The 2024 General Assembly has come to a close, and the future of Kentucky's slate of slaws is set to change significantly. Here, we review the bills we advocated for and against and their outcomes.
House Bill 5: The “Safer” Kentucky Act
Also referred to as "The Suffer Kentucky Act" and "The Incarcerate Kentucky Act"," House Bill 5 aimed to increase the criminalization of homelessness and substance use disorder by enhancing criminal penalties for things like living in your car or being involved in a fentanyl-induced overdose.
Despite tireless advocacy by a group of 30 plus organizations, including KEJC, this bill passed through the General Assembly, and Governor Beshear’s veto was overridden. It will become law on July 15th.
House Bill 367: The Hunger Bill
If passed, House Bill 367 would have left more than 50,000 Kentuckians, including children and senior citizens, hungry by eliminating access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Thanks to the hard work of KEJC and other Kentucky Food Action Network (KFAN) members, this bill was defeated and will not become law.
House Bill 235: The (Other) Hunger Bill
Another attempt to keep Kentuckians hungry, House Bill 235 required SNAP recipients' participation in a program designed to help them find work or receive additional education and training. Moving to a mandatory program in Kentucky would have required the state to ensure a sufficient number of employment and training spots, provide a monthly transportation benefit, and provide time-intensive case management to all 80,000 affected SNAP participants - totalling over $200 million. To add insult to injury, the majority of SNAP recipients who are capable of working already are.
Again, the efforts of KFAN members ensured this bill did not pass, and will not become law.
House Bill 18: The Renter’s Source of Income Bill
House Bill 18 makes it illegal to ban landlords from discriminating against potential tenants using third party payments like housing vouchers.
Eliminating these kinds of bans make it harder for at-risk and low income Kentuckians to find safe, stable housing by allowing landlords refuse to accept third party payments like Section 8 vouchers.
Unfortunately, this bill’s veto from Governor Beshear was overridden and it will become law on July 15th.