legislation will now head to the Senate floor for a vote, and it will almost certainly pass. The 78-page bill criminalizes homelessness—and decriminalizes the use of deadly force against individuals engaging in “unlawful camping.” Under this law, if a property owner believes an unhoused trespasser is attempting to commit a felony or attempting to “dispossess” them, they can shoot the homeless person.
Uncivil Unrest at the Ethics Commission
Aaron, Doug and (eventually) Kimberly cover the Kentucky legislature — with the special treat of a dramatic reenactment of some VERY uncivil treatment of a civil servant by the “my way or the highway” GOP supermajority. We also highlight a new effort to ban drag shows by lumping them in with adult businesses in a bad bill that’s moving forward as we speak; we touch base on a baseless effort to force a Louisville House Democrat off the ballot – then we close with a double-duty call to action!
Action Alert: Call about these two bills
Please take five minutes to call the Legislative Comment Line at 800-372-7181 and leave these two messages:. The Anti-DEI bill, SB 6, is back in front of the Senate. Since it has already passed the Senate and House, but was changed in the House, if the Senate approves it as changed, it becomes law. Leave a message for ALL Senate members to vote NO on SB 6.
Billionaires Yass, DeVos team up to dismantle public schools across the US – including KY
On a hot July day in Tampa at the 2022 Moms for Liberty Summit, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told the crowd that the US Department of Education should be abolished. This claim – that the very department she recently led should not exist – earned her a standing ovation from the Moms for Liberty members in the room.
An interview with Anne Donworth
We talk with Anne Donworth, one of the Democratic candidates for House District 76. She shares why she is running, the extensive experience she brings to the table, and her passion for the lives of the people in her district. Her website: https://www.annegaydonworth.com/. Podcast.
Erin Marshall launches campaign to unseat Comer with striking launch video
Editor’s note: I was going to simply post the press release, but then I watched the launch video. It is one of the best I’ve seen, and I encourage you to both view it and share it. It’s embedded below. Today, first-time Democratic candidate Erin Marshall, a...
New bureaucracy would burden Kentuckians with higher power bills if Senate Bill 349 becomes law
In late February, energy legislation (SB 349) that’s been promised from Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester arrived on the last day for bills to be introduced. Discussing the measure on the Senate floor last week, supporters emphasized the legislation’s commitment to an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. It’s a talking point many might buy — unless they read past the bill’s first page.
Here’s the constitutional amendments you could see this fall
Every session of the Kentucky legislature sees multiple bills filed that propose to amend our state’s constitution. Most of them never get further than the Committee on Committees. A few make it to the floor in one chamber, and perhaps get passed there, but don’t get through the other chamber. And a very few actually get approved by both chambers and are placed on the ballot.
Dictatorship: the framework is already in place
It is easy to find media statements warning us that a victory by Donald Trump in November will lead to some form of dictatorship. This message has been around for months. Here is a headline from The Week (12-15-23): “Trump: Is America sleepwalking toward a dictatorship?” And in November of last year Robert Kagan’s opinion piece in the Washington Post (11-30-23) was titled “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.”
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