Amish Buggy Bill
A bill to provide an alternative for Amish buggy drivers who object to using bright safety triangles on their vehicles was approved Tuesday by the House and is headed to Gov. Steve Beshear.Senate Bill 75 was approved by a vote of 75-21.
Rep. Johnny Bell, D-Glasgow, who had sponsored similar legislation in the House, said the Senate version had only “minute differences,” including permitting the use of one-inch-wide white or silver tape instead of the two-inch white tape authorized by the House bill, and he recommended its passage.
A Beshear spokeswoman said the bill will be reviewed.
SB 75, sponsored by Sen. Ken Winters, R-Murray, said the bill attempts to address Amish concerns that the triangles infringe on their religious freedom, among other things, by calling attention to them with their bright color.
Winters filed the legislation after several Amish men in his Western Kentucky district were jailed for refusing to pay fines for not using the orange signs. They have appealed their convictions to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments earlier this month.
The legislation would go into effect immediately if signed by Beshear, and could make the Supreme Court case moot.
In other action, the House unanimously approved and sent to Beshear House Concurrent Resolution 129, which would create a task force to study the state’s juvenile code. The task force of judges, lawyers and other juvenile justice officials would examine ways to update the code, which dates to the mid-1980s.
The Courier-Journal reported last year that Kentucky has one of the nation’s highest rates of jailing youths accused of status offenses — such as missing school or running away from home — even though those are not considered criminal offenses. Advocates have argued that the state needs to find a better way to deal with such youths, whose status offenses generally stem from abuse, neglect, mental illness or other problems in the home.
The House also approved and sent to Beshear SB 24, to change the school entrance age. It would require a child to be 6 by Aug. 1 rather than Oct. 1 to enter a public school and permit a child who is 5 by Aug. 1 to enter a kindergarten. The change would become effective in the 2017-2018 school year.
The Senate added an abortion amendment to a bill aimed at helping the mentally ill.
As originally written, House Bill 274 would allow the state to share information about people cared for at state mental hospitals with their primary care physicians.
But the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee added language that requires a woman who is planning to have an abortion to have a “face-to-face meeting” with a doctor or a doctor’s representative to discuss the procedure.
Under current regulations, such discussions may take place over the telephone.
Opponents argued that the amendment would kill the legislation and, by doing so, harm people.
“I understand people want to make points, I get that,” said Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville. “I just hope in few months we’re not hearing about someone with a mental condition (who) goes out and does something … because information wasn’t shared.”
The bill passed the committee and moments later passed the full Senate on a vote of 32-4. It now goes back to the House for consideration of the Senate changes.
The Senate also gave final passage to HB 90, which would require candidates for statewide office to file campaign finance reports electronically starting in the 2015 election cycle. It now goes to Beshear.
Source:http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120327/NEWS01/303270060/Amish-buggy-bill-goes-to-Beshear?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE
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