by Kentucky Senator

Sara Beth Gregory

16th Senatorial District

Another busy

week in Frankfort

By Sara Beth Gregory, 16th District Senator

The Senate Floor was a busy place as many groups and individuals visited the State Capitol to advocate for issues and observe government in action. It was a privilege this week to host special guests such as Medal of Honor Recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer and America’s Got Talent finalist, Jimmy Rose, who is also a military veteran. I am very grateful for their service to our country.

My week began with a meeting of the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee, which reviews regulations on a wide range of issues. One of the items on our agenda this month related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. I voted against this proposed regulation, because I do not believe the executive branch has the authority to enact such regulations without the approval of the legislature. The vote was a 3-3 tie, which means the regulation will move forward, as it requires five votes to find a regulation deficient. (Two committee members were absent.)

The first bill to pass the Senate this week was Senate Bill 78. The intention of this legislation is to keep liability from automatically being attributed to landlords whose tenants own a dog in the event that the dog injures someone on the property. Currently, a landlord is held to the same standard as the person who actually owns the dog.

Also approved was Senate Bill 47, which requires statistical reporting on the number of newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome, the medical term for babies born drug-dependent due to the use of the mother during pregnancy. The report will not give any identifying information about the mother or the infant but simply reports regional and county statistics.

Another health-related piece of legislation, House Bill 98, represents a bipartisan effort to solve an issue of safely treating diabetic students in schools. This bill is similar to laws in over 30 other states. It would permit students to inject themselves with their needed insulin while in school and requires every school to have at least one trained staff member to administer medication for diabetes. With the permission of the parent, trained personnel would administer the shots needed. This measure was supported by the American Diabetes Association and many parents of diabetic students.

Although a preferred option would be to always have school nurses available to administer these shots, many, if not most school districts in the state, do not have a nurse in every building, and nurses may not always be available when needed. This bill provides that a physician or nurse must delegate the responsibility of providing services to an appropriately trained individual, which should actually help ensure that nurses remain in school districts.

On Thursday morning, I received news of the natural gas pipeline explosion in the Knifley community of Adair County. I send my thoughts and prayers to the residents who were impacted by the explosion. I appreciate the fast reaction of first responders and am thankful that injuries from the blast were not more serious or numerous. I have been in communication with local officials and Columbia Gulf representatives, and I will continue to monitor the situation and work to ensure any state assistance that may be needed is available.

As always, I invite you to contact me with feedback or concerns about legislative issues that interest you. You may contact me in Frankfort at 502-564-8100, toll-free at 800-372-7181, or by e-mail at sara.gregory@lrc.ky.gov. More information about the work of the Legislature is available on the Legislative Research Commission website, www.lrc.ky.gov, and you may also watch legislative proceedings live online at www.ket.org.