More legislative news.

Now, it may seem small, but access to documents like your birth certificate can help remove barriers for people experiencing homelessness and help them get back on their feet.

And Jefferson County alone, 11,000 people seek help from homeless service providers each year.

Those providers are behind House Bill 100.

That gives the verifiably unhoused a no cost copy of their birth certificate.

Service providers will help them submit paperwork to the state's vital Statistics office.

It's a process that's been available to homeless youth for nearly five years and our Frankford studios.

Today I spoke with the bipartisan pair of Bill's sponsors from Louisville, who say this is a foundational step to helping the homeless gain self-sufficiency.

What this bill does, it allows homeless Kentuckians of any age to have access to a birth certificate at no at no cost to them.

And why is this significant, Representative Stocker?

Why do they need to have a birth certificate?

What will this enable them to do?

So birth certificates are critical to just being able to access an ID.

Right.

So if you're just getting an ID card or a driver's license, you have to show up and provide a certain amount of other documentation that says this is you are who you are, who you say you are, and prevents a barrier.

Right.

It's just one more low hanging fruit opportunity that we saw as a way to really address this issue.

No one wants to see more people experiencing homelessness, but that's exactly what's happening.

So it's really important that we get in there and we start to remove these these barriers that are keeping people from accessing the other types of documentation that they need, which also allows them to access the things that we want them to be able to access.

Right?

So housing, for example, the ability to get a bank account, the ability to get certain types of medications that are going to require an ID.

So I think people forget and take for granted oftentimes how often you might need to provide something as simple as an I.D.

and you can't even get that if you don't have the birth certificate.

So it's all clearly connected.

This just removes the age barrier for this and it just makes it just make sense.

It's a common sense, Bill, that addresses one of the barriers that that that exists with the homeless community.

Do we know what the fiscal impact is, what that means for the average viewer, that there would be a cost to the state to provide this?

Do we know what that is?

We have not received the fiscal note yet.

As far as historically, in 2022, about 2000 birth certificates were more requested and provided from these service providers.

So the costs should be fairly minimal.

I mean, a birth certificate cost if you are a certified copy.

You're looking at $10.

Right.

So it's it's not a it's not a large amount of money.

It's the right thing to do from a compassionate standpoint.

But it's also the right thing to do from an economic standpoint.

Right.

Whatever the cost is will be very minimal and it will pay for itself when we are able to help get individuals on the road to stabilizing themselves and also being able to be a productive, contributing member of society.

So it's it's a no brainer.

It's a win win.

Representative, is this something that housing advocates have said this is a good first step.

There are other things that certainly need to be addressed with the unhoused population, but this is a good start.

Absolutely.

I've talked to too many advocates through through specifically Coalition for the Homeless, through talking about the SAFER Kentucky Act.

Right.

The homeless community and the issues that that that Kentuckians that are unhoused have to deal with.

And that is really what brought about this issue and saying, yes, there are a lot of roadblocks and barriers, but here is something that we can really fix with a simple bill that that everyone can agree.

It's important and you expect some action on this soon?

I do.

I do.

I have already spoken with Chairman Hale from state government, and we expect this in the next week or two to be heard in committee.

This could be one of the first bills that maybe gets across a little slow motion.

I hope so.

I would love for for House Bill 100 to be the first and the first bill.

And the bipartisan nature of it.

We don't want that to escape us at night and limit the discussion about that.

This also sets a very good target.

Absolutely.

Wherever that staffer and I are, our districts are next to each other in Louisville.

And so we have a lot of the same challenges and we see a lot of the same things.

And when we both talk to each other and identify that this was an important problem for each of us, we we just thought it made sense to team up.

Yeah.

And oftentimes, you know, this happens a lot in Frankfurt.

Great Britain and I are both new to the legislature, but I was working on a bill for free IDs last year and was going to refile that again this year and include birth certificates.

And then it came to my to my attention that Rep Whitten was going to be filing something.

And so I just went and said, Hey, we're doing the same thing, and took a look at it and said, Here's a great opportunity and I really want to challenge all of our colleagues to be really intentional, to seek one another out and to ask individuals to work together on something and primary and co-sponsor a bill that's important, that's really going to do something to move the needle for Kentuckians.

Well, that's a good way to end our discussion.

Thank you both.

And we'll be watching for this, hopefully this Thursday in committee.

I hope so.

Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

My pleasure.