Rep. Tom Smith

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 136 to establish the Kentucky Rural Jobs Act of 2022, allowing the Department of Revenue to begin accepting applications from entities seeking approval as a growth fund and allowing no more than $15 million dollars of insurance premiums tax credit to be awarded; amend KRS 131.190 to allow reporting of the tax credit to the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue; provide that Sections 1 to 10 of this Act may be cited as the Kentucky Rural Jobs Act of 2022.

The State/Executive Branch Budget: Detail Part I, Operating Budget; appropriate to General Government: 2021-2022: $925,391,000, 2022-2023: $2,450,394,100, 2023-2024: $1,945,550,500; appropriate to the Economic Development Cabinet: 2021-2022: $631,100, 2022-2023: $42,311,100, 2023-2024: $43,841,800; appropriate to the Department of Education: 2021-2022: $4,038,300, 2022-2023: $6,272,487,700, 2023-2024: $6,338,219,700; appropriate to the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet: 2021-2022: $4,302,200, 2022-2023: $226,803,000, 2023-2024: $228,602,800; appropriate to the Energy and Environment Cabinet: 2021-2022: $7,288,800, 2022-2023: $286,829,000, 2023-2024: $293,691,700; appropriate to the Finance and Administration Cabinet: 2021-2022: $144,212,800, 2022-2023: $973,840,400, 2023-2024: $983,730,600; appropriate to the Health and Family Services Cabinet: 2021-2022: $829,642,400, 2022-2023: $19,075,453,600, 2023-2024: $19,366,023,400; appropriate to the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet: 2021-2022: $29,301,600, 2022-2023: $1,404,716,500, 2023-2024: $1,426,598,900; appropriate to the Labor Cabinet: 2021-2022: $4,206,200, 2022-2023: $566,497,600, 2023-2024: $546,164,200; appropriate to the Personnel Cabinet: 2021-2022: $857,800, 2022-2023: $160,656,600, 2023-2024: $156,161,800; appropriate to Postsecondary Education: 2021-2022: $1,067,800, 2022-2023: $11,925,169,400, 2023-2024: $16,130,308,100; appropriate to the Public Protection Cabinet: 2021-2022: $4,857,700, 2022-2023: $134,773,200, 2023-2024: $136,708,300; appropriate to the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet: 2021-2022: $25,708,200, 2022-2023: $306,414,300, 2023-2024: $322,190,100; not included in the appropriation amounts are capital project amounts as follows: 2021-2022: $4,739,000, 2022-2023: $12,585,526,731, 2023-2024: $905,877,600; detail Part II, Capital Projects Budget; detail Part III, General Provisions; detail Part IV, State Salary/Compensation, Benefit, and Employment Policy; detail Part V, Funds Transfer; detail Part VI, General Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part VII, General Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part VIII, Road Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part IX, Road Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part X, Phase I Tobacco Settlement; and detail Part XI, Executive Branch Budget Summary; APPROPRIATION.

Amend KRS 159.035 to require that beginning with the 2021-2022 school year a student shall be considered present at school while participating in any of the page programs of the General Assembly; allow one day as an excused absence for attendance at the State Fair; amend KRS 158.070 and 158.649 to conform; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 23A.020 to move Edmonson County from the 38th Judicial Circuit into the 8th Judicial Circuit; amend KRS 23A.040 (Effective January 2, 2023) to add the 56th Judicial Circuit to the list of judicial circuits with 2 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 23A.045 (Effective January 2, 2023) to remove the 3rd, 6th, 14th, and 27th Judicial Circuits from the list of judicial circuits with 3 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 23A.050 to add the 3rd, 6th, 14th, and 27th Judicial Circuits to the list of judicial circuits with 4 Circuit Judges; create KRS 23A.052 to establish that the 8th and 25th Judicial Circuits shall be entitled to 5 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 23A.055 to establish that the 16th Judicial Circuit shall be entitled to 6 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 24A.030 (Effective January 2, 2023) to move Edmonson County from the 38th Judicial District into the 8th Judicial District, move Russell and Wayne Counties from the 40th Judicial District into the 57th Judicial District, move Nelson County from the 57th Judicial District into the 58th Judicial District, move Cumberland and Monroe Counties from the 59th Judicial District into the 40th Judicial District, move Marshall County from the 58th Judicial District into the 42nd Judicial District, and eliminate the 59th Judicial District; amend KRS 24A.050 to remove the 4th, 31st, 38th, 41st, and 51st Districts from the list of Judicial Districts with 2 District Judges; amend KRS 24A.090 to remove 1 District Court division of the 16th Judicial District; request that the Circuit Court Judges added under KRS 23A.050 in the 3rd, 6th, 14th, 16th, and 27th Judicial Circuits be designated as family court divisions with an effective date of January 2, 2023; request that the District Court judgeships eliminated in the 4th, 13th, 31st, 41st, 51st, and the realignment of the Judicial Districts take effect January 1, 2027, unless a vacancy occurs earlier; provide transitional language; EFFECTIVE in part January 2, 2023, and January 1, 2027; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; establish a student loan forgiveness program for teachers obtaining certification through an expedited certification process with a residency component; authorize the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the program; create the Option 9 scholarship fund; amend KRS 161.048 to create an Option 9 expedited alternative certification pathway through the use of a residency program; establish requirements for residency program; establish eligibility for district participation; APPROPRIATION.

Create a new sections of KRS Chapter 199 to create the Employee Child-Care Assistance Partnership program; define terms; obligate the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer the program; establish reporting requirements; establish a fund for the program; authorize the cabinet to administer the fund; direct the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to effectuate the program; establish program requirements for employers and employees; establish requirements for both permissive and mandatory termination of the program contract; permit the Cabinet for Economic Development to condition program requirements on participation in this program; amend KRS 199.990 to include a penalty; cite as the Employee Child-Care Assistance Partnership; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 218A.1410, 218A.1412, and 218A.142 to enhance the penalty for importing or trafficking carfentanil, fentanyl, or fentanyl derivatives from a minimum of 50 percent of the sentence served to a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence served and establish prohibition against the use of pretrial diversion for those criminal offenses.

Amend KRS 39A.100 to exclude houses of worship from emergency condemnation authority; prohibit a governmental entity from prohibiting religious services during an emergency to a greater extent than imposed on other organizations or businesses that provide essential services; require a compelling governmental interest to place a burden on a religious organization; prohibit a governmental entity from taking any discriminatory action against a religious organization on the basis that the organization is religious; define "discriminatory action," "governmental entity," "religious organization," and "religious services"; allow a religious organization to assert a violation of this section as a claim against a governmental entity or as a defense and waive sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity to the extent of liability under the section; set out remedies available to a religious organization; require construciton in favor of protecting free exercise of religion; require a religious organization to bring an action no later than two years from the date the person should have known of the discriminatory action.

Amend KRS 7.090 to remove the ability of interim joint committees to pre-file bills; repeal KRS 6.245, relating to pre-session filing of bills.

Recognize April 2, 2022, as World Autism Awareness Day and April 2022 as Autism Acceptance Month.