In solidarity, Dustin
From: Ellen Yonts Suetholz <ellenyonts@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2024 2:54 PM
To: Ellen Yonts Suetholz <ellenyonts@gmail.com>
Subject: Legislative Update
Hi All - hundreds of bills have been filed so far this week due to the filing deadlines. Today is the deadline for new Senate bills to be filed, so I will send out another update at the end of the week.
Here are the bills I'm tracking (updated daily):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m3o2Vk1dlAXUewljtv1Kr6hUQtMOtY7r1diV1yLYq78/edit?usp=sharing
As always there were several bills filed that will positively impact workers that are unlikely to move but of concern since the last update are the following bills on the tracker: HB 803 and HB 809
There were 838 House bills filed and about 130 resolutions. As I said above, today is the Senate deadline for new bills to be filed and there are currently about 200 resolutions filed and 335 bills.
A few notes from committees:
House Judiciary Comm - HB 320 presentation by Rep. Elliott and the KY Chamber - 5 year SOL far exceeds federal standards and the laws of competitive states and allows "stale" claims to be filed and requires employers to keep records longer so changing SOL from 5 years to 3 years on wage and hour claims, wrongful discharge, KRS 344 which is relating to civil rights; the comm sub also allows for a change to long arm statute - due process clause establishes the min contacts under which a case can be brought under the long arm statute and in Kentucky the way the law is written a plaintiff cannot est min contacts through the const. so they are changing the statute to allow KY citizens to more easily est min contacts with a corp or another business as long as they conduct business in this state
bill passed with 4 pass votes
House Small Business and IT Comm - HB 500 (comm sub attached as LRC site is not updated with it yet) presented by Rep. Pratt - basis for bill is to bring KY law in line with FLSA - ag exempt from bill as always will be true - eliminates 7th day OT, rest periods and paid lunch breaks unless completely relieved of duty, pay for travel between work stations or or for donning and doffing, decreases SOL for some labor violations from 5 to 3 years, no punitive damages for certain civil claims - KY Policy and Jerald testified against as well as Duane Hammonds, Jessica Williamson and Jordan Jones from ELC - bill passed
House A&R - Rep. Nemes presented - HB 277 - the administrative folllow-up to 2023 HB 568 relating to the transition of Louisville PDs into the DPA - this bill will allow for Louisville PDs to enter into KRS Non-Haz based on their years of service but they will not have the money behind those years as they were in a 401(k) style DB plan in Louisville and can cash that out if they want to buy their years of service based on the tier they are in - so years of service towards retirement with no money and state is not obligated to pay any of this unlike first version of bill which said state could fund if money was available - there are around 20 that are eligible for Tier 1 or 2; passed out of committee yesterday and passed out of the House today
We have reached the final 1/3 of the session and I expect any bill that is going to pass prior to the veto period beginning on March 29 to move very quickly.
Please reach out with any questions.
Thank you!
Ellen