Statement on Passage of SB 17 by the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – We’re celebrating as Senate Bill 17 passes the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee. This commonsense bill will remove barriers to establishing freestanding birth centers in Kentucky – a move that aligns with 40 other states. SB 17, sponsored by Senator Shelley Funke Frommeyer, is the companion bill of Representative Jason Nemes’ House Bill 90, to offer pregnant moms an alternative to a hospital delivery with a safe, homelike environment for low-risk pregnancies. With expanded access to safe perinatal options, moms [...]
Statement on Passage of SB 100 by the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Alongside the Kentucky youth speaking up to end the vaping crisis among their peers, we are applauding as the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee passes Senator Jimmy Higdon’s Senate Bill 100. We especially appreciate the committee members for retaining the original licensing provisions within the committee substitute adopted today. SB 100 would enforce the federal and state Tobacco-21 law in a way that would hold “bad actor” retailers accountable for underage tobacco, nicotine, and vapor product sales. By establishing a [...]
Statement on Passage of Legislation to Address Educator Sexual Misconduct
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – With just a few days left in the 2025 state legislative session, we appreciate Representative James Tipton’s laser-like attention on achieving passage of his longstanding commitment to addressing educator sexual misconduct in the Commonwealth. We’re celebrating as House Bill 36, adopted as a committee substitute of House Bill 298, was unanimously supported by the Senate Education Committee this afternoon. School staff have positions of trust with the children they serve, but violations of that trust irreparably harm student health and learning. As [...]
Statement on Passage of SB 73 by the Kentucky House
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – On this final day of Children’s Advocacy Week, we are celebrating as the first Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children priority bill is headed to the Governor’s desk. Senate Bill 73, championed by Senator Julie Raque Adams, was passed unanimously by the Kentucky House – emphasizing the General Assembly’s commitment to empowering victims of sexual exploitation, holding perpetrators of sexual extortion accountable, and prioritizing child sexual abuse prevention education. As a priority of the Kosair for Kids Face It Movement, we join our partners [...]
Statement on Passage of HB 90 by the Kentucky House
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – With the leadership of Representative Jason Nemes, House Bill 90 passed the full Kentucky House this afternoon. This legislation, and its companion Senate Bill 17, are critical levers to offering more options for prenatal and delivery care for Kentucky’s pregnant moms. As an alternative to a hospital delivery, freestanding birth centers have a track record of providing perinatal care safely in a homelike environment to women with low-risk pregnancies. HB 90 makes a commonsense change to remove barriers to establishing these centers [...]
Statement on Passage of SB 73 by House Judiciary Committee
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Kids’ safety was prioritized by the Kentucky House Judiciary Committee with their overwhelming bipartisan support of Senate Bill 73 today. Through the leadership of Senator Julie Raque Adams, SB 73 will empower victims of sexual extortion by holding perpetrators accountable and will prioritize prevention education among Kentucky’s most vulnerable to online risks. Senate Bill 73, sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams, seeks to empower victims and prioritize prevention by establishing the crime of sexual extortion as a felony or misdemeanor, depending on [...]
Governor Beshear, House and Senate Leadership Join Hundreds of Youth and Advocates for Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol 2025
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org FRANKFORT, KY – Hundreds of child advocates are convening this week for Children’s Advocacy Week, urging elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified policy agenda focused on creating brighter futures for all Kentucky kids and families. Today is Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol, where community organizations, professionals who work with kids and families, and young people from across the Commonwealth gather in Frankfort to meet with their legislators, attend committee meetings, and rally for children in the Capitol Rotunda. “Each year, Children’s Advocacy Day is a time for parents, social workers, educators, faith leaders, pediatricians, [...]
Statement on Passage of HB 90 by the House Licensing & Occupations Committee
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Expanded access to perinatal care options for low-risk pregnant women is a win for families, communities, and the state’s bottom line. House Bill 90, championed by Representative Jason Nemes and passed today by the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee, removes barriers to establishing freestanding birth centers – a priority of health advocates and leaders for many years. HB 90 prioritizes pregnant moms’ choices in their care, allows for a safe, small health care facility to offer a homelike environment as [...]
Statement on Passage of HB 291 by the Kentucky House
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – A justice system that promotes accountability, considers primary caregiver status, and reserves incarceration for those who pose a risk to public safety can be a win-win-win for family well-being, community safety, and the state’s bottom line. Representative Nick Wilson’s House Bill 291 seeks to do just that by requiring courts to consider alternative sentencing options when an individual has committed a non-violent offense and is the primary caregiver to a dependent child. Considered an Adverse Childhood Experience, parental incarceration impacts nearly one [...]
Statement on Passage of SB 100 by the Kentucky Senate
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Kids flat out won today as Senator Jimmy Higdon's Senate Bill 100 passed the Senate floor – emphasizing the Member's commitment to youth health and holding those accountable who may jeopardize a kid's chance at a healthy, addiction-free future. In an effort to enforce the Tobacco-21 law, SB 100 seeks to hold retailers accountable for underage tobacco, nicotine, and vapor product sales by establishing a division within ABC to conduct annual compliance checks and outline penalties for those selling to kids. The [...]