No bathroom bill this session, Hoover says

Kentucky House Speaker Jeff Hoover predicted that the 2017 General Assembly will not take up a controversial "bathroom bill" addressing what restroom facilities transgender people should use.

Speaking to a chamber of commerce luncheon Monday, Hoover, R-Jamestown, said the bathroom measure "is not on our radar" and that the Republican-controlled General Assembly needs rather to focus on business-friendly measures designed to grow the state's economy and jobs. "We're steadfast on that," he told a crowd of several hundred at The Olmsted off Frankfort Avenue.

Rep. Rick Nelson, a Democrat from Middlesboro, recently filed a transgender bathroom bill that would require public schools, state universities, and local land state governments to designate that bathrooms they control "only be used by persons based on their biological sex."

The luncheon event was part of a program called Capitol Connections presented by Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce. Numerous elected officials, including Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, a Democrat, attended.

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With 25 days remaining on its calendar, the General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene Feb. 7.

That will follow a busy first week in January that saw the passage of seven bills by the legislature. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin signed all seven into law.

Among the measures were a repeal of the state law requiring payment of a prevailing wage to workers on some construction projects and passage of the so-called "right-to-work" law prohibiting the automatic withholding of labor union dues from workers' paychecks. Both of those measures were high on the legislative wish list of GLI and other pro-business organizations.

Hoover said the repeals will help Kentucky better compete with Indiana, Tennessee and other nearby states for new business and in corporate recruitment.

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Hoover predicted that in the days ahead the legislature will take up such matters as:

» A bill to create medical review panels that would be able to render opinions in malpractice lawsuits. The findings could be used as evidence by the court in deciding the outcome of the suits.

» Some form of charter school legislation.

» Providing additional resources to help rein in the raging drug epidemic and reduce the number of deaths from overdoses.

» Bills to ensure transparency in some government operations, including contracts signed by the attorney general's office.

But Hoover forecast that critical pension and tax reform will wait until a special session of the General Assembly later this year. First, he said, some ongoing audits of the state pension systems await completion. He said tax reform must address both corporation and individual taxation issues.

Pension reform is the most important factor threatening the state's financial health, Hoover said. The state will eventually face insolvency if the pension crisis is not fixed, he said.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at 502-582-7089, or via email at sshafer@courier-journal.com.

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