Final Days of the 2020 Legislative Session

There is no doubt that amid the COVID-19 outbreak, this session was quite different. Lawmakers convened April 14 and April 15 to pass final pieces of legislation and override some of Governor Beshear’s vetos.

Gov. Beshear has ten days to consider taking action once a bill has been passed.
● He can do nothing and the bill becomes law after ten days;
● He can veto a bill and the legislature has no ability to override the veto;
● He can sign a bill into law.

Below is an overview of the action taken during the last two days of the session. Once the veto period has concluded on April 27th, we’ll send you a complete session review, including any action the Governor may take in the next ten days. Email us if you have any questions, shellie.hampton@kaco.org.

Veto Overrides

Local Gov. Publications
HB195, Local Government Legal Advertisements (J. Miller) will allow counties with a population of 80,000 or greater to publish ordinances online and requires only one newspaper publication of ordinances instead of two.

SPGE Rates
SB5, (R. Alvarado) would allow fiscal courts to have options on oversight of SPGE rates and fees.

Elections
HB336, (J. Fischer) requires a candidate for Governor to select a running mate in a slate of candidates after filing a certificate or petition of nomination and not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the regular election for the office of Governor; provides that the retired county clerks shall be voting members of the State Board of Elections

Voter ID
SB2, (R. Mills) requireS voters to present photo ID at the polls, starting in the general election in November. Voters without a photo ID will be able to show another form of ID and affirm, under the penalty of perjury, that they are qualified to vote; allows poll workers to vouch for a voter they personally know even if that person has no valid ID; will provide a free state-issued ID card for individuals who are at least 18 but do not have a valid driver’s license.

Delivered to Governor-Awaiting Action

Constitutional Amendment: Terms of Constitutional Officers
HB405, (J. Nemes) if ratified, will lengthen terms of office to eight years for Commonwealth’s Attorneys beginning in 2030, and District Court judges beginning in 2022.

First-Responders
Ambulance Service Providers
HB8, (R. Rothenburger) establishes a reimbursement protocol for Medicaid ground ambulance service provider.

Police Pursuit Policies
HB298, (J. Tipton) requires law enforcement agencies to establish and enforce policies covering police pursuits.

Transfer of Prisoners
HB361, (D. Frazier) would require an agreement between an originating and receiving jail before a judge can order the transfer of a prisoner, requires a Circuit Judge to review his or her transfer order every 60 days and provides for the transfer of state prisoners from jails which are at or over 150 percent capacity

Deputy Jailers
HB299, (K. Banta) allows jailers to appoint deputy jailers who are nonresidents of Kentucky.

Inter-Local Cooperation Agreements
HB570, (M. Meredith) updates and streamlines the interlocal agreement process between government agencies to encourage more counties to utilize this tool.

Rural Hospitals
HB387, (D. Bentley) establishes the rural hospital operations and facilities revolving loan fund to aid financially struggling rural hospitals.

Local Option Elections
SB99, (J. Schickel) removes sunset provision for local option elections for distilleries

Budget Bills
HB 351, the accompanying revenue measure to the Executive Branch budget
HB 352, Executive Branch biennial budget;
HB 353, the Transportation Cabinet biennial road plan and budget
HB 354, Biennial Highway Construction Plan
HB 355, Legislative Branch biennial budget
HB 356, Judicial Branch biennial budget