General Assembly

Health risks high for eastern KY residents in mining communities

A new health report by Dr. Michael Hendryx finds that people who live near mountaintop removal mining sites in Floyd County have significantly higher cancer death rates and suffer a higher incidence of other diseases than residents in other Kentucky Appalachian counties where mountaintop removal doesn’t occur.

What happened to Ky. tax reform?

But not since his State of the Commonwealth speech have we heard Gov. Beshear talk up the advantages of adjusting the outdated tax code to a modern economy. If he's serious about tax reform, he should start soon; it's his best and probably last shot at going down as more than a caretaker governor.

Expand Voting Rights, Protect Civil Rights

With just four working days left for the Kentucky General Assembly, our actions may influence the important final outcome for two bills.

Voting Rights

Our democracy could be strengthened if Senate leaders would allow House Bill 70 to have a hearing and vote. This legislation would place on the statewide ballot a constitutional amendment to allow automatic restoration of voting rights once a person has completed their sentence for most felony convictions, as happens in most other states. HB 70 passed the House, 75-25, nearly three weeks ago but is stuck in the Senate State and Local Government Committee. Help us make one more push to get Senate leaders to open the door to voting for nearly a quarter of a million Kentuckians.

ACTION: Please call the Legislative Message Line, 1-800-372-7181, and leave a message for your own senator plus "Senate leadership" and "Senate State and Local Government Committee members." A good, simple message is "Please allow a hearing and vote on House Bill 70." The line is open 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. EDT. If you have already contacted your senator on this issue, please do so again.

Civil Rights

Helpful information

You can follow KFTC's bills on our bill tracker page.

Legislative Message Line
1-800-372-7181

Legislator's Office Direct
502-564-8100

TTY Message Line
1-800-896-0305

En Español
1-866-840-6574

Make a donation to KFTC to support our work in the General Assembly

A bill that allows any individual to “act or refuse to act on religious grounds” has passed the House and Senate and been to delivered to Gov. Steve Beshear. House Bill 279 is written so broadly that it could be used to subvert existing civil rights laws in Kentucky that protect individuals from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.

HB 279 has the potential to “make it harder to pursue criminal prosecutions and civil remedies in everything from child abuse to housing discrimination,” according to a Lexington Herald-Leader editorial, and is “a slippery slope when the state authorizes people to disregard laws,” wrote The Courier-Journal editors.

ACTION: Join the Fairness Campaign, ACLU, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, KFTC and other groups in asking Gov. Beshear to “Please veto House Bill 279.” You can do so by leaving him a message at 502-564-2611 or by using his online form at: http://governor.ky.gov/Pages/contact.aspx.

Thanks for taking one or both of these actions.
Please do so on Monday starting at 7 a.m.

Despite snowy weather, about 260 people raised their voices for voting rights at a rally and lobby day Wednesday at the state capitol in Frankfort.

Several former felons took the podium to share their stories and urge passage of House Bill 70, which would restore voting rights to most former felons once they’ve served their debt to society. Kentucky is one of the most restrictive states, requiring former felons to obtain an individual pardon from the governor in order to regain their right to vote.

Aileen Bryant of Louisville recalled that at one time she was told she’d never amount to anything. “Today I am somebody,” she said. She urged those gathered to talk to their legislators about House Bill 70. “We need to let them know we deserve that right. Don’t give up.”

Michael Hiser of Bullitt County said he has obtained his bachelor’s degree and is working on a master’s degree since serving his time. He has regained custody of his children and paid $15,000 in back taxes. But he still can’t vote.

Ed West, another former felon, said it feels good to be a citizen again, even paying taxes. “It feels good to be responsible and be able to pay a debt.” But gaining voting rights for former felons will take a powerful movement. “We need to continue to voice such powerful voices.”

KFTC member Tayna Fogle, who emceed the rally, said she wants to set an example for her two children and seven grandchildren. “I want them to be able to believe in this democracy.”

For each of the past several years, including this year, the bill has passed the Kentucky House by a comfortable margin before stalling in the Senate. Today citizen lobbyists focused on talking with senators and urging them to support the bill.

They visited with dozens of lawmakers and left hundreds of postcards for Senate President Robert Stivers.

Tweeting from our Voting Rights lobby day and rally

We will be tweeting from our Voting Rights lobby day and rally at #votingrights. Feel free to join us in the conversation tomorrow even if you can't make it to Frankfort! Check out the feed below throughout the day to see what's happening!