With many states coming to the end of their sessions in April or early May, there has been lots of legislative activity in the states, and lots of traffic from concerned citizens to a wide variety of bills on BillTrack50. Trending bills in April ran the gamut from nuclear strike protocol to shipping alcohol, and from to firearms to monuments and memorials. The trending bills this month truly covered the many different areas of the American political landscape. Let’s take a look:
CO SB283 – Clarify Discrimination And Right To Disagree – This bill is quite interesting; it aims to clarify the circumstances where “disagreement” is not discrimination. The bill specifies it is not a “discriminatory practice” for a private business to decline to provide goods or services if they convey a message or event with which the business or business owner chooses not to associate itself or disagrees with. By aiming to clarify the distinction between discrimination and the fundamental right to disagree, this bill addresses issues of “religious freedom” allowing or disallowing businesses to perform services or supply goods based off “good faith” morals. For more information about religious freedom and discrimination read this blog or this blog.
TX HB1359 – Relating to monuments and memorials for Texas heroes and other persons and events of historical significance – This bill provides that monuments may be erected on land owned or acquired by the state (or an institution of higher education) and that anyone who intentionally removes, relocates, or alters a monument or memorial is committing a criminal offense. The punishment for this is a fine no less than $50 and no more than $1,000 and confinement in jail for a term of no less than three days and no more than one year. This bill was proposed due to the current political issues behind some of Texas‘ and other states monuments which honor people from the Confederate armed forces. The bill requires any monument that is legally removed to be relocated to an equally prominent location approved by the legislature, the Texas Historical Commission or the State Preservation Board. For more information on issues with the Confederate history in the United States, read this blog.
TN SB0197 – Establishes factors to consider when sentencing a juvenile in adult court – This bill aims to give the circumstances to consider in order to determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed on a person who is/was less than eighteen years of age who has been tried and convicted as an adult. Some of these circumstances include: their age at time of offense, level of participation in the offense, the relationship between any abuse, neglect or exploitation of the juvenile and the commission of the offense, impulsivity and immaturity, intellectual capacity, faith and community involvement and more. The bill also establishes a maximum number of years, depending on whether the crime results in death or not.
KY SB120 – An act relating to crimes and punishments and making appropriations for the crime – This bill states that a person cannot be imprisoned for nonpayment of fines or court costs unless the failure to pay was willful and not due to an inability to pay. They define a “poor person” as one who has an income at or below 100% on the Supreme Court’s sliding scale of indigency. The bill also moves to change some other punishments for crimes like changing to code to now prohibit those convicted of manslaughter in the 2nd degree, reckless homicide, fetal homicide in the 3rd degree and fetal homicide in the 4th degree from being paroled until he or she serves at least 50% of the sentence imposed. The bill states those who are convicted of manslaughter in the second degree or reckless homicide, when the victim was a peace officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty may not be paroled until they serve at least 85% of their sentence.
SC S0449 – SC Constitutional Carry Act of 2017 – This bill states it is lawful for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, unless otherwise specifically prohibited by law or if the person is otherwise prohibited from owning, carrying or purchasing a firearm as provided for by state or federal law. Situations people are not allowed to carry a handgun are: in a law enforcement, correctional, or detention facility, a courthouse or courtroom, a polling place on election days, schools or college athletic events not related to firearms, daycare or preschool facilities, churches, hospitals and more. The bill also prohibits people to have a handgun in a residence or dwelling of another person without the express permission to have one from the owner or person in legal control or possession of said place. These laws don’t apply to law enforcement officers or people given express permission.
AL SB24 – Relating to the possession and carrying of firearms – This bill is very similar to the South Carolina bill; it aims to disallow the legal carrying of a firearm in: the building of a police, sheriff, or highway patrol station, a prison, jail, halfway house, community corrections facility or other detention facility, psychiatric facilities, courthouses, at professional athletic events and more. The bill does not restrict the possession, transportation or storage of a lawfully possessed firearm or ammunition in an employee’s privately owned motor vehicle while parked or operated in a public or private parking area provided the employee complies with the requirements. The firearm must also be locked within a compartment in the interior of the vehicle or in a container securely affixed to the motor vehicle. Any violation of this classifies as a Class C misdemeanor. This law doesn’t apply to law enforcement officers engaged in “lawful execution of their official duties”.
PA SB25 – Relating to definitions, scope of practice and prescriptive authority for the State Board of Nursing – This bill defines terms like “practice of professional nursing”, “medical nutrition therapy”, “certified nurse practitioner”, “controlled substance” and proprietary and nonproprietary drugs. It also allows for the board to give a licensure to anyone who has completed a program “deemed equivalent” to Pennsylvania’s – including people who attended programs in Canada. The bill also states that a certified registered nurse practitioner who satisfies the requirements may prescribe and dispense proprietary and nonproprietary drugs.
CA SB562 – The Healthy California Act – This bill would create the “Healthy California program” to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state (including its undocumented residents) – effectively replacing private medical insurance. If this bill passes, California would consolidate existing federal funds (payments for Medicare, Medicaid, and tax revenues) to support the universal health insurance. Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar proposal in the fall of 2016 due to widespread concerns about the cost to citizens of the state.
NY S02950 – Early Voting – provides that beginning the eighth day prior to any election and ending on and including the second day prior to the election a person duly registered and eligible to vote shall be permitted to vote. It also states “for early voting shall be equally divided between the major political parties. The board of elections shall assign staff and provide the resources they require to ensure wait times at early voting sites do not exceed thirty minutes.” For more on voting laws, read this, this or this. This is also the second month that this bill has been one of our top trending bills. This is the fourth straight month this bill has been one of the most popular on the site!
TX HB2291 – Relating to the direct shipment of certain alcoholic beverages – This bill outlines laws regarding the shipment, permits, packaging labels and age of end user for the direct shipment of certain alcoholic beverages. The delivery package must be clearly and conspicuously labeled so people can know it contains ale or malt liquor. The bill allows for alcohol to be sold online as long as the person the alcohol is being delivered who provides valid proof of identity and that their age is over 21. Direct shippers must keep records for all sales and deliveries made under their permit for at least five years from the date of sale. See a similar bill to it from last month’s Slice of Life.
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