3 Big Bills Out of the House Chamber
If you haven’t heard these House Bill numbers swirling in the news or on social media, I’d say I’m surprised! Here is a quick overview of three bills that have passed out of the House chamber, where I serve, and are heading to the Senate chamber to be heard.
HB1: The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit - I was a No / Vote (pg. 3 for House votes and page 4 for Senate votes.
This bill passed both the House and Senate and is headed to the Governor’s desk.
What is it? It uses a new federal law to give people a $1,700 tax credit if they donate to organizations that give out K-12 scholarships. These scholarships can help families pay for private school or extra public school costs like tutoring and busing.
The Details:
It's a "dollar-for-dollar" credit. If you give $1,700, you pay $1,700 less in taxes.
Families making up to $286,800 (for a family of four) could qualify for these scholarships.
The Concern: While this could help public school students with extra services, there is a big worry that the federal government might use this as an excuse to cut overall funding for public schools in the long run.
HB500: The State Budget - I was a No / Vote (page 7 for final vote on bill)
The House made some big changes to the budget this week. It didn’t happen without several people trying to file amendments, but failing. This bill was all over the news because of what it was going to do to education in particular. Here’s the breakdown for education:
The Good News:
Health Insurance: They removed the "cap" on what the state pays for employee health insurance (this is a win!).
Pensions & Raises: The state is putting the required money into teacher pensions and planning 2% raises for state employees starting in 2027.
SEEK Funding: This is the "per-student" money the state sends to schools. It’s going up by $40 next year and $166 the year after.
The Concerns:
Teacher Costs: Even though a health insurance fund is nearly full, a rule in this budget "locks in" teachers to keep paying 3.75% of their checks into it. For my colleague Rep. Tina Bojanowski, who is also a special education teacher, that’s about $3,233 a year she can’t get back.
Busing: The state is only covering about 82% of what it actually costs to run school buses. Local districts will have to find a way to pay for the rest.
Test Scores: Schools will be required to post test scores on their websites, but critics worry these scores don't actually show if a student is performing at "grade level."
HB2: Medicaid Changes - I was a NO / Vote
This bill makes big changes to how Medicaid works in Kentucky. While it tries to fix some dental and transportation issues, it also adds new work-reporting rules. There were many floor amendments that my democratic colleagues and I filed and tried to get heard, but failed. bu Look on page 7 under the vote history for the final vote, all the sheets before that are us trying to suspend the rules so our amendments could be heard.
The Big Issue: To keep their insurance, many people will have to prove they are working or meeting specific requirements. While some say this encourages work, the reality is it often hurts middle-aged women who are busy taking care of elderly parents or sick relatives. If they can't keep up with the extra paperwork or internet reporting, they could lose their healthcare.