FRANKFORT, Ky. — This week, lawmakers filed hundreds of new bills ahead of the filing deadline, including legislation on abortion, sports betting and more.
They also advanced measures related to identification cards for people without permanent housing, policies for parent complaints about school materials and federal gun bans.
Tuesday, House 21, which would allow someone without permanent housing to use a shelter’s address to get an ID, passed a House committee.
Outside, advocates and eastern Kentucky flood survivors called on lawmakers to create and fund an affordable housing emergency trust fund.
Democrat Cassie Chambers Armstrong won a special election to represent parts of Jefferson County in Senate District 19 on Tuesday. She replaces now-Congressman Morgan McGarvey (D).
Wednesday, Democrats filed House Bill 518, which would legalize abortion.
Rep. Lindsey Burke (D, Lexington) said the bill “simply unwinds the heavy-handed and overbroad restrictions that have been imposed in recent years.”
The same day, Rep. Jason Nemes (R, Louisville) filed House Bill 569, a measure that would keep abortion banned, adding exceptions for fatal abnormalities and rape and incest, up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“I think our people are pro-life, but they believe in exceptions and so ... that’s the bill I filed, that’s the bill I promised I would file, and that’s what I believe in,” he said.
Over the objections of Democrats, the House passed House Bill 153, which would ban Kentucky law enforcement from cooperating in the enforcement of any federal bans on guns.
“When we pass legislation that salutes guns over the lives of Kentuckians, we’re making it known who we really serve,” said Rep. Josie Raymond (D, Louisville). “This is lunacy, Mr. Speaker. This is idiocy.”
Thursday, lawmakers debated Senate Bill 5, which requires local school boards to set up policies to handle complaints about books and other materials considered “harmful to minors.”
“I think what we were trying to accomplish here with the work that was done on this statute, is to afford parents as much control and as much control within their local communities as possible,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jason Howell (R, Murray).
The bill passed the Senate and moves to the House for consideration.
The 30-day legislative session is now past its halfway point.
Lawmakers return to Frankfort Tuesday.