COLUMN

SENATE WEEK IN REVIEW

Submitted by Senator Denise Harper Angel

FRANKFORT — The final days of any legislative session are hectic, with lawmakers working out the final details of important bills and finding room to negotiate where we disagree. This year was no exception, as we worked late into the night to work out a plan to protect Kentucky's social workers.

In the end, Senate Bill 59 will be known as the "Boni Bill" in honor of the western Kentucky social worker who was killed in October while supervising a child's in-home visit with his mother.

SB 59 will allow social workers to request a background check and receive the results within an hour if they have concerns about the clients they are dealing with. Law enforcement could also accompany the front-line staff to a site if requested to provide protection. In addition, the General Assembly has authorized funding to hire more front-line staff and ease the workload of our social workers.

Under SB 59, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services will have $2.5 million to hire new front-line staff and ease the crushing workload on our current employees.

The cabinet will also receive $3.5 million to create and upgrade secure centers where social workers can supervise family visitations and other meetings they supervise. Finally, we have created a study group to investigate the needs of these public servants and report back to us any future changes that may be needed.

Because of the urgent need for new staff and these safety measures, SB 59 contains an emergency clause and will become law as soon as it is signed by the governor.

A pair of other high-profile measures also were approved in the waning days of our 2007 session, including a bill to help curb the rising spread of prescription drug abuse. SB 88 would require patients to be physically examined by a medical professional, and their medical history taken, before any prescription could be written. This is just the latest step in our efforts to combat Internet pharmacies, which will often send prescription drugs to a patient after a simple questionnaire. It's an easy avenue for an addict to obtain drugs they don't really need medically, because no one ever verifies their symptoms.

We also approved SB 22, which should improve health care for some state employees and save taxpayer money at the same time. This new law would allow veterans who now work for the state to receive supplemental health coverage through TRICARE, the Defense Department's health insurance plan. State government, rather than paying up to $700 each month for the employee's health coverage on the state plan, could pay less than $200 for their extra military health care. The military plan in many cases offers better benefits than our state plan, allowing our veterans better coverage while saving the state millions of dollars.

The TRICARE bill was just the latest in a series of bills we approved to recognize the service of our veterans this year. Over the course of our 30-day session, we expanded education benefits to the children of deceased or disabled veterans, required the Kentucky Housing Corporation to help Kentucky soldiers meet their mortgage or rent payments while on active duty, and made sure that military and veterans' families know what options are available to them when it's time to bury their loved ones. Unfortunately, the House did not approve one of our highest priorities this session, eliminating the state income tax burden on military pay, but we hope to bring the issue front and center once again next year.

Our state's coal miners work in dangerous conditions to bring us the cheapest electricity in the nation, but last year's 16 mine fatalities demanded more steps be taken to safeguard their lives and their health. House Bill 207 ensures that every underground mine is inspected six times a year, including two full electrical checks. Mine seal plans, which describe how miners are protected from dangerous gases, would be filed and approved by both state and federal regulators, and miners would be provided with multi-gas detectors to monitor the levels of carbon monoxide, methane, and other potentially deadly gases.

We recommended 15 additional mine analysts, who could give mine operators, managers, and workers the guidance they need to keep accidents from happening. Of course, accidents can happen despite the best of safety measures. For those situations, we've also mandated that emergency medical professionals by on site at each mine to immediately react to any situation that may arise. We've also mandated family liaisons for each mine, so that loved one could be regularly updated and informed on any situations as they happen.

Another way we can protect our family members will be through SB 65, which will require all registered sex offenders to list not only their home address, but also their e-mail addresses, screen names, and any other identities they use on the Internet. As parents, we can watch out for our children and keep predators from them in the real world, but we don't always know who they're talking to online when we're not around. This information will be listed in the state's database, which is available online at kspsor.state.ky.us.

Our lowest-paid Kentuckians will also benefit from this session. HB 305 will increase the minimum wage in three steps, with an eventual rise to $7.25 an hour on July 1, 2009. These workers will see an increase in their paychecks this summer, however, when the base rate will become $5.85, with an additional raise to $6.55 on July 1, 2008.

During the session I was pleased to be the primary sponsor of 3 pieces of legislation that passed both chambers:

• Senate Bill 25, the Kentucky Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, is designed to enhance nutrition by requiring the program to provide fresh, locally grown produce to low-income seniors and recipients of the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for women, infants and children.
• Senate Joint Resolution 6, which directs the Kentucky Office on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders to assess the impact of Alzheimer's disease in Kentucky.
• Senate Bill 23 will prohibit the denial of emergency medical treatment to assistance dogs because of their handler's ability to pay prior to treatment.

We'll return to the Capitol for committee meetings and other discussions throughout the year, but unless the governor calls a special session, we won't be back to vote on new bills until January 8, 2008. Until then, I hope you'll stay in touch and let me know how you feel about the issues facing our commonwealth. As always, call our Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181, or follow our work online at http://www.lrc.ky.gov.

Senator Harper Angel represents the 35^th Senate District in Jefferson County.

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