LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Coming out of the months-long Kentucky legislative session is a flurry of bills that look to impact Louisvillians.
House Bill 388 is currently waiting on the governor's desk for a signature or a veto. The bill looks to change the city's elections by making them non-partisan. That means for mayoral and Metro Council elections there will be no party affiliate next to a candidates name.
"The best way to do that is to make sure somebody has to go get votes," Rep. Jason Nemes, R–Middletown said on Feb. 7. "If I have to convince voters all around the county, then that's what I'm going to care about."
The bill includes other provisions like requiring Metro Government to reimburse suburban fire departments for emergency trips they make into the city's urban district and implementing a one-year moratorium on any local changes to Louisville's land development code.
"They want partisan school board elections but non partisan mayor elections. These are partisan bills and attacks on the autonomy of the city of Louisville and their ability to govern themselves in the way every other city or county does," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a March 29 news conference.
There's also House Bill 18, which would block Louisville from enforcing their own housing ordinances that ban discrimination based on source of income. The vouchers, mainly given to low-income individuals by the federal government, are used to cover all or part of a person’s rent. A Louisville ordinance unanimously in 2020 prohibits landlords from discriminating against renters based on source of income.
"The government has been so behind the section 8 people," Gene Johnson, a Lousiville landlord, said. "Section 8 people were just taking advantage of the fact they didn't have to do anything."
Beshear vetoed it at the start of March before the general assembly overrode the veto.
"The people who would be harmed by this bill are those with disabilities, senior citizens, low-income families, and our homeless veterans," he said on March 5.
There's also Kentucky's sweep crime bill, House Bill 5.
Dubbed "the Safer Kentucky Act," it includes changes to the parole board and increasing penalties for violent crime. It also would increase penalties for violent crimes and makes it a class B misdemeanor to "unlawfully camp" on public or private streets after a first warning.
Supporters say the bill will reduce homicide rates and other crime while opponents say the bill lacks legitimate data to prove its impact.
"How many people do you get to assault with deadly weapons? How many people do you get to rape? How many people do you get to kill before we put you away forever?" Rep. Nemes said on March 29.
"I think until we plus up the number of police officers, until we enhance some of their training, until we add detectives, we're really never going to get ahead of crime such that we're deterring it," Joey Comley, Kentucky state director for Right on Crime, said on March 18.
This bill is also now on Beshear's desk. He has yet to announce if he'll be signing or vetoing the bill.
"We'll let you know when we make a decision on it. we're going to evaluate each and every one of them and read through each and every word and we'll let you know when we sign it or veto it—we'll reach out," Beshear said on March 29.
The Kentucky Senate also passed a resolution to create a task force to examine the possibility of splitting up JCPS—as a decision on a transportation plan looms for the board.
"And we'll be considering their decisions and look at a broad scope of things as we go forward with this task force," Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R–Smithfield, said on March 29.
The committee will be made up of lawmakers, educators and members of the public to evaluate how the school district manages itself.
"The idea that the state legislature, anytime they disagree with Louisville, can take a vote and a whole bunch of people who live outside of Louisville can change policy made by the city of Louisville is just outrageous," Beshear said on March 28.
A recommendations report is due in December.
Legislators will return to Frankfort on April 12, when the veto period ends, where they'll have a chance to vote to override any of the Governor's vetoes.
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