Kentucky

Child labor, food assistance bills stall in Kentucky Senate committee but could get another chance • Kentucky Lantern

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2024

Child labor, food assistance bills stall in Kentucky Senate committee but could get another chance • Kentucky Lantern

FRANKFORT — A Senate committee on Thursday blocked House bills that would loosen state restrictions on child labor and tighten eligibility for food assistance, but the measures are not necessarily dead.

The committee could consider both bills again at a specially-called meeting Friday, said Sen. Max Wise, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Development, Tourism, & Labor.

House Bill 367, which anti-hunger advocates had warned could lead to greater food insecurity in Kentucky fell short of the votes needed to advance to the full Senate, despite changes to the bill made by its sponsor.

The bill sponsor aimed to increase workforce participation with the legislation. It would, among other things, give the General Assembly power over decisions about work requirements for Kentucky’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP.

Since his bill cleared the House in February, Rep. Wade Williams, R-Earlington, said he made it “a much narrower bill.”

He deleted a section of the bill that would have restored the federal asset test, ending the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ ability to waive asset limits through the Broad Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE). This would have excluded households with savings worth $2,750 as long as there are no disabled or elderly people in the household and excluded seniors and people with disabilities who had $4,250 saved.

The edits weren’t enough to convince some senators.

Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, said that he does not question the intention behind the legislation. But, he said, it “works against everything that we’ve done in the last few years” to address benefits cliffs.

“All this does is it places another wedge between people who are working and are trying to do what is best for them and what we want them to do policy-wise for the commonwealth,” Howell said. “It throws another wedge in there to keep them down in a lower economic demographic; keeps them from … being able to build any wealth, to build any assets.”

“I think it flies in the face of everything that we’ve been trying to do as a policy for the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the last few years,” Howell continued. “And I’m a solid no.”

Dalla Emerson is the director of food service operations for Bowling Green Schools (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)

Dalla Emerson, the director of food service operations for Bowling Green Schools, previously told the Lantern the bill could result in children going hungry. Access to free and reduced school lunches is tied to community poverty levels and participation in programs like SNAP.

“I commend our legislators in making the best decision for the commonwealth,” she said Thursday.

Jordan Ojile with Feeding Kentucky said his organization feels “encouraged” about the changes to the bill.

“However, the remaining provision would still leave Kentuckians hungry, and we are glad the Senate Committee chose not to pass through the amended legislation,” he said. “Obviously, the fight to protect SNAP is not over, but today is worth celebrating.”

Rev. James Todd Smith, the chair of the Justice and Advocacy Commission and of the Kentucky Council on Churches and the pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church, also praised the committee members who voted against HB367.

“It is my prayer,” he told the Lantern, “that the committee will not take it up again and that hungry people in the commonwealth will continue to have access to SNAP benefits without impediment.”

Child labor

Rep. Phillip Pratt’s House Bill 255, which would allow some teenagers to work longer and later hours, also fell short of the votes needed to advance to the Senate floor..

Lobbyist Gerald Adkins, speaking for the AFL-CIO and Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council, told the committee that labor is working with Pratt to improve the bill and asked the members to vote “in hopes of making it better on the floor” through amendments.

The measure would repeal Kentucky’s existing child labor laws and align them with federal laws, which are less restrictive for minors aged 16 and 17.

Dustin Pugel of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy testified that the bill would not increase teen employment by opening up the the job market for younger workers but would lower guardrails that protect young workers from hazardous conditions and unlimited hours.

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Kentucky

Data centers, election changes and other bills moving in Kentucky

Published

8 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Data centers, election changes and other bills moving in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. — If the current legislative session was the Kentucky Derby, we’d be coming around the final turn and entering the stretch.

Feb. 9 marks the 42nd day of the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly, with 18 to go. Lawmakers will continue to meet daily for the next three weeks until the veto period begins in early April, with two more days at the Capitol after that for legislators to vote on overriding potential vetoes.

The filing deadlines for new bills were last week, and many pieces of legislation are moving quickly in Frankfort. Here’s a quick look at bills that advanced last week that will be worth watching:

SB 8 — A reworked PSC

Senate Bill 8 would change the member requirements for the Kentucky Public Service Commission — which regulates more than 1,100 utilities operating statewide — and add two new members who would be appointed by the state auditor, effectively diluting the governor’s power or oversight of PSC membership.

Under the bill, the chair of the commission would be elected amongst the commissioners, not appointed by the governor. The chair’s salary? Also determined by the commissioners.

Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation will help support Kentuckians in reviewing utility rate cases and hopefully hasten the process.

Critics of the bill raised concerns about a section that would make the attorney general the sole representative for customers, requiring advocacy groups to prove a “special and unique” interest in the case — likely cutting advocacy groups out of the picture and preventing them from intervening in cases.

While on the floor, Smith introduced an amendment removing that section and creating a framework to allow advocates and organizations with legitimate interests to intervene.

Although the bill has passed the Senate, it will likely receive pushback from the governor’s office. In a Team Kentucky press conference, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear criticized the bill and the Republican-led legislature’s attempts at moving power from the governor’s office to the state auditor.

“They’ve done these shenanigans for six straight years,” Beshear said. “This is my sixth session as a governor, four as attorney general and a couple of special sessions. I’ve never seen them try to move something from a Republican officeholder to a Democratic officeholder, but I’ve seen them try to move a whole lot in the other direction.”

The bill passed 30-5 through the Senate on March 6. It now heads to the House.

SB 199 — Pesticide warnings

Senate Bill 199, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, would make any pesticide registered with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture or the Environmental Protection Agency that has an EPA-approved label automatically fit Kentucky’s warning label requirements. If passed, that would make it much more difficult for Kentuckians to sue pesticide manufacturers for adverse health risks later on.

Although it might not seem controversial at first glance, the bill united both hardline Republicans and Democrats on the Senate floor, with many raising concerns about the health risks of pesticide use. Several Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, Sen. Philip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, and Sen. Shelly Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, spoke against the bill and questioned the lobbying power of chemical companies that manufacture pesticides.

Wheeler brought up previous chemical agents that were found to be major causes of cancer, including DDT and Agent Orange, as well as the $7.25 billion proposed settlement from Bayer to resolve thousands of lawsuit that claim its weedkilling product Roundup caused cancer.

“If we give immunity in these cases, we’re essentially saying, if these claims are later proven to be true, and some of them are in pending litigation, we’re basically saying that these Kentuckians don’t matter, these Kentuckians don’t deserve to collect,” Wheeler said.

The bill passed through the Senate on March 5 with a 23-13 vote and will head to the House.

HB 534 — Elections omnibus

House Bill 534, from Rep. DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, drew significant scrutiny before passing through the House. The elections legislation with several notable changes to current law moved to the Senate on a 53-40 vote on March 5, with several Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

Some of the bill’s notable provisions include:

● Monthly reviews of noncitizens on Kentucky voter rolls, with a requirement to remove names of ineligible voters and notification sent to the state’s attorney general, along with authorization for the State Board of Elections to work with the federal government to identify noncitizens who are registered to vote;

● Removing names of individuals convicted of a felony whose cases are currently on appeal from voter rolls;

● Allowing candidates for judicial office to publicly discuss their political party affiliation;

● And allowing Kentucky politicians who currently hold elected federal office to be a candidate for two different federal offices in one election, if one of the offices is decided by the United States Electoral College. The only office that applies to is U.S. president.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has not hesitated at times to vote against President Donald Trump’s policies, has not shut the door on speculation he may make a run for the White House in 2028. He would also be up for reelection that year as a U.S. senator, a role he’s held since early 2011. State Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, was the only representative to speak out against the provision during the March 5 vote on the House floor.

Other Democrats spoke up with concerns about disenfranchising voters appealing felony convictions, in the event the verdicts against them were to be later overturned. And multiple party members were critical of the provisions pertaining to noncitizens, with Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, calling them “another example of a nonproblem” aimed at riling up voters to be concerned about “a very major situation that isn’t actually happening.”

The bill advanced on a relatively narrow margin and is pending in the Senate.

HB 593 — Data center energy costs

House Bill 593 was filed by Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, with a group of five co-sponsors that includes House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect. The legislation would take steps to ensure companies hoping to build data centers in Kentucky are legitimate and are able to take on additional energy costs instead of dropping them on consumers.

The bill from Bray, who previously co-chaired the legislature’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force, includes several clauses regulating data centers, which are critical for AI usage but often require huge amounts of energy, a hurdle that frequently draws community criticism.

The legislation requires a nonrefundable application fee of at least $75,000 — Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the clause could help scare off “cowboy developers” who buy large amounts of land in hopes of building a data center on the property but are unfamiliar with the development process — and requires the company to pay for an electric supplier study, with provisions aimed at ensuring the data center does not drive up service rates for non-data center customers.

The bill is on its way to the Senate after passing in the House on a 90-4 vote on March 4. It has not yet been given a committee assignment.

Reach Keely Doll at kdoll@courier-journal.com. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach The Courier Journal’s politics team at cjpolitics@courier-journal.com.

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Kentucky

KHSAA Sweet 16 bracket, field for Kentucky girls basketball championships

Published

20 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

KHSAA Sweet 16 bracket, field for Kentucky girls basketball championships

Seventh Region champion Assumption will open play Wednesday against Calloway County.
Sixth Region champion Bullitt East will face Franklin-Simpson in a first-round game Thursday.

The field is nearly set for the 2026 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls Sweet 16.

The tournament is scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 11-14, at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

The field will include at least nine of the 16 teams in the final Kentucky High School Basketball Media Poll — No. 1 George Rogers Clark, No. 2 Assumption, No. 3 Simon Kenton, No. 5 Calloway County, No. 7 North Laurel, No. 9 Taylor County, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 14 Ashland Blazer and No. 15 Henderson County.

Fifteen regional champions have been decided. The last regional final is set set for Sunday night — Paul Dunbar (25-4) vs. No. 8 Frederick Douglass (23-7) in the 11th.

Here is the Sweet 16 schedule:

Wednesday, March 11

11 a.m. – 11th Region champion vs. Henderson County (24-9)

1:30 p.m. – Assumption (24-5) vs. Calloway County (33-2)

6 p.m. – Notre Dame (24-7) vs. Pikeville (22-8)

8:30 p.m. – Taylor County (27-6) vs. West Jessamine (22-12)

Thursday, March 12

11 a.m. – Bullitt East (19-12) vs. Franklin-Simpson (24-7)

1:30 p.m. – Ashland Blazer (26-5) vs. Simon Kenton (31-2)

6 p.m. – Owensboro Catholic (26-9) vs. Letcher County Central (23-10)

8:30 p.m. – George Rogers Clark (29-2) vs. North Laurel (25-6)

Friday, March 13

11 a.m. – Third Region champion-Henderson County winner vs. Assumption-Calloway County winner

1:30 p.m. – Notre Dame-Pikeville winner vs. Taylor County-West Jessamine winner

6 p.m. – Ashland Blazer-Simon Kenton winner vs. Owensboro Catholic-Letcher County Central winner

8:30 p.m. – Bullitt East-Franklin-Simpson winner vs. George Rogers Clark-North Laurel winner

Saturday, March 14

11 a.m. – Semifinal No. 1

1:30 p.m. – Semifinal No. 2

7:30 p.m. – Final

This story will be updated.

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Follow on X @kyhighs.

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Kentucky

KY workers struggle in weakened unions while execs cash in | Opinion

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

KY workers struggle in weakened unions while execs cash in | Opinion

House Bill 585 is about making sure Kentucky works for the people who do the work, not just those at the top.

Chad Aull and Adrielle Camuel
| Opinion Contributors

Kentucky’s 2017 “right-to-work” law has weakened unions and is being blamed for stagnant worker wages.
A recent poll indicates that a majority of Kentuckians support making it easier for workers to form unions.
House Bill 585 seeks to repeal the “right-to-work” law and strengthen unions.

“Right-to-work” isn’t working in Kentucky.

Kentuckians are struggling to keep up with rising costs and it’s not hard to see. Workers’ wages are not keeping up with basic needs, such as housing, groceries, health care and childcare. Some people need multiple jobs just to feed their families. While hardworking Kentuckians struggle, the wealthy and well-connected continue to receive tax breaks and special treatment from politicians in Frankfort and Washington.

This didn’t happen by accident. This was by design.

In 2017, we saw a dramatic shift against working families. The first order of business for the new Republican majority in the Kentucky House was passing so-called “right-to-work” legislation, House Bill 1. This legislation weakened unions and led to lower pay for workers. Nearly a decade has passed, and workers are not thriving in Kentucky like they said they would.

Kentuckians want support for workers

Big business has virtually no limits on their influence in Frankfort. They spend exceedingly large amounts of money on lobbying the Kentucky supermajority to shape laws to further enrich themselves. When workers try to organize, demand fair wages, safe workplaces and decent benefits, big business uses the profits they’ve gathered off the backs of working people to directly advocate against them.

Some wealthy business interests claim “right-to-work” has contributed to the state’s economic growth over the past several years, but whose growth is it, really? The fact of the matter is corporate profits are soaring and executives are cashing in, while families are left scraping by.

It’s true Kentucky has seen record-breaking economic momentum under the leadership of Gov. Andy Beshear, including $43 billion in private sector investments and over 63,000 new jobs. However, Beshear agrees Kentucky can attract businesses and investment without simultaneously suppressing unions.

A recent statewide poll conducted by KyPolicy found that 85% of Kentucky voters want the state legislature to prioritize raising worker pay and improving worker benefits. This poll also found that 60% of Kentuckians support making it easier for workers to join or form a union.

Kentuckians are telling us they want us to focus on supporting workers, and our colleagues in the General Assembly should listen.

A fight worth having

Bad faith politicians in Frankfort will tell you we have a worker shortage. They pin the problem on Kentuckians not willing to work, and absolve big business from any accountability. But in reality, we have a wage problem. Repealing “right-to-work” is a necessary step toward fixing that imbalance.

That’s why we have introduced House Bill 585, legislation to repeal Kentucky’s “right-to-work” law and restore Kentucky’s ability to have strong unions fighting for workers’ rights. House Bill 585 is about making sure Kentucky works for the people who do the work, not just those at the top.

Across the country, states with stronger unions have higher wages, better benefits and safer workplaces. Union workers earn more, are more likely to have health insurance and retirement security and are better protected on the job. When unions are strong, workers are strong.

This is a fight worth having. It’s a fight working people are ready for, and it’s a fight we cannot afford to keep putting off.

Standing together is how workers have always won dignity, fairness and opportunity. This is how Kentucky can build a stronger future for everyone.

Working Kentuckians deserve better.

Rep. Chad Aull represents Kentucky’s 79th House District in Lexington

Rep. Adrielle Camuel represents Kentucky’s 93rd House District in Lexington

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