Town hall meeting by Wise, Upchurch

State Senator Max Wise (right) talked with local resident Kenny Catron during a town hall meeting held at the Wayne County library on January 31. The local meeting was one of a series Wise held throughout his district, allowing constituents to learn more about the current legislative session and to ask questions about their concerns.

Photo by Melodie Phelps

State Senator Max Wise shared some of the details that are included in SB 1, also known as the school safety bill, as well as other issues that the legislature is dealing with in Frankfort, during a town hall meeting held Thursday, January 31 at the Wayne County Library. About 20 local residents attended the session.

The school safety bill, which was introduced earlier this session by the School Safety Working Group, includes a number of different components, including personnel, systems and structures and accountability.

Wise said the bill includes a measure to increase the number of School Resource Officers (SROs) on campuses around the state. It also includes a mental health component, which would give students access to a mental health professional at the school level.

It would also create a new position of state school security marshal, who would act similarly as the state fire marshal by enforcing safety compliance.

The bill has been introduced in the Senate and moves now to committee.

Wise noted that while there is a lot to be done in Frankfort during this "short session," it is unclear what revenue related bills will be able to be addressed. For example, he and State Representative Ken Upchurch both talked about the pension problems that continue to plague the state, but noted that it would be unlikely that any fix would occur during this session.

Wise did discuss some of the concerns he has heard about from constituents. He noted that welfare reform is one of the most talked about issues from people in his district.

He said last week that there has to be a solution for getting able-bodied Kentuckians back to work and to break the generational cycle that is occurring. One way is through providing training and educational opportunities that will get young people into the work force.

Wise also addressed the issue of sports betting, which has been talked about for several years and even suggested as a way to fix the state's pension crisis. He noted that the money generated through this revenue stream would not be earmarked for any specific general fund or state needs, and much of the profits would be funneled back into gambling.

Wise said he did not see this as a solution for the state's pension crisis.

He also talked about the issue of legalizing medical marijuana. Wise said he is willing to have a discussion on the matter, if it includes specific provisions for is use.

He voiced his opposition to legalizing recreational marijuana. Wise added that in cases where medical marijuana could be used to help a terminally ill patient he would be open to the conversation.

He added that medical marijuana would not be a source of additional income, since it would not be taxed.

Both Wise and Upchurch discussed tax reform, reviewing the measures that occurred in last year's session as well as plans to continue the reform process in the future. Last year, the personal income tax was decreased to a flat five percent rate.

Also a number of services became subject to being taxed. Upchurch noted there is still some "tweaking" to be done on that legislation.

The plan is to move Kentucky toward a Tennessee model of taxation, which would see the sales tax—or consumption tax increase—and the personal income tax decrease. Upchurch noted that this will have to be done in stages, and will take several legislative sessions to accomplish this type of reform.