The 2020 regular session begins today and several bills have been prefiled by Clark County’s legislators. Those bills range on a variety of issues including health care, absentee voting and sanctuary cities.

State Sen. Ralph Alvarado has sponsored or co-sponsored nearly a dozen prefiled bills, according to records from the Legislative Research Commission.

Many of Alvarado’s bills relate to health care in Kentucky. Alvarado is a practicing physician who recently ran unsuccessfully for Kentucky’s lieutenant governor.

The bills sponsored by Alvarado include:

— Bill request 98, which would “require property and casualty insurers to notify insureds of changes in the terms and conditions offered in a renewal policy.”

— BR 141, which would “include essential service personnel as an eligible class of persons who may request and cast an in-person or mail-in absentee ballot.” Essential service personnel includes firefighters, EMS, paramedics, emergency management personnel, doctors and nurses, mental health practitioners, law enforcement officers, public health practitioners, emergency responders, hazardous material personnel, specialized rescue personnel, water rescue personnel, extrication personnel and any other specialized emergency personnel “as well as any other person in a profession that requires a license, certificate, permit or other official recognition of expertise in a particular field or area of knowledge whose assistance is desirable during an emergency or medical response to prevent risk to health, life, property or the environment.”

— BR 425, which would “require payments made by or on behalf of an insured for health care services, and the usual and customary rate of health care services received at a no or reduced cost health care facility, to apply toward any cost-sharing requirements under a health benefit plan and create a new section to require the commissioner to promulgate administrative regulations; require the department to publish charge information.”

— BR 433, which would “prohibit non-compete agreements for certain health care providers.”

— BR 474, which would declare Oct. 5, 2020, to be Ostomy Awareness Day.

— BR 906, which would “propose an amendment to Section 54 of the Constitution of Kentucky to allow the General Assembly the power to limit noneconomic damages for injuries resulting in death or for injuries to persons or property, and the power to provide statutes of limitation; provide for submission to the voters.”

— BR 907, which would “require proposed increases in ad valorem taxes and certain fees and the levy of new ad valorem taxes or fees by special purpose governmental entities to be submitted to the legislative body of the county or city in which the special purpose governmental entity is located for review.”

— BR 909, which would, “Create a new section of KRS Chapter 214 to enact and enter into the Solemn Covenant of the States to Award Prizes for Curing Diseases Interstate Compact with all other jurisdictions that legally join in the compact; declare the purpose of the compact; define terms; establish the Solemn Covenant of States Commission and set forth the functions of the commission.” According to a March 21, 2018, news release from the Ohio House of Representatives, the compact would “set up a multistate compact to offer prizes for curing major diseases equal to five years of taxpayer savings. After several states have joined, the amount of prize money for a disease, like Alzheimer’s, would be over $10 billion – a substantial incentive for the private sector. If there is no cure, no payment from the compact will be made, providing no risk to taxpayers.”

— BR 910, which would, “redefine ‘employee’ to include workers in sheltered workshops whose employment begins on or after Jan. 1, 2024; amend KRS 337.295 to require new administrative regulations concerning sheltered workshops and sheltered workshop employment; amend KRS 205.5605 to exclude referrals to sheltered employment from the definition of ‘covered services and supports’ as of Jan. 1, 2024.”

— BR 957, which is a resolution adjourning the Senate in honor and loving memory of Dr. Robert Couch.

— BR 967, which proposed to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco in Kentucky to 21. That bill is no longer necessary considering the new federal law that raised the legal age to 21 and took effect at the start of the new year.

Alvarado was scheduled to give a legislative update Monday night. A full story from that update will be published in Wednesday’s newspaper.

Clark County’s other legislator, state Rep. Les Yates was the primary sponsor of one bill and a co-sponsor of another.

Yates’ prefiled bills include:

— BR 47, which would “extend by 10 calendar days the deadline for filing nomination papers to fill an unexpired term if the vacancy occurs five calendar days or less before the prescribed deadline (and) require an examination whenever there is a vacancy in the office of property valuation administrator and to direct that the certificates of any examination shall remain valid for four years.”

— BR 240, which would “require local law enforcement agencies and Kentucky State Police to enforce immigration laws; create a new section of KRS Chapter 65 to define terms, including ‘sanctuary’ and ‘sanctuary policy;’ prohibit local governments from adopting sanctuary policies; establish hearing procedures for determination of sanctuary status; provide for the withholding of state funding from sanctuaries; create new sections of KRS Chapter 164 to prohibit postsecondary educational institutions from enrolling employing or contracting with illegal aliens; require postsecondary educational institutions to keep records of immigration status; provide for the withholding of state funding from postsecondary educational institutions that enroll, employ, or contract with illegal aliens; limit who may be considered a Kentucky resident for in-state tuition purposes; effective in part Jan. 1, 2021.” There are 15 other co-sponsors on this bill request.

Yates was not scheduled to participate in Monday’s legislative update.

A complete list of prefiled bills can be found at bit.ly/2LRC-prefiledbills.