Rep. Richard Heath's Legislative Update

The following op-ed is solely the opinion of the author, and does not necessarily represent the views of the staff of West Kentucky Star.

Every session, the General Assembly passes laws pertaining to various aspects of state and local government. Our constitutional officers, police departments, and local circuit clerks perform the necessary functions of government that help each of us live our lives. The laws we pass each year regarding these entities dictate how government serves you. With this week's column, I want to reflect on some of the work we did on state and local issues, work that demonstrates our commitment to Kentucky values and help move our state forward.  
 
One of the first measures to be heard was HB 271, which protects line-of-duty death benefits for the surviving spouses of police officers killed in duty. This measure comes after a 2018 law that increased line-of-duty benefits. Previously, state law mandated that surviving spouses who remarry will see their benefits cut to 25 percent. Under HB 271, the surviving spouse will receive 75 percent of the deceased spouse's retirement if they choose to remarry. This law sends a strong message that we stand by those who risk it all for us and demonstrates our commitment to look out for our law enforcement families. Instead of defunding the police, I believe we should be defending them.  
 
We continued to address our state pension problems by passing HB 484, which allows the County Employees Retirement System (CERS) to leave the Kentucky Employee Retirement System (KERS). This bill was passed to allow the CERS system to make the best independent financial investment decisions. If you are already a retiree in this system, you will see no change in benefits or administration. Also, employee benefits, filing for pension benefits, health care filings, and other administrative functions will remain precisely as they are already.
 
House Bill 46 allows full-time state government employees 240 hours of paid leave for donating a human organ and 40 hours of paid leave for donating bone marrow. This measure also creates a tax deduction in an amount equal to qualifying organ donation expenses of up to $10,000. This bill will hopefully encourage live organ and bone marrow donation, and ensure that state employees who choose to donate will have the proper time to recover before returning to work. I am hopeful that, when possible, private businesses will follow suit in enacting similar personnel policies.
 
We also tackled a difficult issue head on, and the result is a big change in how driver's licensing is handled in Kentucky. As we have worked on REAL ID and other driver's licensing issues, we learned from the Transportation Cabinet and our Kentucky Circuit Court Clerk's Association that driver's licensing just does not work at that level anymore. While it is convenient, it has almost nothing to do with the other responsibilities of these court clerks. HB 453 allows the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to take over the issuing licenses and personal identification cards. Just like most major changes, this will take some time to implement and may require a good bit of patience from all of us. KYTC plans to open regional offices throughout the state, with mobile units available to make sure each county can be reached and Saturday hours to help those of us who work during the week. As you can imagine, it will take some time to put into place. In the meantime, our circuit clerks will continue to issue them until a regional cabinet office is in place. I will continue to update you as we learn more about when and how as this develops. Also, please remember that the REAL ID requirement has been postponed until next year because of COVID-19.
 
I hope to continue providing you updates through this column. As always, I can still be reached through the toll-free message line; if you have any comments or questions, just call 1-800-372-7181. You can contact me via e-mail at Richard.Heath@lrc.ky.gov. You can also follow me on my  Facebook page, Richard Heath 2nd District State Representative, and on Twitter @Richard_HeathKY for regular updates. You can also keep track of committee meetings and potential legislation through the Kentucky Legislature Home Page legislature.ky.gov.