Sen. Cassie Armstrong

Amend KRS 600.020 to define "child-specific foster home"; amend KRS 620.140 to allow a child to submit to the District Court the names of possible relative or fictive kin caregivers whom the child could be placed with if the court removes the child from his or her home; amend KRS 620.142 to establish when a relative or fictive kin caregiver can apply to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to be certified as a child-specific foster home.

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 certified professional midwifery services that are provided by a licensed certified professional midwife; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if they determine that such approval is necessary.

Recognize March 15 as National Preschool Teacher Appreciation Day.

Create a new section of KRS 18A.005 to 18A.200 to provide an employee of the Commonwealth a paid leave of absence of up to four weeks for the birth, surrogacy, or adoption of a child, or up to two weeks for the placement of a child in foster care or kinship care; establish requirements; amend KRS 18A.025 and 18A.110 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 344 to make it unlawful for a state agency to discriminate against a person based on his or her access to electronic means to obtain benefits or gain access to public buildings; provide that the Act may be cited as the Digital Identification Act.

Establish KRS Chapter 202D and create new sections thereof relating to crisis aversion and rights retention orders; provide limitations on interpretation of the Act; define terms; allow law enforcement officers to petition a court to issue orders when a respondent presents an immediate and present danger of causing serious physical injury to themselves or others through purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm; establish procedures for the filing, review, hearing, service of process, termination, or renewal of the petition and orders; provide court processes and evidentiary standards; allow entry of the orders into law enforcement systems; prescribe issuance and service procedures for additional proceedings; establish procedures for the surrender, storage, transfer, and return of firearms; establish penalties for violations; allow for recognition and enforcement of foreign orders; amend KRS 431.076 to conform.

Establish the Foster Care and Adoption Efficiency Task Force to examine the foster care system, evaluate timeframes and guidelines once a child comes into state custody, review barriers to foster care homes, and review funding to foster care placements; establish task force membership; require the task force to submit any findings and recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2024.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 311 to state that there shall be no criminal liability against a provider engaged in assisted reproduction who meets the professional standard of care.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; establish the Kentucky Proud School Match Program fund; establish the Kentucky Proud School Match Program; direct the Department of Education to reimburse an eligible school district $0.33 for every meal reimbursed by the community eligibility provision at the paid rate; require a school district that receives a reimbursement to develop and implement a Kentucky Proud school plan to identify and purchase available Kentucky-grown agricultural products and to optimize food usage; direct the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations necessary to carry out this section; provide that the section shall be null and void if the community eligibility provision is terminated by the United States Department of Agriculture; provide that the Act may be cited as the Kentucky Proud School Match Act.

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.