2006 Legislative Session Summary
I am very proud of the 2006 legislative session which produced a budget that will infuse millions of dollars into Kentucky communities over the next two years.
Most state spending in any budget year goes toward education, but increases in education spending in the 2006-08 budget passed were the largest in more than 14 years.

Under House Bill 1, which I co-sponsored, teachers will receive a two-percent raise next school year and a $3,500 raise in 2008, as part of our legislative commitment to bring salaries up to the average of the seven surrounding states by 2010. Lawmakers also provided teachers with a cost of living increase by adding .8 percent in 2007 and .6 percent in 2008 to their statutory retirement allowance increase of 1.5 percent. An additional $20 million was budgeted to supplement state contributions to the teachers' retirement system. Classified school employees will receive a two percent raise in 2007 and a five percent raise (not to exceed $2,500) in 2008.

Other education needs addressed by the budget were public preschool--which received an additional $47 million over the biennium to serve children in families that are up to 150 percent of the poverty level--and childhood literacy, which will receive an additional $22 million. An additional 54 schools will also receive Family Resource and Youth Services Centers under the budget.

I received many inquiries from constituents who are also state employees regarding their pay raises. Our budget calls for a flat raise based on income each year of the biennium for state employees. Those employees making less than $30,000 a year will receive a $1,350 raise while those making $80,000 or more will receive a sum of $400.

Medicaid, always a concern for constituents in the 43rd District, will comprise approximately $4.6 billion of the state's annual $6.5 billion health and human services budget in each of the next two years.

Increasing the number of Kentuckians with health insurance by helping small businesses insure their employees was a budgetary priority. We provided $6.5 million next fiscal year and $13.5 million the following year for the ICARE (Insurance Coverage Affordability and Relief to Small Employers) program that will provide vouchers to help employers cover insurance costs.

I take my responsibilities as your state representative very seriously, which is why I have a 100% voting record. It believe is my duty to be in Frankfort every day of the session to ensure that the 43rd District is well-represented.

This year, I sponsored or so-sponsored many bills that will make tangible improvements in our community and improve the lives of citizens through health care and education including:

House Bill 283, of which I am the primary sponsor, answered a dire need for emergency funding for skyrocketing home heating bills. HB 283 appropriated an emergency $10 million to supplement LIHEAP's (Lower Income Home Energy Assistance Program) Crisis Component that assists those families and seniors in jeopardy of having their power cut off. HB 283 passed the House and Senate and was signed by Governor Fletcher in a record 21 days.

Jefferson County received $879,000 in LIHEAP funding for the year which helped 5,800 households from having their heat cut off, but thousands of requests and applications from desperate families were still pending. Thanks to the emergency $10 million funding from my HB 283, another $1.4 million was appropriated to Jefferson County which served an additional 7,000 households.

House Bill 299 will help Kentucky lead the way to energy independence, so that we are not hostage to high heating oil and gasoline prices. I proudly co-sponsored this legislation that will benefit from economic growth and stabilization of the Commonwealth’s coal industry and agriculture, by requiring development of a strategy for production of transportation fuels from fossil energy resources and biomass resources.

House Bill 3 will toughen penalties and tighten registration requirements for sexual offenders. State colleges and universities could require criminal background checks of school visitors in addition to those already required for employment. Sex offenders would be barred from living within 1,000 feet of a school or playground.

House Bill 117 will expand statewide testing of children and pregnant women considered at-risk for elevated blood lead levels in lead-based paint. The legislation also requires children under 16 to wear helmets on all-terrain vehicles.

House Bill 181 will allow a prescription that is not a controlled substance to be refilled up to two weeks prior to the expiration date of the current supply.

House Bill 57 will require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish and maintain a statewide registry for organ and tissue donation.

House Bill 79 permits a local board of education to continue paying a salary to a certified school employee called to active military duty and require payments to the Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System or the Kentucky Employees Retirement System during that period.

House Bill 314 will provide qualified veterans or their spouses with a low-interest loan of $10,000 or less for personal expenses, including tuition costs or the purchase of a home or business. A veteran's child under age 27 would also qualify for a loan for college, vocational training or private school tuition for preschool or K-12.

House Bill 90 will create a six-month interim drivers license for teenage drivers aged 16-18 between the learner's permit and a full license, beginning April 1, 2007. The bill requires at least 60 hours of supervised driving, including at least 10 hours at night, with a fully licensed driver at least 21 years of age and driving would be prohibited from midnight to 6 a.m.

House Bill 508 will specify conditions for the use of the government's power of eminent domain to condemn private property for public use. Only government ownership or use, elimination of run-down or unsanitary areas, public infrastructure or other uses would be authorized under state law for "public use" under the measure. Private property could not be condemned for transfer to a private owner for economic development that benefits the public only indirectly, such as increasing jobs or a tax base.

Senate Bill 49 provides minimum lengths of time for the expiration of gift cards issued by businesses or charitable organizations; limits service charges or fees that may have the effect of reducing the value of the card, and mandates that a gift card sold without an expiration date is valid until redeemed or replaced.

A Special Session was called by Gov. Fletcher in June to fix flaws in tax-reform legislation passed last year. House Bill 1, passed by lawmakers, will bring tax relief to more than 70,000 lower income businesses by excluding them from the controversial alternative minimum tax calculation (AMC) if they have gross receipts or gross profits below $3 million. The tax will be phased out for small businesses with gross receipts or gross profits between $3 million and $6 million. All businesses will, however, still pay a $175 minimum tax required under current law.

By requiring businesses to pay the greatest amount of corporate tax produced by one of three calculations--the AMC, the traditional corporate income tax or a minimum tax of $175--thousands of Kentucky businesses were socked with enormous unexpected tax bills.

Under HB 1, these financially strapped businesses will get the immediate, and lasting, relief they deserve.

As your 43rd District Representative, I come to Frankfort every day with the goal of improving lives through productive and meaningful legislation. I believe that the 2006 session has created and improved laws that will make our commonwealth a better place to work and raise our families.

A list of the projects that Jefferson County will receive is attached, including $150,000 I secured for the Portland Museum to create a new exhibit highlighting the life and career of Flaget graduate, football star and Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung.