Issues

Thank you for your continued support and participation in state government! Together, we are laying a solid foundation for a brighter tomorrow for this generation and the generations to follow. – Senator Danny Carroll

Economic Growth and Fiscal Transparency

I am dedicated to improving our business environment in the Commonwealth and I will continue to initiate efforts to make our government a model of efficiency and transparency. In 2014, I stated that I would work to make Kentucky a more business-friendly state. A few years later, we now have a Republican Majority and I am proud to say we are a Right to Work state. Our conservative majority has passed legislation bringing 17,000 new jobs and $9.2 billion in new investments to Kentucky – which is the highest mark in 17 years! As our economy grows, we will have the ability to invest even more resources in critical areas like education, infrastructure, economic development, and public safety.

House Bill 202 (2018) – “The State Road Plan” will authorize over $2.4 billion for bridges, repaving and other highway needs throughout Kentucky over the next two fiscal years. Infrastructural development always goes hand in hand with economic growth, by aiding our community members in their daily commute and by encouraging ease of transport for new businesses.

Senate Bill 39 (2017) – sponsored by D. Carroll; In the vein of transparent and efficient government, the “No Jail Jailer” law requires fiscal courts to detail the duties and compensation of the jailer for the upcoming year. It also requires a quarterly report by the jailer of the duties performed

Job Training & Opportunity

I will work to ensure that our region provides the best, quality education for our residents. We must continue to evaluate the Kentucky (Common) Core system to make sure it is the best avenue to prepare our children for higher education or the work force. We must also find the means to ensure that our schools are properly funded and our teachers have the tools they need to succeed.

Senate Joint Resolution 52 (2018)– sponsored by D. Carroll: I was honored to sponsor this resolution which will facilitate the spread of Peer Support Network programs in our schools. These programs will help provide a better quality of education for our students with significant disabilities, while also benefitting the peers involved and the entire school. The Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky developed this program which has been tested in several pilot schools throughout the state. The University of Louisville also plans to use the various peer support network programs to recruit special education teachers.

House Bill 187 & House Bill 132 (2018) – HB 187 will require the Kentucky Department of Education to make a “dyslexia toolkit” available to school districts to help them identify and instruct students who display characteristics of dyslexia, while House Bill 132 will require Kentucky high school students to pass a financial literacy course before graduating.

Safety in Schools

In response to the tragic school shooting in Marshall County, which claimed the lives of two of our students and injured many others, the legislature passed two laws during the 2018 session in an effort to help with school security. One of these laws will allow off duty KSP Troopers to contract with schools to provide school resource office (SRO) services. The other piece of legislation will allow retired police officer to keep their state health insurance if they return to work as a Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO) in a school district.

These swift measures will serve to increase the number off retired officers available for schools to hire. In addition, a work group from the Joint Education Committee will be traveling the state during the interim gathering input for future legislative action to ensure our schools are safe. Finally, I will be working as part of a task force including representatives from several state cabinets, along with superintendents, principals, teachers, parents and other stakeholders on the mental health aspect of this school safety. The task force’s goal is to create a trauma informed care model program to make available to all school districts that is comprehensive, effective and sustainable.

I do still believe community safety goes beyond what we can solve in Frankfort alone. Gun control will not give us our final answer to violence and our community must come together in these times. Let us show our children and grandchildren that we can learn from our past by reaching out to each other in our community and working to change the ways we speak and relate to each other. Children are just that, and it is our job as adults to show them the right path forward.

I have been pleased to sponsor child safety laws these past few years that will go hand in hand with community-wide solutions:

Senate Bill 102 (2015): Conner’s Law allows for someone who abuses a child, or a person who is mentally or physically helpless, to be charged with manslaughter in the first degree when the abuse leads to the death of the person. Manslaughter in the first degree is a violent offense requiring 85% of time to be served before parole eligibility.

Senate Bill 16 (2016): Provides civil immunity for a person entering a car to remove a child who is in imminent danger of harm if not removed from the vehicle.

Senate Bill 228 (2016): The Anti-Bullying Bill defines “bullying” and requires a school board code of acceptable behavior to prohibit bullying. Also requires the code to include procedures for investigations and responding to reports of bullying and a method to protect the person reporting a bullying incident.

Protections for Our First Responders

As a former police officer, I have done my part to shed light on issues related to crime safety and the modernization of emergency response. I was a part of the Blue Lives Matter bill and will continue to represent our brave men and women on the Senate floor.

Related Legislation Sponsored by Danny Carroll:

Senate Bill 206 (2016): Provides that cities may employ certified retired police officers. Also provides that these officers shall keep their state retirement and health benefits but shall not accrue any additional retirement or health benefits.

House Bill 585 (2016): I helped develop and carry The 911 Bill in the Senate. Provides for a fee on pre-paid cell phones to help fund 911 centers throughout the state. Previously, funding has relied heavily on landline phone use.

Senate Bill 247 (2017): The HB 396 version of this bill passed. Allows KSP to hire Trooper Cadets without 60 hours of college credit, providing that the cadet will undergo 60 hours of college credit before being given a duty assignment.

Senate Bill 142 (2018): This bill will require that all E-911 telecommunicators be trained in high-quality telephonic CPR (T-CPR).

Senate Bill 90 (2018): The HB 140 version of this bill passed. The KLEFPF Bill increases the annual supplement to qualified police and firefighters to $4,000. Includes conversation officers with the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the KLEFPF program.  Increases the annual allotment to qualified volunteer fire departments to $11,000.

Moving Forward with Pensions

The 2018 general session saw the passage of meaningful legislation in many areas, including pension reform and tax reform. Although the process used to gain the passage of these crucial pieces of legislation was not the preferred process, I stand firm in my belief it was the right thing to do. For years, the legislature and the public have talked about pension reform and tax reform, but it was never more than just talk.

This year, through compromise, we finally acted. As a result, our pension systems are on the path to recovery and comprehensive tax reform has begun. This reform will serve to strengthen our economy and ultimately improve the quality of life of our people. I’m convinced that once the political grandstanding and emotions subside, it will become clear that the decisions made were in the best interest of our people.

House Bill 200 (2018) – “The State Budget Plan” will guide state spending for the next two fiscal years. This plan fully funds the state’s main public pension systems at the levels recommended by actuarial analysis. Agencies that will avoid budget cuts include the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Kentucky State Police, and local school-based Kentucky Family Resource and Youth Services Centers. The budget plan will boost per-pupil funding for K-12 education to a record level of $4,000 per student in each fiscal year. It also includes more than $60 million in new revenue to help implement proposed adoption and foster care reforms and tens of millions of dollars to hire more social workers.

House Bill 366 (2018) — “The Tax Reform Plan” includes a cigarette tax increase of 50 cents per pack and an expansion of the state sales tax to some services, such as: landscaping, janitorial, laundry, and small animal veterinary services. It will create a flat 5 percent tax for personal and corporate income taxes in Kentucky. The inventory tax will be phased out over a four-year period. Under the plan, the only itemized deductions allowed would be for Social Security income, mortgage income and charitable giving. It will also disallow the deductions for medical costs, taxes paid, interest expense on investments, and casualty and theft losses. It will also remove the $10 state personal income tax credit.

The revenue package contained in HB 366 will generate about $400 million in new revenue, according to a nonpartisan report. House Bill 366 will move Kentucky from the 29th most competitive state for individual income tax rates to 17th most competitive state. For the corporate rate, Kentucky would go from 27th to 22nd in competitiveness. It does this by, among other things, shifting Kentucky toward a consumption-based taxation system that lessens the burden of individuals’ income taxes.

Senate Bill 151 (2018) – This law will make changes aimed at stabilizing public pension systems that face more than $40 billion in unfunded liabilities. Changes include placing future teachers in a hybrid “cash balance” plan rather than a traditional benefits plan and limiting the impact of accrued sick leave on retirement benefit calculations. According to Brent McKim of the Jefferson County Teacher’s Association (JCTA), “Our own study, commissioned by the Kentucky Public Pension Coalition and the Kentucky Retired Teachers Association, indicates that if TRS averages anything close to the system’s projected 7.5% rate of return for the next 30 years, the cash balance retirement benefit would be better than our current defined benefit pension benefit for a 30-year employee.” We in the Senate believe this update to the pension system will give new teachers equitable, if not better, benefits than our current teachers have.

Energy in Our Region

We all support coal and understand coal is going to be the mainstay in our region. I fully support our people in this industry. I also support smart planning. Coal has long been king in the Ohio Valley, but the region is also home to an established and globally connected nuclear industry. I think there will come a time when our state will need nuclear energy to keep our portfolio balanced out and to make sure that we are able to provide inexpensive energy to attract business and industry. We are ideally suited, be that through research, manufacturing, or by actually having a nuclear reactor here. Our people are used to that and we are primed for that possibility. There may also be some companies who will want to come to Kentucky and power their facility using only “green” energy. We would be foolish not to take advantage of that.

Senate Bill 11 (2017) – sponsored by D. Carroll: “The Leeper Act” lifts the nuclear moratorium in Kentucky.

Drug Abuse

Drug dependency is a tough issue to grapple with as there are so many factors that determine lasting solutions. We need harsher penalties for drug dealers – which our legislators have worked towards. We also need better options for our addicted – which we have worked towards. During the 2018 session, I gladly supported legislation that would update the way prescription medication is reported. This is a change that will help in the fight to combat opioid drug problems. I have said before that more is needed to deal with drug issues today. We are working on it. And I believe this recent legislation will bring us one step closer to providing our physicians every tool that’s available to them.

Senate Bill 32 (2017) – sponsored by D. Carroll: Requires the Administrative office of the Courts to forward drug conviction data to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services for inclusion in the KASPER System.

Healthcare

I strongly believe all Americans should have access to health care. But Kentucky was never going to afford the high costs that were associated with Obamacare. I believe that the solution to healthcare lies in making insurance more affordable through free enterprise and competition between insurance carriers, tort reform, working to improve the health of our residents and putting our people back to work.

Senate Bill 5 (2018) – This measure is aimed at ensuring that independent pharmacists are fairly reimbursed for filling prescriptions of Medicaid recipients. The Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services will be in charge of setting the reimbursement rates for a pharmacist. The rate is currently set by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) hired by the state’s Medicaid managed-care organizations.

Pro-Life & Family Values

I am 100% pro-life and I will continue to support our local families at the state level. Our communities deserve to know how government spends their money, and they are right to refuse the use of their tax dollars for highly controversial activities. We can and must do better as a society, and at a minimum, our taxpayer dollars should not be involved in the abortion debate.

House Bill 454 (2018) – This law will prohibit a certain type of abortion procedure, known as a D & E, if a woman is more than 11 weeks pregnant. The legislation does not ban other types of abortion procedures; this particular procedure was targeted because of the inhumane dismemberment that takes place.

Senate Bill 71 (2018) – This measure will require the inclusion of abstinence education in any human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases curriculum in Kentucky high schools.

House Bill 1 (2018) – This bill reforms the state’s foster care and adoption system to ensure that a child’s time in foster care is limited and that children are returned to family whenever possible. It expands the definition of “blood relative” for child placement and ensures that children in foster care are reunited with family or placed in another permanent home in a timely manner.

Senate Bill 48 (2018) – Outlawing child marriage, this legislation will prohibit anyone under the age of 17 from getting married. It will also require a district judge to approve the marriage of any 17 year old.

Senate Bill 19 (2018) – sponsored by D. Carroll: This piece of legislation will increase the penalty for sex crimes against those with intellectual disability. This will make the penalties equitable with sex crimes when the victim is mentally incapacitated due to involuntary intoxication.