Rep. Chris Fugate

Amend KRS 154.20-190 to include in the rural hospital revolving loan fund administered by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority a former hospital that is located in a Kentucky county with a population of less than 50,000, was closed within 36 months prior to submission of the loan application, and has a certificate of need to open or reopen a new hospital or health facility; establish that up to 50% of the loan amount shall be forgiven with a maximum amount of $20,000 for each job retained or each new, full-time job created that meets wage requirements set forth by the authority; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; establish a student loan forgiveness program for teachers obtaining certification through an expedited certification process with a residency component; authorize the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the program; create the Option 9 scholarship fund; amend KRS 161.048 to create an Option 9 expedited alternative certification pathway through the use of a residency program; establish requirements for residency program; establish eligibility for district participation; APPROPRIATION.

Create a new sections of KRS Chapter 199 to create the Employee Child-Care Assistance Partnership program; define terms; obligate the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer the program; establish reporting requirements; establish a fund for the program; authorize the cabinet to administer the fund; direct the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to effectuate the program; establish program requirements for employers and employees; establish requirements for both permissive and mandatory termination of the program contract; permit the Cabinet for Economic Development to condition program requirements on participation in this program; amend KRS 199.990 to include a penalty; cite as the Employee Child-Care Assistance Partnership; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 218A.1410, 218A.1412, and 218A.142 to enhance the penalty for importing or trafficking carfentanil, fentanyl, or fentanyl derivatives from a minimum of 50 percent of the sentence served to a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence served and establish prohibition against the use of pretrial diversion for those criminal offenses.

Amend KRS 148.0222 to require the Kentucky Mountain Regional Recreational Authority to comply with the audit requirements of KRS Chapter 65A.

Amend KRS 15.518 to include telecommunicators as eligible participants in the Law Enforcement Professional Development and Wellness Program; amend KRS 15.550 to require the telecommunicator basic course training to include instruction on and provide resources for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and work-induced stress, require the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to incorporate PTSD mental health treatment into the telecommunicator training program and provide treatment resources to telecommunicators and their supervisors; amend KRS 15.560 and 15.565 to require each in-service training to include a mental health component on PTSD and work-induced stress; amend KRS 15.590 to require the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to include training and resources for post-traumatic stress disorder and work-induced stress during each telecommunicator in-service training, provide guidelines and a resource list to all telecommunicators and their supervisors, and allow telecommunicators to access the Law Enforcement Professional Development and Wellness Program; this Act shall be known as the Lifeliner's Act.

Amend KRS 158.4414 to require the assignment of school resource officers to schools by August 1, 2022.

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.

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

Urge Kentucky's Congressional delegation to include Kentucky's Veterans Affairs Medical Centers into the Center for Compassionate Innovation, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pilot program enabling the use of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for veterans with a traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.