♪ >> It is easy to see how diversity statements quickly become political litmus test.

>> The debate over dei, diversity, equity and inclusion includes college students to talk about how it's affected them personally.

>> We have already showed up.

They have already voted and they were rejected again.

>> The governor reacts to a second attempt to let lawmakers call themselves into special session.

♪ Look, mom, no hands.

Will Kentucky OK trucks without drivers?

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KU Team Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ ♪ Good evening and welcome to Kentucky.

Addition for Thursday, February 8th.

>> I'm Kelsey Starks filling in for Renee Shaw.

Thanks for joining us.

>> We've heard the letters D I many times during the 2024 session in Frankfort stands for diversity, equity and inclusion.

And some critics of dei policies say those policies have gone too far at universities across the nation.

>> And they say Kentucky is no different.

A measure to scale back.

These efforts is advancing in the state Capitol are Clayton.

Dalton has more from Frankfort as we begin tonight's Legislative update.

>> When it comes to dei Republicans on a legislative panel agreed that these programs can promote discrimination and division, particularly for students and faculty with conservative political beliefs, state senator and Majority Whip Mike Wilson, the sponsor of Senate Bill 6 says it will protect students and faculty and their right to free speech.

>> Diversity of thought should be welcome in higher education.

But what we have seen is a trend across the United States forcing faculty in order to rein employed to formally endorse a set of beliefs that may be contrary to their own.

All in violation of the First Amendment.

It is easy to see how diversity statements quickly become political litmus test that required applicants to show allegiance to a particular set of politically liberal beliefs.

>> Wilson said that requiring discriminatory dei measures as they're defined in the bill is unfair to individuals with certain ideologies.

The University of Kentucky student shared her experience being denied from a resident adviser position and how it relates to dei.

>> And we started off the interview.

Well, she's just giving me general feedback about my demeanor.

She said I aced every part of the interview, the customer service.

The Quick response times.

Everything I've done great on except Jed.

I UK's version of Dei.

I was told that because I am white presenting I probably not had to think about how I present myself.

Unlike other non-white students.

I have been told that as I didn't have experience being in other her words, not mine.

I hadn't proven I could relate to students who would be considered an other.

She then went on for several minutes to tell me about how she had processed George Floyd's death and how maybe I should have said something like that in the interview.

And then she told me that maybe I should look at my current service work through the lens of dei because this is the natural in point for dei.

Instead of just doing service work and treating everyone equally, you will look at people through the lens of race, ethnicity, sex, and then you will have to prove to UK how much you care about those categories instead of how much you care about those people as individuals, you will be in the city.

I if you want to work at UK.

>> Senate Bill 6 defined 16 discriminatory concepts, most of which center on sex race and political belief.

The bill prohibits these concepts.

Any mandatory training course.

But for Doctor Aaron Thompson, the president of the Kentucky Council on post-secondary Education, Dei is about much more.

We are in a global society.

>> What would that indicate it?

I mean, the workforce are asking for more people.

They're educated.

They're asking for people that know how to deal with that global society with other people.

So dei for us and how we implement.

It also includes not just underrepresented minorities.

That includes low-income.

We're getting closer now.

Don't learn ERs and a variety of other folk that, in fact, you may need those extra equitable.

>> With assistance.

How bums to get where they need to go.

>> One change that was approved in committee was removing the ability for students and faculty to sue universities over violating the bills to find discriminatory concepts.

It now allows the attorney general to bring a civil case for these violations.

The bill passed out of committee along party lines and heads to the Senate floor for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Clayton Dalton.

>> Kentucky's 2024 high School Teacher of the year testified against the bill today calling it anti Black.

Schools would have to beef up their background checks before hiring a teacher.

If House Bill 2.75 becomes law.

The House passed it unanimously today.

The bill seeks to hold sexually abusive teachers accountable by preventing predators from bouncing to different school districts.

>> And I'm going to say that 99.9% plus never dedicated teachers in those individuals who work in our school systems are there to support our children to help them in their education.

However.

There are a small number of individuals.

If you watch the knees, it's almost daily somewhere.

United States, you will see some type of story were some type of allegation has happened or a person in a position of trust in authority.

He's taken advantage of young child, a student in this country.

I will share a story that happened that I'm aware of before I became a member of this body.

Ahead, individual, a family that I need.

They had a young daughter who was a teenage daughter attending a public high school.

There was a teacher and that school that made inappropriate sexual advances toward that young lady.

The parish report that and they found out that that teacher had done.

It had the same allegation made another school system.

What happened?

That teacher had just resigned from that school system.

There was no investigation.

It moved all to another school system.

That's one of the things we're trying to prevent.

And House Bill.

2.75.

>> Now the House passed a similar bill last year, but it did not make it to the Senate floor.

A 2022 investigation from the Lexington Herald-Leader found 61% of Kentucky teachers who had their licenses suspended or revoked last those licenses because of sexual misconduct.

State Senator Matthew, Dineen of Elizabeth Town once more juvenile offenders to have their day and adult circuit Court.

A Senate committee today advanced Senate Bill 20 which says kids 15 and older who are charged with committing a felony with a gun would be prosecuted as an adult.

>> As we have seen.

Crime on the downturn.

For the last 25 years.

But recently.

We have seen an uptick.

A spike, if you will.

In juveniles committing gun crimes.

He worries me.

Tremendously.

Because the trauma and the PTSD.

And the long-term effects of those victims that are victimized a gun violence.

Is long lasting.

In many cases.

It out last.

The perpetrators sentence.

>> State senators Karen Berg, a Democrat and Whitney Westerfield, a Republican, both opposed the bill.

>> You are guaranteeing that these children will see been longer in our incarceration systems and they do not come out that are to come out worse.

But you have robbed the prosecution and the court of weighing the factors that have been in statute says long before I got here, in fact, long before as practicing law.

>> There's been a jump in some juvenile crime, but only following sort of the COVID wave.

And it makes me want to asked whether or not we're responding the right way.

All the things that you've talked about this bill doesn't 6.

>> County prosecutors would have their chance to bump a case back down to juvenile court if they choose Kentucky law enforcement groups to back the bill.

Violence against health care workers is happening more frequently and more needs to be done to stop.

And that is the intent behind a bill that passed House committee Thursday under House Bill.

One 94, an attack against a person contracted by a hospital like a travel doctor or nurse would-be third-degree that expands the current statue which only protects hospital employees.

The vice president of the Kentucky Hospital Association spoke in favor of the bill saying attacks against health care workers has reached the point where legislation is needed.

He describes some of the violence situations, health care workers face.

>> You know, the violence against our nurses, our doctors, our therapists, and the rest of the health care team mates.

Has grown exponentially from.

Abusive language which is bad enough, but it's spitting and hitting and shoving and threats with weapons.

And so this legislation really does take a step in the right direction toward providing the kind of protection that they need.

You know, if we're going to live in a civilized society, we certainly have to be.

Really working every day to protect those who are on the front lines of restoring health and saving lives.

The bill is so important.

None of us can afford to maintain the dangerous situation that we have in our hospitals right now.

And everybody thinks of it in terms of the ER.

But it's not just in the emergency room.

It's all over the hospital, even in labor and delivery.

We've had attacks on.

Nurses, doctors, therapists right there in labor and delivery.

And we can't we can't continue that way.

>> Messer told lawmakers the bill would improve the hospital work environment which in turn would help with the state's shortage of health care workers.

The bill passed unanimously and now heads to the House for a full vote.

Also passed in committee today and moving to the House floor, a bipartisan bill to address Kentucky's high maternal mortality Rate House Bill 10 dubbed the mom the bus, a bill.

I would add pregnancy as a qualifying life event allowing expectant mothers to adjust their insurance coverage, an offer health care services to pregnant women who do not qualify for Medicaid.

It also creates a hotline that connects new mothers with mental health services and enhances breastfeeding and safe sleep education.

300 nurses descended on the Kentucky Capitol today, but nobody was sick.

They were there on nurses day to show support for House Bill.

One, 59 as that bill passed the House and heads to the Senate, the bill would protect health care providers from prosecution after some accidents.

>> All citizens and voters should remember is that our society relies on nurses.

Everybody is a everybody is a patient at one point or another.

Even if it's not today, it's tomorrow.

Even if it's not you.

It's a loved one.

And so what today really is is it's an active respect between nurses in government and it's a partnership that I can't wait to see grow in the future.

We have 4 major policy goals.

The first one is decriminalizing health care working errors.

It would only decriminalize unintentional errors for health care workers in the normal course of their job.

>> It would not get do away with civil liability were also advocating for a smears in every school in Kentucky all day.

Everyday staffing is another big priority for the and for nurses across Kentucky, safe staffing ratios means safer.

Working conditions for nurses and better outcomes for patients.

It benefits absolutely.

Every Kentuckian.

And finally, we're talking about the brand image of nursey.

leaders within this state.

We're just trying to.

Make sure people understand how amazing these people are.

We have a lack of nurses and it's very scary because we've got nurses eating out and we want to bring younger nurses and what the young people want to see is that legislature supports nurses and not just their verbiage and not just what they say in front of crowds, but in what they do in the legislation that they passed, they write the support.

I'm really excited to see that in the future.

There are 90,000 nurses in Kentuckyian we vote.

So our issues, our should be a priority.

>> Choosing to take in and raise a child that isn't your own is a big decision.

Lawmakers are now a step closer to making that decision easier.

Kentuckians who choose to take and a grandchild or raise someone who isn't related to them can receive financial assistance from the state.

But only if the caregiver chooses to become a certified foster parent.

As soon as a child is removed from their home.

Senate Majority Caucus Chair Julie Rocky Adams sponsor of Senate Bill.

One, 51 wants to change that.

>> The intent of Senate Bill, one, 51 is to incorporate this flexibility into relative and fictive kin placement options by allowing our caregivers the opportunity to change their placement status from temporary custody to a child specific foster home as necessary.

This is the important point.

This flexibility we'll close.

The services supports and resources gap that is currently plaguing many of our Kentucky families.

>> No vote for this because of the respect that I had for for grandparents across this Commonwealth.

You know, many of the more important life where they think they're going to take like little bit easier in the 7 to responsibility for grandchildren thrust upon them.

And we all know it happens time after time after time, Kentucky for us not to provide the resources.

just deserve that.

We've been of the folks.

It's just unconscionable.

This is a good bill.

It will help children.

It will help grandparents.

And then help our Commonwealth.

>> Senate Bill one 51 also gives displaced children more say in their foster care experience removed, children would be allowed to submit a list of family members and friends.

They could potentially live with.

The bill unanimously passed the full Senate today and now heads to the House for consideration.

There.

Coexist, not replace.

That's how autonomous vehicle advocates describe a push to make them legal on Kentucky roads.

A legislative committee advanced House Bill.

7 supporters say it would help move more freight with less people and complement the trucking industry.

But critics want to put the brakes on the plan because of safety concerns and possible job loss from delivery vehicles to trucks and viens as they're called for short, are already crews and highways and 23.

Other states House Bill 7, a redo from a veto.

The measure last year creates a regulatory framework for a bees and would require trucks weighing over 62,000 pounds to have a human observer along for the first 2 years.

The law takes effect.

Proponents these must meet certain safety standards, including pulling over when there is a malfunction.

Of paramount importance is the ability of a bees to make us all safer.

>> Bees do not speed.

They do not text.

They do not drive impaired or fatigued.

Sadly, human drivers do.

All of those things contributed.

Nearly 43,000 American deaths on our roads in 2022, according to federal government statistics.

A teaser position to combat this trend of unsafe driving that has persisted for many years.

They have unparalleled visibility of the world around them as a result of advanced technology that works in concert to form the automated driving system, which is the brain that drives the vehicle.

The combination of these systems lens to quicker decisions with many more inputs and a human driver.

Bees also have a 360 degree field of vision which can detect track and react to objects and people even when they are hidden from human perception due to vehicles and other obstructions.

>> But not everyone is on board like Michelle grabs with the Truck Safety Coalition who lost family members to a collision with a tractor trailer.

Most people are unaware.

>> The large truck crash deaths have surged nearly 90% since 2014.

And I'm here today because my son and his future family are part of that statistic.

Proven safe solutions are needed in this time of crisis.

And at this time I don't feel we should be recklessly testing autonomous vehicles and trucks.

Next unsuspecting Kentucky motorist.

>> It's not about being for or against the bill.

This is just reminding everyone that we we do have we do have some facts and we've seen some cases where.

Law enforcement has run into problems with anywhere from.

You know, vehicles.

Not functioning.

We've seen that before.

We have a couple cases in Nevada in California right now that have been really newsworthy.

Get anyone can can Google this.

But where they've been use and sex trafficking and other things like that.

Again, these are extremely egregious and and really could be, you know, one off issues.

But again, these are things that I hope our our colleagues here in the Legislature and our and our friends will at least consider is we're going through this because we want to KET our common well safe.

>> House Bill 7 cleared committee and now waits for action in the full House.

Kentucky voters could have to decide again about whether the Kentucky General Assembly should be able to call itself into special session.

Governor Andy Beshear thinks it's a bad idea.

We've told you about House Bill 4, specifically House Bill 4 would let the General Assembly extends sessions beyond the normal 30 60 day limit.

If 3 fifths of both chambers vote in favor of the extension, it would also let the Kentucky Senate president and the House speaker called the legislature into additional sessions that could last up to 12 days.

If passed.

It would put the question on the ballot in November.

Voters rejected as similar constitutional amendment 2 years ago today the governor said why do this again?

>> In 2022, the people of Kentucky rejected a constitutional amendment where the General Assembly tried to turn itself into a full-time body and pay itself accordingly.

People to come out of Kentucky said no.

>> We want to KET these limited sessions.

Are you here for a limited period of time and they trust the governor and the separation of powers to call any special session General Assembly.

This time seems to think they should put the very same constitutional amendment in front of voters.

Again, they shouldn't.

They should respect the will of the people they have already showed up.

They have already voted.

>> And they will reject it again.

>> Right now, only the governor can call a special session.

House Speaker David Osborne says if the amendment does end up on the ballot this year, it will be worded differently this time and will be easier to understand.

Well, many retired Kentucky state workers say they can't make ends meet their on pensions and they say they haven't had a cost of living increase in ages and they rallied today in Frankfort to say thanks to a big state surplus.

Now is the right time for a raise.

>> Let me say it loud and clear up pension is a promise.

>> And a caning for what we're calling a pension benefits supplement.

More specifically a 32 Trump It's been 12 years, 13 years since we've got the last cost of living increase.

We're looking at the way the law's set up looking another quarter century before there will be another And like I said, 38 years just to go without there being something.

The reason that we are here today at this time, he's because mostly of the vote to preserve trust fund so large, we recognize that our pensions are not funded as they should know.

>> We owe you a debt to more importantly, we owe you a strong all pension system >> email we talk to representative individually.

But when you when you do something like this, you know, we're here and there's just something about doing something in person.

This is a win-win.

>> For all retirees, it's a win for our local economy.

It's a win for our Commonwealth.

This is a no-brainer.

We can do this.

So please, I ask you to go advocate with other legislators that you have not seen before and we can get this done.

>> For years, the man in charge of Kentucky's elections has said they're reliable.

All Kentucky secretary of State Michael Adams is Renee Shaw's guest on Sundays.

Connections.

They talked about keeping election security in Kentuckyian beyond and the perceptions of voter fraud.

>> Our secretaries of state across the nation talking about how to handle.

>> Allegations of fraud and those types of things.

And coming up with a tighter game plan in order to prevent and thwart not just those allegations, but to make sure the systems are Don and with integrity.

>> Yeah, I'll tell you, I've been active in the National Association of Secretaries of State for 4 years now.

When I first got there, we were very divided.

And to some degree we've been actually kind of brought together because we're facing a common And so we do a lot of information sharing with each other.

Our our staffs talk constantly.

We talk constantly.

We have regular meetings and we share what's working in our state.

And and we have different approaches based on our ideology sometimes.

But we all agree on having accurate information, getting that out to people.

There's always going to be a French who want to just see the world burn.

But most people are good people in operate in good faith and they want to believe in the elections that want to believe in conspiracy theories.

They want to be right.

In Kentucky.

At least we see that that sides winning.

>> So join Renee this Sunday on connections as she talks more with Kentucky secretary of State Michael Adams.

You can see that at 11:30AM, Eastern 10:30AM, central right here on KET.

♪ >> February is heart month and doctors at the University of Louisville Hospital say with heart disease ranked is the leading cause of death in our state.

More Kentuckians need to pay attention to their heart health.

We checked in with the hospital to learn more about common heart issues who's most at risk and what we can do today to make our own hearts healthier.

>> I mean it in a high-risk age and given the great unknown part about going to lose around does they call them?

Conductor Koreans were beaten.

You know, there should no recognized as their church and is working hard to improve the landscape this prompt intervention can be lights table.

If you are somebody that the family history of heart disease and if you're a woman who's undergone breast cancer, chemotherapy, or if I'm your woman who has autoimmune conditions, such is not this one.

The boy died today.

Does that does increase your risk of or connected to veterans like after Americans are I increased risk up to 30% more a dying complex.

It's you know, it's never too young.

I'm always be aware and alert.

And I think the first thing is education adopting a healthy are in holistic approach to your night.

I think that is very be.

The first thing is diet.

What you eat is what you are a vegan diet consisting of both grains, fruits, vegetables has been associated with the best part about the outcomes.

If you need your and I'm looking look of the Mediterranean that there is an abundance of resources on 9 that you can go to.

Number 2, it's been the tickle activity just 30 minutes, a day of moderate intensity.

Physical activity is so crucial for maintaining good health.

He's quit smoking.

It's 2020 for the data is indisputable.

It's not like it.

4 is getting 7 to 9 hours of high quality goods.

Meet every night is very important to kind of ask for help.

By is a personal favorite.

But one that we often forget and that's intentional.

The vaccination knowing your blood pressure, your blood cholesterol, your blood sugar and your body mass index or BMI.

Tony, if you Neuer risk, can you manage your risk?

And ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

>> The University of Louisville Heart Hospital opened in August of 2022.

Since then, it has seen more than 60,000 in-state and out of state patience.

Thanks so much for joining us here on Kentucky EDITION.

We'll see you tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central.

>> Where we inform connect and inspire.

We'll see you again tomorrow.

Making a great night.