APRIL 17, 2018
Gangs, tax fixes and budget changes:
Bevin can still veto these bills – without being overridden…
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Lawmakers spent the last two days of the legislative session passing proposals that tackle issues like gangs and taxes, but now Gov. Matt Bevin has sole control over the fate of those final bills.
If he vetoes any of those bills, the legislature has no recourse to override him because they have adjourned.
What’s safe are the high-profile budget and tax reform plans that legislators passed in early April. That’s because the legislature had a built-in 10-day period for Bevin to veto legislation before lawmakers returned to consider nixing any decisions they disliked.
So after Bevin rejected the budget and tax proposals, the legislature was able to override his vetoes. They now become law and are set in stone.
The main budget and tax bills are set in stone now, but Bevin still has the authority to ax other measures lawmakers passed on Friday and Saturday before lawmakers adjourned for the year.
The governor can do line-item vetoes on appropriations measures, so it’s possible he could veto some of the budget changes the legislature approved Saturday and allow others to become law.
Here are some key bills lawmakers sent to the governor’s desk at the end of the session. None had been vetoed or signed into law as of late Monday afternoon, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office.
Gangs
The legislature cleared a controversial measure targeting gang recruitment and violence despite concerns that it could disproportionately affect people of color.
House Bill 169 strengthens the penalties people face if gang activity is determined to have been a factor in the crime they committed. It makes gang recruitment a felony for adults instead of a misdemeanor. It also prevents gang members who are convicted of violent offenses from becoming eligible for parole until they’ve served 85 percent of their respective sentences.
Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, requested a racial impact study examining the measure’s anticipated effect on minorities, but his colleagues didn’t go for it. Neal said it was irresponsible to ignore his request.
Tax bill fixes
The legislature overturned Bevin’s veto of its tax reform bill Friday but changed some aspects of the plan in a separate measure when it returned to the Capitol on Saturday, motivated in part by feedback from constituents and major manufacturing companies.
The reforms initially suspended a tax incentive valued by businesses like Toyota and Ford. (Bevin cited the original bill’s elimination of a key economic development tool for job retention among his reasons for vetoing it.)
But House Bill 487, which legislators approved Saturday, erases that suspension.
HB 487 also preserves (but temporarily suspends) a tax credit for “angel” investments in small, Kentucky-based companies. Several people have used this state program to invest in Neuronetrix Solutions LLC, a company Bevin partially owns.
The original tax bill suspended the program until July 2022, but lawmakers changed that provision Saturday to suspend it through 2020. Starting in January 2021, the state could offer angel investment tax credits again but must stick to an annual, $3 million cap.
Budget adjustments
As with the tax bill, lawmakers overrode Bevin’s veto of their major 2018-20 budget bill Friday but approved some adjustments in separate measures on Saturday.
The legislature used House Bill 265 to make several key changes, such as authorizing the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System to fund health insurance for the dependents of educators who have retired since 2010 but aren’t eligible to receive Medicaid yet. It also gives the commonwealth’s coal counties a bigger share of the state’s revenues from coal severance taxes.
Lawmakers also approved Senate Bill 200, which funds the Kentucky Wired project, an initiative to develop a high-speed internet network throughout the state that has experienced expensive delays.
The governor can do line-item vetoes on appropriations measures, so it’s possible he could veto some of the budget changes the legislature approved Saturday and allow others to become law.
Online medical consultations
Senate Bill 112 is meant to make it easier for Kentuckians to consult with their doctors by promoting the use of online video conferences between patients and physicians.
But the measure says doctors must be physically present in the same room with a patient when performing or inducing an abortion. (No video conferencing allowed.)
Rep. Attica Scott, D-Louisville, opposed the anti-abortion provision. She said there appear to be no examples of doctors conducting an abortion using telehealth services and questioned why the bill doesn’t exclude any other medical procedures.
Bevin, a staunch opponent of abortion, has yet to veto or sign this proposal.
Rules for recruiting athletes
Senate Bill 228 updates and tweaks state regulations dealing with agents who work with students competing in school sports, including at the collegiate level.
Sponsored by Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, the bill expands and clarifies the definition of who counts as an “athlete agent” and requires such agents to provide extensive information about themselves when they apply for registration with the state.
It also institutes new rules concerning contracts between agents and student athletes.
By Morgan Watkins
Louisville Courier Journal
