Sen. Don Douglas

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 344 to ensure federal law relating to emergency medical treatment and the collection of evidence is not overridden; define terms; prohibit discrimination against medical care providers who decline to perform procedures that violate their conscience; grant providers the right not to participate in or pay for services that violate their conscience; exempt providers from liability for exercising these rights; prohibit the State Board of Medical Licensure from reprimanding medical practitioners and require the board to provide complaints it has received to medical practitioners; establish a civil cause of action for persons injured by violations; provide that the Act may be cited as the Healthcare Heroes Recruitment and Retention Act; EMERGENCY.

Propose to amend Sections 145 and 155 of the Constitution of Kentucky to prohibit persons who are not citizens of the United States from being allowed to vote in the Commonwealth of Kentucky; provide ballot language; submit to voters for ratification or rejection.

Recognize March 18, 2024, as Natural Gas Utility Worker Appreciation Day in Kentucky.

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.

Amend KRS 156.029 to provide that all 14 voting members of the Kentucky Board of Education are to be elected; create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to establish the process by which members of the Kentucky Board of Education are elected, including a partisan primary and partisan regular election; amend KRS 156.040 to add a requirement that members of the Kentucky Board of Education shall not have served on a local school board for at least four years preceding the year of their election; create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to establish the process for removal of a member of the Kentucky Board of Education; amend various KRS sections to conform; repeal KRS 156.031, which relates to the State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education; establish a schedule for transitioning from appointed to elected members; allow appointees to continue to serve in accordance with their appointments until December 31, 2026; EFFECTIVE January 1, 2026.

Propose to amend Section 170 of the Constitution of Kentucky to include in the homestead exemption for owners who are 65 years of age or older any increase in the valuation of the real property that is assessed after the later of the year the owner turned 65 or the year the owner purchased the property; apply the exemption to increases in valuation that occur after the date the amendment is ratified by the voters; provide ballot language; submit to voters for ratification or rejection.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to limit the number of managed care organizations contracted by the Department for Medicaid Services to no more than three; EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025.

Amend KRS 18A.035 to add gender-neutral language.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 194A to establish the Kentucky all-payer claims database; establish purposes, definitions, and a restricted fund for the database; require the executive director of the Office of Data Analytics to develop, implement, operate, and maintain the database and promulgate administrative regulations to carry out those duties; establish an advisory council to make recommendations to the executive director; establish requirements for database administration and operations; require state-regulated health payers to report to the database; amend KRS 194A.030, 194A.101, and 304.2-100 to conform; create a new section of Subtitle 99 of KRS Chapter 304 to require the commissioner of insurance to enforce reporting requirements; establish time for making initial appointments and provide for staggered appointments to the advisory council; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to obtain a federal waiver within 90 days after the effective date of Act if necessary for implementation; APPROPRIATION.

Adjourn in honor and loving memory of Judy Taylor.