Amend KRS 525.135 to define "serious physical injury or infirmity" and redefine "torture"; provide that torture of a dog or cat is a Class D felony in every instance and that each act may constitute a separate offense; provide what does not constitute torture of a dog or cat.
Rep. Susan Witten
Sponsored bills
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 160 to prohibit a public school district or public charter school from entering a nondisclosure agreement relating to misconduct involving a minor or student; amend KRS 160.380 to define "abusive conduct"; require school district applicants to disclose being the subject of any allegations or investigations in the previous 12 months and consent to a reference check; require school districts to conduct reference checks; require nonpublic and public school districts to disclose any allegations or investigations related to abusive conduct of applicants; revise indemnification language to grant immunity for disclosures made about school employee conduct; require school districts to request all related information from public and nonpublic schools and the Education Professional Standards Board and require the schools and EPSB to provide the records; require requests for information to be satisfied in 10 working days instead of 10 days; require all public school personnel to submit to a state criminal background check every five years; require all school district applicants to list all schools of previous and current employment on the application; require a school district to internally report and investigate to completion all allegations of abusive conduct; require all records relating to an allegation of abusive conduct to be retained in an employee's personnel file unless the allegation is proven false; amend KRS 156.160 to direct the Kentucky Board of Education to include employment standards in the voluntary certification standards for private schools; make technical corrections; amend KRS 160.151 to define "certified nonpublic school"; require employees of certified nonpublic schools to submit to a national and state criminal background check and a CA/N check; require certified nonpublic school personnel to have a state criminal background check every five years; prohibit a certified nonpublic school from hiring a violent or felony sex crime offender; require a certified nonpublic school to conduct reference checks on all applicants; prohibit a certified nonpublic school from entering into a nondisclosure agreement related to misconduct involving a minor or student; amend KRS 156.095 to require the Kentucky Department of Education to develop a training related to sexual misconduct for employees to undergo every five years; make technical corrections; amend KRS 161.151 to conform.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 211 to establish the Kentucky maternal psychiatry access program, also known as the Kentucky Lifeline for Moms; establish duties and responsibilities of the program; direct that the program shall be operated by the Department for Public Health, Division of Maternal and Child Health; amend KRS 211.122 to establish that the collaborative panel related to maternal and infant health shall be renamed the Kentucky maternal and infant health collaborative; establish formal membership of the collaborative; require that the collaborative annually review the operations of the new Kentucky maternal psychiatry access program; amend KRS 211.690, related to the Health Access Nurturing Development Services program to require the HANDS program provide information related to lactation consultation, breastfeeding, and safe sleep for babies; establish that the program participants shall participate in the home visitation program through in-person face-to-face methods or through tele-service delivery methods; create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require insurers and any exchange to provide a special enrollment period for pregnant individuals; specify requirements for the coverage; require group plan insurers to provide notice of special enrollment rights; amend KRS 304.17A-145 to require health benefit plans that provide coverage for dependents to provide coverage for maternity care; amend KRS 304.17A-220 and 194A.099 to conform with the special enrollment requirement; amend KRS 18A.225 and 164.2871 to require the state employee health plan and self-insured state postsecondary education institution group health plans to comply with the special enrollment and maternity coverage requirements; amend KRS 205.522 to require Medicaid coverage of maternity services; amend KRS 205.592 to allow Medicaid income limit for certain women and children to be increased under certain circumstances; amend KRS 205.6485 to require Kentucky Childrenâs Health Insurance Program to provide maternity coverage; create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Department for Medicaid Services and any managed care organization with whom the department contracts for the delivery of Medicaid services to provide coverage for lactation consultation and breastfeeding equipment; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to apply for a Medicaid waiver if potential cost defrayment or loss of federal funds is identified; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to study doula certification programs nationally; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2025.
Direct the Legislative Research Commission to establish the Kentucky Housing Task Force to study, review, and provide policy recommendations on how to address the housing shortage in the Commonwealth; require the task force to meet at least monthly during the 2024 Interim; outline task force membership; require the task force to submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2024.
Create a new section of Subtitle17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require insurers and any exchange to provide a special enrollment period for pregnant individuals; specify requirements for coverage; require group plan insurers to provide notice of special enrollment rights; amend KRS 304.17A-145 to require health benefit plans that provide coverage for dependents to provide coverage for maternity care; amend KRS 304.17A-220 and 194A.099 to conform with the special enrollment requirement; amend KRS 18A.225 and 164.2871 to require the state employee health plan and self-insured state postsecondary education institution group health plans to comply with the special enrollment and maternity coverage requirements; create a new section of KRS Chapter 194A to define terms and provide for the payment of coverage premiums to eligible individuals; amend KRS 205.522 to require Medicaid coverage for maternity services; amend KRS 205.592 to allow the Medicaid income limit for certain women and children to be increased under certain circumstances; amend KRS 205.6485 to require Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program to provide maternity coverage; amend KRS 164.2847 to provide for a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees for a child conceived and born as a result of sexual assault; amend KRS 164.2849 to declare the interests of the Commonwealth in protecting the unborn and supporting a child conceived and born as a result of sexual assault within established parameters; amend KRS 199.011 to define a child conceived and delivered as a result of sexual assault; amend KRS 199.473 to waive certain fees related to adoption proceedings; amend KRS 199.502 to include a conviction for specified criminal acts for an adoption without consent of the biological living parents; create a new section of KRS Chapter 199 to establish entitlement to nonrecurring adoption expenses under specified circumstances; amend KRS 199.894 to define terms; create a new section of KRS 199.892 to 199.8996 to establish the Child Care Assistance Program and establish eligibility requirements; create a new section of KRS Chapter 211 to direct the Cabinet to provide informational material on benefits available to a victim of sexual assault and a child conceived as a result of the sexual assault; amend KRS 216B.400 to establish requirements for receipt of specified benefits related to sexual assault that results in pregnancy; create a new section of KRS Chapter 49 to establish benefits available to a child born as a result of sexual assault; amend KRS 49.310 to conform; amend KRS 625.090 to add a conviction or guilty plea to any degree of rape, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct as a basis to terminate parental rights; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to apply for a Medicaid waiver if potential cost defrayment or loss of federal funds is identified; provide that the Act may be cited as the Love Them Both Act; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2025.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 431 to establish an automatic expungement process for specific eligible misdemeanor and felony convictions; allow the Commonwealth's and county attorney to object and halt the automatic expungement of certain offenses; amend KRS 431.074 to require the Administrative Office of the Courts to establish a searchable portal to allow a person to determine if his or her conviction has been expunged; amend KRS 27A.300 to provide that the centralized criminal history record information system administered pursuant to KRS 27A.310 to 27A.440 is the official record of criminal proceedings; create new section of KRS Chapter 411 to create a cause of action against criminal history providers who do not comply with an expungement order; provide that the Act may be cited as the Clean State Act.
Amend KRS 258.005 to define "veterinarian" and "veterinary technician"; amend KRS 258.015 to authorize a Kentucky licensed veterinary technician to vaccinate a dog, cat, or ferret against rabies.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 189 to define terms related to automated license plate readers; establish limitations on use and sale of data captured by automated license plate readers; create a new section of KRS Chapter 183 to define terms and establish limitations on the use of an unmanned aircraft system; create a new section of KRS Chapter 411 to establish a cause of action for the unauthorized use of an unmanned aircraft system; create a new section of KRS Chapter 413 to establish a statute of limitations for an action filed for the unauthorized use of an unmanned aircraft system; create a new section of KRS Chapter 411 to define terms and establish limitations on "deep fakes"; create a new section of KRS Chapter 413 to establish a statute of limitations for an action filed for the unlawful dissemination of a deep fake; create a new section of KRS Chapter 411 to define terms and establish limitations on the introduction of identification devices on or within the human body; create a new section of KRS Chapter 413 to establish a statute of limitations for an action filed for introduction of an identification device; create a new section of KRS Chapter 519 to establish a criminal penalty for illegally disseminating a deep fake; amend KRS 508.152, relating to the unlawful use of tracking devices, to include the installation of a tracking device on the person or property of another without their consent and exempt parental tracking of minors from the prohibition.
Amend KRS 67C.329 to make technical corrections.
Amend KRS 16.601, 61.621, and 78.5534 to increase minimum line of duty death benefits to a non-spouse beneficiary of a Kentucky Employees Retirement System, County Employees Retirement System, or State Police Retirement System member who was working in an approved hazardous duty position or in a position that could be approved as hazardous duty for retirement purposes; specify the minimum payment to the non-spouse beneficiary shall only be payable if there is no surviving spouse beneficiary and shall be a minimum of a lump-sum payment equal to 36 months of the member's monthly rate of pay; provide that the non-spouse beneficiary may elect the minimum lump-sum payment or any other benefits the non-spouse beneficiary is eligible to receive upon the member's death, but not both.