(Frankfort) Significant developments on major issues affecting Kentucky highlighted this past week in the Senate. Telemarketing and redistricting both rose to the forefront and the Governor delivered his budget proposal during a joint session of the General Assembly. On the telemarketing issue, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unveiled a rule to create a national, centralized “Do Not Call” registry. Under the proposal consumers can sign up for this registry by calling a 1-800 number and following an automated process. The rule also calls on Telemarketers to end sharing credit card and billing information with third parties. Also as part of this rule Telemarketers will no longer be allowed to disable caller I.D. systems. I’ve always been of the opinion that we must enact legislation to stop fraudulent and nuisance telemarketing calls. This national “Do Not Call” registry will do just that. The only solution to the Telemarketing issue is legislation that is enforceable and as we coordinate this national effort in Kentucky we will finally be able to stop the unwanted telemarketing calls. After a long wait the House passed its redistricting bill this past week. The bill was brought before the full Senate for a vote in only three days, the shortest number of legislative days possible. The Senate plan accepts the house lines as drawn. The Republican caucus is still of the opinion that the house should draw their own districts and the Senate should draw our own districts. The Senate also passed Senate Bill 65 which is a congressional redistricting plan. We are in favor of a fair redistricting plan that is consistent with the principle of “One Person, One Vote.” In disclosing the budget, the governor provided lawmakers with a starting point for our work on the state’s next two-year spending plan. As the budget proposal works its way through the legislative process, lawmakers are sure to make whatever changes necessary to ensure the final budget we approve reflects the priorities and concerns of the people we represent. This budget is already quite different from those we’ve worked on in recent years. The national economic downturn has hit state governments hard, and shortfalls have replaced surpluses. As a result, the budget proposed to lawmakers generally maintains, but doesn’t increase, spending on state government programs and services. It contains no tax increases and no new construction projects. Among the measures we considered was legislation aimed at expanding research to diversify our state’s agricultural industry. I sponsored Senate Bill 86 which would replace the Tobacco Health Institute at the University of Kentucky with the new Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center. This new center will allow researchers to continue studying tobacco, but they’ll also have the opportunity to broaden the scope of their work to other crops important to Kentucky farmers, such as corn and soybeans. Education was also a hot topic last week. We approved Senate Bill 74 which would improve Kentucky high school students’ access to advanced placement courses. The legislation would require the creation of uniform guidelines for Kentucky’s advanced placement courses, and would prompt local school-based decision making councils to develop advanced placement curriculum. The bill would also use technology to improve students’ access to advanced placement courses by making them available online through the Kentucky Virtual High School. In other business, we passed Senate Bill 61 to help the state save money and conserve resources by improving energy conservation in government buildings. The bill sets a goal for the state to lower energy use in state buildings by 10 percent. We took a step toward helping people with epilepsy with the passage of Senate Bill 69. The legislation would ensure public places aren’t off limits for an assistance dog trained to sense and warn a person with epilepsy before a seizure starts. We also passed Senate Bill 59 to help crack down on crime by giving U.S. Customs Service special agents in Kentucky the power to make arrests. The Customs officers who help patrol airports say this added power would help in their efforts to fight terrorism, drug trafficking, child pornography and counterfeit goods.
I encourage you to stay informed
on the issues being discussed during the session. One excellent resource
is the Legislative Research Commission website. The address is www.lrc.state.ky.us.
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