The 2014
Regular Session is now in full swing and job creation, education, health
and safety issues and good government are among the priorities emerging. As a
member of leadership I have been focused on making committee
assignments for proposed legislation to ensure that each issue is adressed by
the committee of coresponding jurisdiction. Committee meetings are taking place
each morning and then the full Senate meets each afternoon.In between, I
continued meeting with constituents and stake holders regarding a myriad of
issues. I have been especially focused on the rising rate of heroin
addiction ,overdose deaths, and other drug related crimes in our
community.
In
response to this epidemic, Thursday, the Senate passed my Senate Bill 5 that is
the result of several years of research and collaboration with community
leaders, Cabinet Secretaries of both Health and Family Services and the Justice
Cabinets, addiction treatment specialists, members of the court system and
law enforcement personel.
In an
effort to both fight crime and save lives, this legislation creates new
strategies in the fight against heroin trafficking and addiction that is
plaguing Northern Kentucky and spreading across the state . These strategies
include focused treatment, education and interdiction. Sentences for
traffickers will be harsher, and they will face prosecution for criminal
homicide for the overdose deaths caused by their drug dealing. More
resources will be available for education about the deadly addiction
of heroin in hopes that people will understand that trying the drug just
once will lead to a life of dependency, death, or at best , a life-long struggle
against addiction. Medicaid will begin paying for substance abuse
treatment for addicts that need a way out of their self-constructed prison of
heroin addiction.
I want to
thank those who see the critical need for this legislation and testified for
the bill during Thursday’s committee hearing. Among those who spoke were House
Representative John Tilley, Secretary of the Justice Cabinet J. Michael
Brown, Eric Friedlander, Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet for Health
and Family Services, Chief Deputy Attorney General Sean Riley,
Campbell County District Judge Karen Thomas, Van Ingram of the Kentucky Agency
of Substance Abuse Policy, Bellevue Police Chief Wayne Turner along with
prevention professionals, and many families and groups such as Holly and
Eric Spect who started Northern Kentucky Hates Heroin and who have
lost loved ones to heroin overdoses and want to use their tragedy to
help others avoid similar tragedies. I urge you to follow the progress of this
legislation, support it, and ask friends, legislators and policy makers to also
voice their support.They can do so by calling the toll free message line here
in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181and urging passage of SB5.
Monday,
January 20 the General Assembly will not be in session in honor of the Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King who bravely devoted his life, and lost it, for the
noble cause of civil rights for all.
It took
the dedication of many to work for something bigger than any one person.
As the leaders and lawmakers of Kentucky meet in the coming
months, I hope we can have similar vision and work together
for healthy communities with unlimited economic oportunity for all
. The decisions that we make today will have lasting consequences for
future generations and we have an obligation to get it right.
I
appreciate your comments and input. Please contact me through the Legislative
Research Commission’s toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181. Also, you
can follow the work of the General Assembly at www.lrc.ky.gov.
Source: Press Release
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