GOP Senate leaders confront Louisville Democrat as 'Safer Kentucky Act' advances

FRANKFORT — The Senate approved the controversial Safer Kentucky Act on Friday afternoon after a fiery debate where tempers flared and Senate leaders confronted Louisville Democrat Karen Berg about her comments.

Democrats weren't the only ones angry about the bill.

Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, who did not seek reelection, drew the plaudits of his colleagues Friday morning as they passed a resolution honoring him and lauded him with speeches for about an hour. But by Friday afternoon, his attempts to narrow the scope of HB 5 had failed, resulting in an angry "no" vote from him.

House Bill 5 would make a long list of changes to Kentucky’s criminal law. And despite the fiery opposition to the measure, it passed on a 27-9 vote. The 78-page measure now returns to the House for final approval before being sent to Gov. Andy Beshear for consideration.

Among many other changes, HB 5 creates a new crime of “unlawful camping”  for sleeping on streets, sidewalks, under bridges, in parks and in cemeteries. Critics say this would criminalize homelessness.

The bill would also create a "three strikes" rule for Kentucky, prohibiting prohibit probation, parole or early release for any person convicted of three violent felonies and adding crimes to the list of the violent felonies.

Breaking Senate rules?

Democrats are staunchly opposed to the bill — and Louisville Democratic Sen. Karen Berg's speech drew a sharp, off-mic rebuke from Senate leaders.

After her speech, majority floor leader Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, confronted Berg on the Senate floor.

"You came very close to breaking the Senate rules today," Thayer told Berg. He said her speech had questioned the GOP's motives and accused them of plagiarism.

Thayer was joined on the floor by Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, while Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, tried to calm the GOP leaders down.

After the exchange, Sen. Cassie Armstrong Chambers, D-Louisville, and Berg exited the chamber together.

Berg had said the "extent of plagiarism" in the bill would result in an academic losing their credibility within the profession and that the evidence that the bill's supporters have cited is very weak.

“We as a legislature are presenting data to our citizens that never came from this state, with support — pages and pages of support — that has no validity,” Berg said.

Others have questioned the data behind the bill, as well. For example, during the floor debate, Rep. Josie Raymond, D-Louisville, called on sponsor Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, to read the names of all the studies he used in crafting the measure, resulting in a lengthy response from Bauman.

An analysis from Pam Thomas, a senior fellow at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, shows that after an increase during the COVID pandemic, violent crime has decreased in Kentucky. At a press conference earlier this week, she said the the bill's sponsors are relying on outdated crime statistics.

Westerfield's opposition

Westerfield announced earlier this session that he does not plan to run again. On Friday morning, the Senate honored him, as he was joined on the Senate floor by his family.

But the tide had turned by Friday afternoon.

Earlier this week, Westerfield had proposed an alternative version of the bill, but he lacked the votes to get the bill through the Senate Judiciary committee, which he chairs. Instead, the committee approved a version much more similar to the original House version.

Westerfield then tried to get the changes he wanted into the bill via Senate floor amendments on Friday. However, those also lacked the needed votes and he withdrew them.

During a speech opposing the bill, Westerfield called it a "serious mistake."

"No part of this bill addresses the root causes of homelessness," Westerfield said.

One of his proposals had been to require that officers provide unsheltered people with a list of resources and offer to transport them to a shelter before citing someone for violating the camping provision.

Westerfield said the bill may not reduce crime but will increase taxpayer costs and take money away from needed services like education and mental health services.

A Legislative Research Commission fiscal note attached to the bill says the costs are "indeterminable" but that there will "likely (be) a significant increase in expenditures primarily due to increased incarceration costs for the Department of Corrections."

More: Lobbying for 'Safer Kentucky': How much in-state, national groups paid to weigh in on HB 5

A separate analysis from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy estimated the costs of the bill to be more than $1 billion over the next decade. Much of that would be due to the increased incarceration lengths and health care costs for aging prisoners.

What does House Bill 5 do?

HB 5, which is currently 78 pages long, includes many provisions, including:

• 85% sentencing rule: The bill would require those convicted of the newly expanded list of violent offenses to serve at least 85% of their sentence before becoming eligible for probation, parole or early release. Critics say that would increase the incarcerated population and drive up costs for the state and local governments.

• Selling or providing fentanyl to a person who dies from an overdose would be classified as manslaughter, a felony. The bill includes a “Good Samaritan” exception for those who seek help for an overdose.

• Bail bonds: Charitable bail organizations wouldn't be allowed to bail people out who are accused of violent crimes and would be limited to bail payments of less than $5,000.

• Business owners and shoplifting: Shop owners and employees could use a "reasonable amount of force" to prevent someone from escaping in cases of suspected shoplifting if the bill passes. The bill includes a provision stating that “deadly force shall not be used solely to protect property.”

• Carjackings: The bill classifies carjacking as its own crime, a Class B felony. Currently, carjacking is charged as a first-degree robbery.

• Destroying guns: Kentucky State Police currently auctions off guns confiscated by local law enforcement. One of the bill's provisions would allow a gun used in a homicide to be destroyed, but only after it is auctioned off and only if the purchaser wants that. Westerfield’s version of the bill would have allowed the family member of a victim of a homicide to simply request that the weapon be destroyed.

• Youth restorative justice: Restorative justice focuses on repairing harm and making amends — victim-offender mediation is one example — rather than punishment. The bill requires counties to create committees. Those would be tasked with developing restorative justice programs to serve children who are referred by schools, courts or social service agencies.

Reach Rebecca Grapevine at rgrapevine@courier-journal.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @RebGrapevine.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: The Senate passed HB 5, the Safer Kentucky Act, after fiery debate