Senate committee advances right-to-work bill

Legislation that would make Kentucky a right-to-work state was approved today by the Senate State and Local Government Committee.

The proposal, which would make membership in a labor union optional rather than mandatory for workers at unionized workplaces, now goes to the full Senate for consideration. The House of Representatives has already approved the measure, known as House Bill 1, a designation given to House leadership’s top priority bill.

Testifying in support of the measure at today’s meeting, House Speaker Jeff Hoover, a primary sponsor of HB 1, said the legislation would boost Kentucky’s labor market.

“Right-to-work is simply the name given to the ability of an employee to negotiate his or her wages and negotiate his or her benefits directly with the employer without being compelled to be a member of a labor union,” said Hoover, R-Jamestown. “I don’t see why government should stand in the way of a worker opting to not join and be given the ability to negotiate on their own if they so choose.”

“…Recent history proves that not only is passing right-to-work not a hindrance to labor union membership, it can actually help labor unions grow. For example, both Indiana and Tennessee … are right-to-work states and they have more union members today then what they had prior to enacting this legislation. That is simply because of the economic development that has been brought to those right-to-work states.”

Hoover said private sector employment grew 17.4 percent in right-to-work states between 2001 and 2013, more than double the 8.2 percent in states that don’t have right-to-work laws.

Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, a primary sponsor of HB 1, said Kentucky has lost job-creating opportunities to other states that have right-to-work laws. “The governor has an initiative to make Kentucky the epicenter of advanced manufacturing in the world. … There’s no reason why we can’t expand our economic opportunities by passing right-to-work legislation,” he said.

Opponents of right-to work legislation testified that Kentucky’s manufacturing sector is already strong compared to neighboring right-to-work states.

“Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that among all states, Kentucky already has the fifth-highest manufacturing employment as a share of total jobs,” said Anna Bauman, a research and policy associate for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. “A larger share of Kentucky workers are in manufacturing than workers in both Virginia and Tennessee, two of our three neighbors with active right-to-work laws.”

Bill Londrigan, president of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO, also testified against the right-to-work proposal, emphasizing that unions come to workplaces where a majority of eligible workers vote in favor of them.

“Workers have a variety of options if they are unwilling to financially support or become union members,” he said. “They have the freedom not to seek employment in unionized workplaces if they are displeased that a union was voted in to a workplace by a majority vote. In such cases, the individual can seek employment in the 89 percent of workplaces in Kentucky that are not unionized.”

Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, predicted the state’s economy will quickly enjoy a boost if Kentucky becomes a right-to-work state.

“We will see the results very quickly across this commonwealth as the numbers, the leading economic indicators in this state, start pointing in the right direction,” he said.

House Bill 1 contains an emergency clause, meaning it would take effect immediately upon being signed into law by the governor.

No ballgame tonight at Lyon County

Crittenden County's scheduled Fifth District doubleheader tonight at Lyon County has been cancelled due to current road and weather conditions and the evening forecast.

Rocket coach Denis Hodge said work has begun to reschedule the district matches, but nothing is firm at this point.

Crittenden's boys are scheduled to host Community Christian Saturday night and the girls are to play at Fort Campbell.

Right to work bill, repeal of prevailing wage pass House

Rep. Lynn Bechler, R-Marion
HB 1: Yes
HB 3: Yes

Legislation that would make Kentucky the 27^th right-to-work state by outlawing mandatory membership in a labor union as a condition of employment passed the House today by a vote of 58-39.

Supporters say House Bill 1, sponsored by House Speaker Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown and Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, would boost jobs by allowing employees to negotiate benefits and wages directly with their employers. Committee testimony on the bill yesterday said job growth in right-to-work states has been more than double that in non-right-to-work states like Kentucky in recent years.

Rep. Chris Fugate, R-Chavies, whose grandfather worked for 43 years in the coal mines, said he voted in support of HB 1 to try and bring jobs to his district where, he said, 3,000 people are out of work.

“I reluctantly vote yes,” said Fugate, adding some of his constituents are for right-to-work and some are against it. Fugate said he isn’t against unions, but “our coal miners are not working in the mountains in case anybody didn’t know that.”

“I’ll work my rear end off to make sure that I do everything I can for them to get jobs so they don’t have to move to another state or another place to provide for their families,” Fugate said.

Opponents of right-to-work legislation like HB 1, however, claim such bills weaken wages of the working and middle classes. Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Shively told House members that studies show right-to-work legislation hurts the wages of working men and women in Kentucky.

“I proudly stand with my union brothers and sisters and all workers across this Commonwealth and vote no,” said Jenkins.

Also passed by the House today was HB 3, sponsored by House Speaker Hoover and Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger. That legislation, which passed the House 57-40, would repeal the state’s prevailing wage law which guarantees an hourly base “prevailing” wage to construction workers on certain public works projects. Koenig said the process for determining that base wage “is unlikely to yield wages that are representative of market wages.”

Koenig said the only reason the bill was filed is to save the taxpayers money. “That is our motivation for filing this bill,” he said.

Among those voting against the bill was Rep. Angie Hatton, D-Whitesburg, who said prevailing wage was designed to ensure quality work done by local workers.

HB 1 and HB 3 now go to the Senate for its consideration. They both include emergency provisions, which make them take effect immediately if signed into law.

Senate approves bill to prohibit abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy

Sen. Dorsey Ridley, D-Henderson
SB 5: Yes

The state Senate today approved legislation that would prohibit a woman from having an abortion in Kentucky if she is 20 weeks or more into a pregnancy.

The legislation, Senate Bill 5, would “protect pain-capable children from the horror of having an abortion performed on them,” said a primary sponsor of the bill, Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard.

Smith said books for expecting parents describe a 20-week-old fetus as capable of sucking its thumb, yawning, stretching, making faces and responding to pain.

SB 5 passed on a 30-6 vote. It now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Sen. Reginald Thomas, D-Lexington, was among the opponents of the measure, arguing that women should be able to make decisions on their pregnancies without the limitations of SB 5.

“My fear is that by adopting this bill that we’re going to ultimately go back to what we saw in the 50s and 60s when we had back-alley butcher shops to take care of situations rather than having a safe medical procedure,” Thomas said.

Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, a primary sponsor of the legislation, says it focuses on the wellbeing of the unborn child. “We’re not just talking about these women who are seeking abortions. ... We’re talking about the child that is a life. That life deserves a chance to survive. Twenty weeks – that’s five months. … We’re not stopping anyone from getting an abortion. We’re not doing anything that gets in the way of (women’s) conversations with their partner, their spouse, their physician, their priest or minister. We’re not stopping any of that. But we are going to recognize that life exists there.”

Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, a medical doctor, said that medical advances are reducing the age at which fetuses are viable, or able to survive outside the womb. “All we’re trying to do here with this bill is give those children an opportunity to survive,” he said.

Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, voted against SB 5 and urged lawmakers to focus on other issues. “One in four children in Kentucky are living in poverty and over 7,000 live in foster care. Our young people, if they are fortunate enough to graduate from college, come out with huge student loans and can’t find jobs. Four-hundred-thousand people may fall through the cracks and lose their health insurance. My question is: why do we spend our precious time in this body attacking a woman’s right to choose … when Kentucky faces so many more demanding issues?”

While casting his vote in favor of the legislation, Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, also quoted statistics.

“We heard statistics earlier … But I want to say there are also statistics of 58,586,256 abortions that have been performed in the United States since 1973. That’s an average of over 1 million abortions per year,” he said.

SB 5 contains an emergency clause, which would make it effective immediately upon being signed into law by the governor.

Ultrasound bill passes Ky. House, goes to Senate

Rep. Lynn Bechler, R-Marion
HB 3: Yes

Women seeking an abortion would be required to have an obstetric ultrasound and receive a medical explanation of what that ultrasound shows under a bill that today passed the state House of Representatives on an 83-12 vote.

Rep. Addia Wuchner, R-Florence, who is a primary sponsor of House Bill 2 along with House Speaker Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, said the ultrasound proposal is about informed consent.

“In this Commonwealth, it is important that we give women full and informed consent. We have moved historically from a time when women were just given the bare information about medical procedures to making sure that we respect their autonomy and their decision-making process in issues…that impact their lives,” said Wuchner.

Any woman seeking an abortion would have to comply with the proposed ultrasound requirement before she could give informed consent for an abortion, according to the bill. Revised in 2016, Kentucky’s informed consent law requires women seeking an abortion to have an in-person or teleconferenced medical consult at least 24 hours before the procedure.

The bill would also require the woman’s physician or health care provider to display the ultrasound images to the woman and allow her to hear her fetus’ heartbeat, although the women would not have to look at the images or listen to the heartbeat. Signed certification would be placed in the woman’s medical record noting that she was presented with the required information and noting if she viewed the images and listened to the heartbeat or declined to do so.

No ultrasound would be required in cases of medical emergency where an abortion is considered a “medical necessity,” according to HB 2. Health care providers who do not comply with the requirement would face fines of $100,000 for a first offense and $250,000 for additional offenses.

Several floor amendments were proposed to the measure, including amendments to outlaw all forms of abortion in Kentucky, provide an exception to the proposed ultrasound requirement in cases of rape or incest and ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation. Each floor amendment called stalled on a procedural vote.

One freshman member who voted against HB 2 was Rep. Attica Scott, D-Louisville, who said half of her constituents are female. “I have spent years mentoring women who are older than me, younger than me and in my own age group and have found the importance of trusting women to make their own decisions,” said Scott. 

Among those voting in favor of HB 2 was freshman member Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Mill. The former neo-natal intensive care nurse said HB 2 will give pregnant women a clear understanding of their medical condition so they can make informed decisions.

“As a medical professional, it is my obligation to ensure patients have accurate access to medical information regarding their medical diagnosis and that it should be available to them,” said Moser.  “It is with accurate information that a patient can make an informed decision regarding their treatment, whether it is treatment for a brain tumor requiring an MRI or a CT scan, or if it is to determine the health and the progress of a pregnancy through an ultrasound.”

HB 2 now goes to the Senate for consideration.

No school Friday in Crittenden County

There will be no school in Crittenden County Friday. This will be a regular snow day that will have to be made up. It will not serve as the school district's second Rocket Way Snow Day.

Area death

Otis L. Millikan, 84, of Marion died Wednesday. Gilbert Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Local job opening

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Roads becoming slick, accidents on I-24

There are multiple reports of traffic accidents on Interstate 24 between Eddyville and Paducah as the region's first significant weather winter strikes western Kentucky.

Transportation officials are advising caution while traveling today.

Schools in Crittenden County have been dismissed.

No school in Crittenden County today

There will be no school in Crittenden County today due to the strong possibility of wintry weather. It will be the first non-traditional instruction (NTI) day, or Rocket Way Snow Day, used in the district. Last year, Crittenden County Schools was approved to implement a system that allows students to learn from home on snow days, helping prevent the school calendar from extending into late May. Up to 10 such days can be used, but Superintendent Vince Clark has said the district plans to utilize only as many as half that number. Dozens of public school districts in Kentucky have been OK'd for NTI days.

Local job opening

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Right-to-work bill passes House panel

NEWS RELEASE
A House panel has passed right-to-work legislation that would prohibit Kentuckians from being required to join labor unions as a condition of employment.

House Bill 1, sponsored by House Speaker Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown and Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, would prohibit mandatory membership in or payment of dues to labor organizations with few exceptions involving federal law and agreements entered into before HB 1 would take effect. Violators would be subject to prosecution.

The legislation passed the House Economic Development and Workforce Investment Committee favorably after an hour-long discussion that began with comments from Governor Matt Bevin. “Jobs come from private sector employers and they’re incentivized by the kinds of things you’re going to hear in coming days,” said Bevin. “This is a zero-sum game.”

Right-to-work bills have been filed several times in past legislative sessions said Speaker Hoover, who told the committee that HB 1 will give employees the ability to negotiate benefits and wages directly with their employer without being part of a union.

“I personally have no problem with an individual opting to be part of a labor union,” said Hoover. “… But government shouldn’t stand in the way of someone who opts not to join a union.” He said HB 1 would make Kentucky the 27th Right to Work state in the country, putting it on par with most Southern states as well as Indiana and labor-heavy Michigan.

Hoover said private sector employment in right-to-work states increased over 17 percent between 2001 and 2013 compared to around an 8 percent increase in non-right-to-work states like Kentucky.

Those opposing the bill included Rep. Gerald Watkins, D-Paducah, who told the committee that  tax code changes and the paring-down of regulatory burdens could do more for Kentuckians than right-to-work legislation.  “I don’t believe personally a right-to-work law is (a) silver bullet,” he said.

Also speaking against the bill was Kentucky Center for Economic Policy analyst Anna Baumann who said Kentucky’s manufacturing sector is strong without right-to-work—Kentucky has the fifth-highest manufacturing employment as a share of total employment nationally, she said. But Hoover, backed by officials from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce as he gave his testimony, said data shows the economy is stronger in right-to-work states.

“Economic development is not only my primary, but my sole motivation in proposing this legislation,” said Hoover.

HB 1 would also prohibit public employees in Kentucky from engaging in work strikes. The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.

Repeal of prevailing wage law gets House panel OK

NEWS RELEASE
A bill that would repeal a state law requiring payment of an hourly base wage—or prevailing wage—to workers on public works construction projects has passed a House committee.

House Bill 3, sponsored by House Speaker Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, and Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, would apply to projects for which bids have not yet been awarded at the time the bill, should it pass, takes effect. An emergency clause included in HB 3 would ensure the bill takes effect immediately upon being signed into law by the governor.

Koenig, who presented HB 3 to the House Economic Development and Workforce Investment Committee before the committee approved the bill today, said prevailing wage laws are “unlikely to yield rates that are representative of market wages.” They are also a financial strain on local governments and school districts, Koenig said, emphasizing that saving money was the motivation for filing HB 3.

The bill has the support of Boone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Randy Poe who testified alongside Koenig. Poe told the committee that higher construction fees on prevailing wage projects have cost his school district as much as $50 million over the last 19 years.

“The higher fees we pay through prevailing wage keeps us from improving upon traditional space versus portable space (for) our students,” said Poe. “This is about creating more space for our students.”

Speaking against the bill was Bill Finn, the state director of the Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council. Finn said that nine out of 11 economic studies since 2001 have showed no increase in overall construction costs due to prevailing wage. “Twenty three percent is the entire pie that prevailing wage affects,” said Finn.

HB 3 now goes to the full House for its consideration.

What's news this week in Crittenden County...

With his dog by his side, Kenneth Drennan is celebrating his 100th birthday today.

If you’re able to see Kenneth Drennan this week while he’s celebrating 100 years on this planet, don’t expect any sage advice about how to stay young or live longer. For Drennan, a member of a family with genetic longevity, the path to a century of life has been void of wholesome eating, healthy regiments of exercise or any other cryptic formulas for earning a centenarian’s badge.

For more on this and the following headlines, pick up a copy of this week's issue of The Crittenden Press:

• Drennan, other centenarians witnesses to much change
• Lyon camp not foreign refugees
• GOP takes full control of state government
• GRAPHIC: All you need to know for the upcoming legislative session
• YEAR IN REVIEW: Take a look back at the top stories of 2016
• YEAR IN REVIEW: Remember those we lost in 2016 with a roll call of local deaths
• MY 2¢ WORTH: Facebook good for nothing
• Distribution dates set for food bank
• Life in Christ breaks ground for growth
• Jobless rates down in all but one Ky. county
• DEFEW'S VIEWS: New body part good Christmas gift in 2016
• IN PICTURES: Babies of 2016
• Tinsley named Paducah Bank Teen of the Week
• VAUGHT'S VIEWS: Alexander-Walker ‘phenomenal’ talent
• SPORTS: Young Rockets causing gray hairs
• SPORTS: Lady Rockets searching for qualifying status
• Morganfield ER to grow
• Coal mining deaths record low in 2016
• Shootings of police increase 50 percent
• New feed rule now in place for farmers

Complete survey for chance at $4,000

Highway snow prep includes Crittenden

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is preparing for a round of light snow expected to arrive in our District 1 counties during the day on Thursday.

Most highway crews in the 12 westernmost counties of Kentucky are expecting accumulation to be under 1 inch. The forecast for areas along the Ohio River in northern Livingston and Crittenden counties indicates a possible snow accumulation of up to 1 inch with the snow trailing off to a dusting for the Tennessee border counties. 

The District 1 Snow & Ice Team will continue closely monitoring the forecast for this event and adjust strategy if accumulation estimates should change significantly.

At this time, pavement temperatures are adequate to melt much of the initial snowfall. Ambient air temperatures are expected to hover around the freezing mark during the day on Thursday.  With the snow expected to arrive during regular working hours there will be no need to pre-treat for this event. However, crews plan to load some trucks with salt before they leave for the day on Wednesday to be prepared to roll out quickly on Thursday morning, if required.

The KYTC District 1 Snow & Ice Team will provide an update on Wednesday should the forecast change.

KYTC District 1, headquartered at Paducah, includes Fulton, Hickman, Carlisle, Ballard, McCracken, Graves, Calloway, Marshall, Livingston, Crittenden, Lyon, and Trigg Counties.

Crews preteating roads ahead of snow

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to pretreat highways across about the northern third of Highway District 2 starting Wednesday morning. District 2 does not include Crittenden or Livingston County, but does include Union, Webster, Henderson and eight other counties.

Crews will be gearing up to start pretreating in the Ohio River border counties and a few selected others around 8 a.m. on Wednesday to prepare for an approaching winter system that could drop up to an inch of snow across the district’s northernmost counties on Thursday.

The forecast indicates a threat of some accumulation of snow starting Thursday morning across the northern portion of the 11-county district. While the present forecast is only indicating up to about one inch of snow arriving on Thursday, crews will be pretreating through the day on Wednesday in the northernmost counties. The long-range forecast also indicates a chance of snow Friday into Saturday.

The KYTC District 2 Snow & Ice Team anticipates crews will have time to complete pretreatment of about half of the highways in the counties where snow is expected to accumulate.

Motorists should be alert for slow moving brine trucks out and about on Wednesday as highway crews go about their pretreating efforts. Appropriate caution is required anytime you encounter a brine truck.

Tanker trucks will be spraying brine that dries to leave a fine powder of salt on the roadway driving surface.  The powdered salt is then available to be immediately activated to help improve driving conditions in the early hours of a winter snow and ice event.  It also serves to keep the snow and ice from bonding to the pavement, making it easier for plows to remove snow from the roadway once it accumulates.

Pretreating has a fairly specific set of requirements. Kentucky Highway crews do not pretreat if there is substantial rain in the forecast prior to the start of snow as the rain would wash away any benefits of the material. They also generally do not pretreat when temperatures are below about 16 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit as low temperatures would create an opportunity for the brine to flash freeze and create slick spots when it hits the road surface.

Kentucky was among a number of states that helped to pioneer pretreating with brine as an inexpensive way to prepare in advance of approaching winter weather events.  The process is now in wide use across the nation.

Local job opening

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Next city council meeting Jan. 9

Marion City Council will next meet at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9 at city hall. This will serve as the regular monthly meeting.

Area Death

Anna Mae Davis, 85, of Marion died Saturday. Gilbert Funeral Home in Marion is in charge of arrangements.