FRANKFORT, Ky. — State lawmakers wrapped up week two of this year’s 60-day legislative session. Here is a look at some of what happened.

What You Need To Know

  • State lawmakers are two weeks into this year's legislative session

  • Republicans in the House filed the Safer Kentucky Act

  • A bipartisan effort to protect an individual’s privacy is moving forward 

  • One state senator wants to eliminate early voting 

On Tuesday, Jan. 9, House Republicans from Louisville filed their long-anticipated public safety plan aimed mostly at addressing violent crime. The broad-reaching 72-page bill is called the Safer Kentucky Act.

“The first duty of any civilized society is to protect its honest citizens from those that prey on their innocent fellow citizens,” State Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, said. “Crime is something that directly impacts every single Kentuckian, and it is with a deep sense of purpose and value that we put forward the critical reforms in the Safer Kentucky Act.”

The bill would create a three-strikes law where repeat violent criminals would receive a life sentence.

Other sections create a statewide carjacking ordinance — regulate charitable bail funding organizations — and increase penalties on several crimes like fleeing police.

House Democrats believe the language targeting street camping by the homeless is harmful.

“If we really wanted to deal with the homeless and houseless situation, we would put money into housing. We would create and build more affordable housing, and then also we would put more money into those nonprofit organizations who are serving these individuals,” State Rep. Keturah Herron, D-Louisville, said.

The Safer Kentucky Act would ban camping on roads or under bridges. It would also allow cities to designate a location for camping to occur, but does not require it.

While the two parties are split on how to address crime, House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree more needs to be done to protect individual privacy.

House Bill 45 makes creating a deep fake of someone using ai maliciously a felony. It also addresses tracking devices like Apple Airtags and makes using them to track someone a crime.

“Last year we made it illegal to put something like that on a car without consent, and now we’ve extended that to your person, your effects, your clothing,” State Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville, said.

In the Senate, Minority Whip David Yates, D-Louisville, has filed SB 99. It creates limited exceptions to the state’s near-total ban on abortions. Those exceptions are for victims of rape or incest, nonviable pregnancies and the health of a pregnant woman. Under the current law, abortions can only be performed to save the life of the mother. A similar bill was filed last year by State Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, but it did not advance.

Republican State Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, wants to eliminate in-person no-excuse early voting. Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams disagrees. Adams made early voting permanent after its creation in 2020.

“If we pass this and it becomes the law, you’re going to see national boycotts, you’re going to see folks say ‘Kentucky’s a bunch of backwoods bumpkins’ and they’re bigots and they’re vote suppressors,” Adams said.

Senate Bill 10 is also moving forward. This week, SB 10 cleared another hurdle toward passage with a favorable vote in the Senate Local and State Government Committee. The bill would move elections of statewide officers, like the governor, to even-numbered years. The bill has passed in the Senate in previous years but not the House.

State lawmakers will be off on Monday, Jan. 15 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Both chambers gavel in on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 4 p.m.