Before I wade into the weekly update waters, I wanted to bring your attention to something I am trying. The Legislature has a website that shows the progress of all legislation, and KET’s website has archived footage and live feeds of committees and from the floor of both chambers. However, as the session rolls on and the volume of bills increases, I wanted to make following your Senator’s votes as easy as possible. With that in mind, I have a running post of my voting record available at www.whitneywesterfield.com/ record that has a brief summary of each bill we have voted on in the Senate, in the order it was voted, whether it passed, the vote tally and how
I voted, with links to the official bills and voting record.
This week was a buzz of activity as many school groups, local officials and musicians visited the
capital and watched hearings and activity on the Senate Floor. I always enjoy having the
chance to welcome guests from home to see the work of the people's branch of government. I
encourage you to make a trip if only to take a tour of the Capitol to learn of its storied history. If
you can make it during session I would love to introduce you from the Senate floor, and I know my colleagues in the House would love to do the same.
As for legislation, the first bill to pass this week was Senate Bill 78. The intention of this legislation is to keep liability from automatically being attributed to landlords whose tenants own a dog that bites and injures someone on the property. Currently, a property owner can be held liable for a dog bite that takes place on their rented property even though the dog does not belong to them. This bill codifies the personal responsibility of the dog owner, and prevents unfair liability from being assumed by someone who has no ownership in or responsibility for the dog.
Last week I mentioned Senate Bill 89, which seeks in part to protect student data and privacy while in school. The bill passed the Senate 37-0. Since its passage, I came across an article wherein Google actually admitted to data mining in schools it already serves. The bill would require school districts to inform parents of the types of student information given to third-party web-based service providers, which I believe is the least we can do.
Another provision of SB 89 would allow local school districts to adopt academic standards that
exceed standards approved by the state Board of Education. This would give local school boards the freedom to choose more rigorous academic standards and push their students to excel beyond standards established by the state.
Rounding out the Senate’s work was House Bill 98 which represents a bipartisan effort to solve an issue of safely treating diabetic students in schools, helping thousands of our students and citizens. It passed the Senate Thursday.
HB 98 would permit students to inject themselves with their needed insulin while in school, and requires schools to have at least one trained staff member to administer medication for diabetes after they successfully complete the American Diabetes Association training program. This not only gives faster access to the medicine the students need, it can help parents, who currently have to leave their work to administer the drug, ease of mind if they wish to have the school assist.
If I can ever be of assistance, please contact me through the Legislative Research Commission’s toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181. In addition, you can see updates on legislative activity via Twitter at @KyWhitney. You may also call my office in Frankfort at 502-564-8100 or contact me by email at whitney.westerfield@lrc.ky.gov.
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Senator Whitney Westerfield (R-Hopkinsville) represents the 3rd District including
Christian, Logan, and Todd counties. He is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and vice-chair of the Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee. Senator Westerfield serves on the Agriculture Committee, the Capital Planning Advisory Board, the Natural Resources and
Energy Committee, the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee, and the
Transportation Committee.