LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The 2024 Kentucky legislative session will start Tuesday and the Republican majority in both houses have many priorities it is eager to pass.
"I don't think we'll pass anything the first week; I think a lot of it will just be organizing and getting things filed," Rep. Jason Nemes, a Republican who represents east Jefferson County, and parts of Oldham and Shelby counties, said.
Nemes, the majority whip, said one of the main bills they will discuss is the Safer Kentucky Act. The act is a multi-part legislation designed to keep violent offenders away for longer, place further penalties on homeless camping and raise penalties for things like drug dealing that leads to a death.
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One provision of the act is a "three strikes" rule where if a person is convicted or pleads guilty to three violent felonies like aggravated assault, attempted murder or rape, they will get life in prison.
"It's not your normal, 'three strikes and you're out;' or three strikes and the heightened penalty kind of thing," Nemes said. "It's about violent offenses. So, we think that's fair. I think two would be fair."
Republicans have said this legislation is "laser-focused" to target violent offenders. Kentucky currently has a persistent felony offender law that works similarly to the proposal.
Under the current law, a second degree persistent felony offender gets their sentence elevated to the next highest crime. So, a second degree persistent felony offender on trial for second degree wanton endangerment gets elevated to first degree wanton endangerment.
A first degree persistent felony offender is not eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional release unless all crimes are class d felonies or non-violent. The person can also have their sentence elevated to 20-50 years, or life without parole if there is a charge of sexual misconduct with a minor.
"We have so many laws on the books," Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, said. "Now, we're going to enforce something so that it's 'comfortable' to us. That's the simple way of responding to it. But if you get down to mental health and housing and all that stuff...it gets very complex."
Nemes said they are still doing the analysis on how much increased incarceration would cost Kentucky taxpayers as part of the bill.
"If it costs the taxpayers more money, I think that's okay. I mean -- obviously it's in the mix on how much it costs," Nemes said. "But, we're trying to keep our people safe."
Another aspect of the Safer Kentucky Act is making it a crime statewide for a homeless person to be camping in public or private places. If the person refuses to leave, they can be arrested.
Nemes has said they are not "criminalizing homelessness", because there are plans for local governments in a separate act to set up specific places for these people to safely camp. However, Nemes said the municipalities have to fund that themselves.
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"That's what local governments do," he said. "They have tax bases for many reasons."
Another point of contention this legislative session is the potential to split up Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). As the district shut down for over a week to address its bussing issues the first week of the 2023 - 24 school year, local Republicans penned a letter saying the district should be split.
"We have not called for the splitting of JCPS," Nemes said. "What we've called for is a group to study it -- a group of experts in the field to come together to say, 'How are we doing it in other areas? How are other communities doing it?' For example, Indianapolis has 11 districts."
While it is just an exploratory committee, Neal said the intent is clearly there, and he thinks there are better, easier ways to fix the district.
"When you set the premise, you have to be very careful," Neal said. "And I would ask the community to weigh-in and think about what makes a whole community? What makes us a unified community?"
Another issue Republicans are expected to cover this session is putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow voters to decide if public money should be used to fund private charter schools.
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