This past week saw the 2019 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly begin in earnest. We had met earlier for four days during early January; however the purpose of that time was merely organizational with the election of leadership for both the House and Senate.

After a three week break, legislators returned to Frankfort this past week to begin the legislative process. With proposed legislation being assigned to the committee of proper jurisdiction, the committees began lining out agendas and, for some, considering some bills.

This year I am fortunate enough to serve on the Judiciary and Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs committees. While all committees are of equal importance, I requested these two as I believe my experience as a practicing attorney and my experience within state government will serve me well.

As of writing this, the Judiciary committee has yet to consider any legislation, due to the timing of the weekly calendar. The agenda this week, however, stands to be full, with us planning to hear up to eight bills.

The Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs committee has debated one bill so far. House Bill 114 would change the date for an independent or third party candidate to file their statement of candidacy. Currently, that date is April 1st, which does not coincide with any other filing dates. This bill would have it where the date would be the last Tuesday in January, which is the candidate filing deadline for Democrats and Republicans. The idea behind this bill is to make the process more streamlined by tying certain dates together.

The bill was not a new concept to the General Assembly. Both the House and Senate passed similar legislation last year, which would have become law had it not been for Governor Bevin’s veto. This week the bill passed the committee once again with bipartisan support and no dissenting votes. It is now eligible to be heard by the full House, where I suspect it will once again pass overwhelmingly.

In addition to the two committees on which I serve, there are fourteen others in the House doing similar work. The full House will soon begin hearing many of the bills that are making their way through the committee process. While it may seem slow, I am a firm believer in the committee process as the best way to produce quality legislation. The committees are able to focus on a limited number of bills and weed out the bad ones, while also improving others through suggested language changes. Knowing a bill has had the scrutiny of a committee of roughly 15 legislators prior to being heard by the full House gives legislators a sense of confidence before reading the bills under consideration ourselves.

As legislation begins to flow, I, as always, welcome your thoughts and comments. There are multiple ways to contact me to share your opinions. You can feel free to email me at jeff.hoover@lrc.ky.gov or to use the General Assembly’s toll-free hotline to leave a message. That number is 1-800-372-7181.

I would also encourage you to visit the Legislative Research Commission’s newly revamped website to learn more about the bills under consideration this session. That website is www.lrc.ky.gov.

As always, I consider it an honor and privilege to serve the 83rd House District. I thank the people of Clinton, Cumberland, Pulaski and Russell counties for entrusting me with this position. I assure you I will do my best to serve as your voice in Frankfort.

General Assembly reconvenes with pressing issues ahead