LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Earlier this week House Republicans who represent Jefferson County laid out what they’re calling the Safer Kentucky Act. It’s their plan to tackle violent crime in the state. But some lawmakers from both sides of the aisle share disagreement about their proposal.
The broad-reaching measure centers around public safety. It covers expanding what crimes constitute the death penalty, wiretapping, criminalizing street camping, and more.
Senate Minority Floor Leader Gerald Neal of Louisville called these policies “reactive” and is uncertain they will solve the root causes of the uptick in violent crime.
“The broadness doesn’t bother me so much as what is it rooted in and what is it based upon,” Neal said. “And if that can’t be explained, that cannot be connected and it’s just a reaction, you know, that raises a lot of serious questions.”
In the opposite chamber, State Representative Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, expressed her thoughts on the proposal.
“As it is currently presented with these 18 talking points, I am fielding a lot of concerns, not just within my district, but from folks all across the commonwealth,” Maddox said.
She adds some areas of the act could jeopardize someone’s right to privacy and could be abused in the wrong hands.
“I do not support wiretapping at the state level and I think that our caucus is going to struggle to achieve broad reaching support for something that has the potential to be so invasive,” Maddox said.
Both Maddox and Neal agree there has been a rise in crime in certain parts of the state. But at this moment, Maddox says there’s more work to be done on how to address it.
“No one disputes that we have a crime problem in Jefferson County and Fayette County,” Maddox said. “However, this particular proposal that has been brought forth is something that is going to be difficult to evaluate until which time we have bill draft language available to us.”
Neal urges more research-based support for the measures that have been proposed.
And to ensure there is a properly thought out bipartisan solution to tackle violence.
“The question is how do we proceed? How do we examine this in a way that we deal with the complexities of that and that we secrete to create these results? This is going to be a long-term trick and we have to be prepared to do that,” Neal said.
Both lawmakers serve on the interim judiciary committee. The Safer Kentucky Act is expected to be brought up for discussion during its Dec. 15 meeting.
In a statement to Spectrum News 1, House Democrat leadership offered this statement on the proposed legislation.
“We have not seen or studied the proposed legislation, so we have no comment on specific measures. However, we will say that the General Assembly has enacted bipartisan ‘smart on crime’ initiatives over the years that have made a true difference when it comes to increasing public safety, preserving constitutional rights, and keeping incarceration costs from skyrocketing. We will review these proposals through that prism.”