Louisville Courier-Journal

April 4, 2008

Editorial: A Few Good Bills Slip By

Even though this has been a deeply disappointing session of the Kentucky General Assembly, good sense and good public policy occasionally have prevailed.

The usual attempt by the billboard industry's lobbyists to cut down the public's trees and bushes, on public rights-of-way, was thwarted. Speaker Jody Richards was ready to stand up for what's right, and against such legislation, in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, billboard advocates and apologists ran into furious resistance, put up by a broad coalition of people and groups, including Scenic Kentucky. Bravo!

House Bill 186, sponsored by that perennial champion of those in need, Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, was approved unanimously by the Senate. It requires public school students to receive a dental examination within 90 days of their initial enrollment in school. Gov. Steve Beshear will sign this helpful bill.

Senate Bill 120 was not the optimum version of booster seat legislation, but it will do until something better comes along. It passed the House by a convincing vote of 88-8 and will be signed by the Governor. It will protect some of our most vulnerable little citizens, by requiring those seats for children under age 7 who are 40 to 50 inches tall. Noncompliance could cost you $30, but there's a grace period until 2009.

A cynical attempt by the Senate to mock House Bill 91, by adding absurdly harsh provisions, was rejected. Sponsored by Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, this effort to protect kids who are subjected to bullying has been a long time coming. The Beshear administration supports it. Schools now will have to develop procedures for dealing with student harassment of other students, and the state will be able to collect uniform data on the problem.