Rep. Josh Branscum

Amend various sections of KRS Chapters 116, 117, 118, and 119 relating to no-excuse in-person absentee voting, establishing excused in-person absentee voting, prohibiting the early disclosure of unofficial ballot count totals, requiring a tamper resistant seal to be placed on voting equipment, recording the public counter on voting machines before and after the days of in-person absentee voting, changing the time from which the State Board of Elections is required to furnish the county clerk with the appropriate voter registration list prior to an election from five to six days, permitting a disabled voter and military and overseas voters the ability to use the same electronic transmission system for requesting mail-in absentee ballots, removing the requirement that a voter return a mail-in absentee ballot seven days prior to an election, central ballot counting board requirements, ballot box requirements, location designation for the counting and reviewing of mail-in absentee ballots, prohibitions relating to voting equipment and systems from being connected to the internet, requirements relating to securing and locking voting equipment and voting systems, submission of precinct-by-precinct summary reports, requirements relating to the in-person absentee ballot signature roster, requiring a secure online connection for the transmittal of unofficial election results, requirements relating to external devices used to upload election results, requirements related to election officers duties of election administration, requiring the State Board of Elections to promulgate administrative regulations, changing the filing deadline for unexpired terms of partisan races, and creating a Class D Felony for any person who directly connects or attempts to directly connect a voting machine, voting equipment, or voting system to a public network, including the Internet; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 39A.100 to exclude houses of worship from emergency condemnation authority; prohibit a governmental entity from prohibiting religious services during an emergency to a greater extent than imposed on other organizations or businesses that provide essential services; require a compelling governmental interest to place a burden on a religious organization; prohibit a governmental entity from taking any discriminatory action against a religious organization on the basis that the organization is religious; define "discriminatory action," "governmental entity," "religious organization," and "religious services"; allow a religious organization to assert a violation of this section as a claim against a governmental entity or as a defense and waive sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity to the extent of liability under the section; set out remedies available to a religious organization; require construciton in favor of protecting free exercise of religion; require a religious organization to bring an action no later than two years from the date the person should have known of the discriminatory action.

Amend KRS 157.455 deleting the Kentucky efficient school design trust fund; delete reporting requirement for efficient design; amend KRS 198B.060 to allow local plan review, inspection and enforcement of educational facilities; repeal KRS 162.062, which requires new public school buildings to provide sufficient water bottle fillings station and drinking fountains.

Recognize April 2, 2022, as World Autism Awareness Day and April 2022 as Autism Acceptance Month.

Honor the Associated General Contractors of Kentucky upon its 100th anniversary.

Amend KRS 304.17A-164 to prohibit insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, and other administrators of pharmacy benefits from imposing certain requirements on health plan insureds; create new sections of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to establish definitions for pharmacy-related insurance practices; require pharmacy benefit managers to establish reasonably adequate and accessible pharmacy networks; require pharmacy benefit managers to file, and the insurance commissioner to review, an annual report describing pharmacy networks; provide that information and data acquired by the Department of Insurance shall be considered proprietary and not subject to disclosure under KRS 61.870 to 61.884; establish requirements for certain contracts between a pharmacy or pharmacist and a pharmacy benefit manager; establish prohibited practices for pharmacy benefit managers; establish certain requirements for insurers and pharmacy benefit managers contracting for the provision of pharmacy benefit management services; prohibit administrators from offering any incentive or discount for use of an affiliated pharmacy benefit manager; establish a Pharmacy Benefits Management Advisory Council; create a new section of Subtitle 99 of KRS Chapter 304 to authorize the insurance commissioner to order reimbursement to persons who incurred a monetary loss as a result of a violation of provisions of legislation; amend KRS 304.9-054 to make technical changes; authorize the promulgation of administrative regulations; require pharmacy benefit managers to report certain information to the insurance commissioner; provide that certain reported information shall not be subject to disclosure under KRS 61.870 to 61.884; amend KRS 304.17A-708, 304.17A-712, and 304.17A-714 to conform; create a new section of Subtitle 17C of KRS Chapter 304 to apply provisions of legislation to limited health service benefit plans, including limited health service contracts; create a new section of Subtitle 38A of KRS Chapter 304 to apply provisions of legislation to limited health service organizations; amend 18A.225 to require the state employee health plan to comply with provisions of legislation; amend KRS 367.828 to establish certain requirements for the health discount plans that purport to offer discounts, or access to discounts, on prescription drugs; provide for staggered appointments to the Pharmacy Benefits Management Advisory Council; provide that provisions of this Act shall be severable; require the insurance commissioner to promulgate regulations to implement the Act on or before January 1, 2023; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2023.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 237 to prohibit identified entities from enforcing federal firearm bans; prohibit identified entities from adopting rules, regulations, or ordinances that require enforcement of federal firearm bans; and prohibit identified entities from allocating public resources or moneys in the enforcement of federal firearm bans; EMERGENCY.

Honor the Kentucky Historical Society.

Amend KRS 278.702 to provide that the terms of service for the ad hoc members of the Kentucky State Board on Electric Generation and Transmission Siting end when the merchant electric generating facility for which they were appointed has been constructed and has begun generating electricity for sale; amend KRS 278.704 to include decommissioning requirements within the requirements over which local planning and zoning requirements shall have primacy; remove outdated language; amend KRS 278.706 to require that a decommissioning plan be included in an application for construction of a merchant electric generating facility; establish minimum requirements for a decommissioning plan; require as part of a decommission plan that a bond or similar security be secured to assure that the decommissioning plan is accomplished; establish requirements for how the bond is set and how the beneficiaries of the bond are to be determined; require that certain components of the decommissioning plan be incorporated into the construction certificate applicant's leases with landowners; amend KRS 278.710 to include whether the decommissioning plan complies with the requirements of the Act in the criteria for approval of a construction certificate for a merchant electric generating facility; require a person that has received a construction certificate for a merchant electric generating facility file with the board the copy of the bond or similar security no later than the date that construction commences for the facility; require that an updated copy of the bond or similar security be refiled at least once every five years thereafter; require notice to be filed with the board when the construction of the merchant electric generating facility is complete and has begun producing electricity for sale; require that notice be given of any transaction involving the sale or transfer of ownership of the facility to the board and local officials within five days of finalizing the transaction; require a person who has acquired a merchant electric generating facility to file with the board written consent to assume the obligations in the decommissioning plan for the facility and to adopt or replace the required decommissioning bond; amend KRS 278.718 to provide that an ordinance, permit, or license issued by a local government shall have primacy over the requirements of KRS 278.700 and Sections 2, 3, and 4 of this Act.

Urging Congress to take appropriate steps in mitigating cyberattacks and ransomware attacks.