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

When it comes to the high-profile and hotly debated public safety bill pending in the Kentucky legislature, nearly everyone has an opinion.

At least 35 lobbying organizations pitched state legislators on the pros and cons of House Bill 5 during the first month of the 2024 General Assembly, records released in February by the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission show, and the session won't end for another month and a half.

There’s a reason the "Safer Kentucky Act," as it's been dubbed by Republican sponsors including Louisville Rep. Jared Bauman, has drawn pointed interest from so many lobbying groups, based both inside and out of the state and on all ends of the political spectrum.

The wide-ranging 74-page proposal would increase penalties for violent crime and fentanyl trafficking convictions along with acts that harm first responders, limit charitable bail organizations, allow shopkeepers to use force against suspected shoplifters and place new restrictions on outdoor camping, among other measures.

Outside of the budget proposal, HB 5 may be the most high-profile piece of legislation in the 2024 General Assembly. It’s already advanced through the House with heavy support from Republicans and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate.

It took a long road to get to this point. Republicans behind it rolled out their blueprint in September and put forward their first draft three months later. Lobbyists, advocacy groups and others have offered plenty of input on the bill in that time — and with the session reaching a critical juncture ahead of its final days in April, they aren’t slowing down any time soon.

Take the Texas Public Policy Foundation, for example. Elizabethtown attorney and former Army officer Joey Comley, who serves as Kentucky director for the conservative foundation’s “Right On Crime” criminal justice campaign, has spent months working with lawmakers to try to ensure the bill doesn’t move the state in the wrong direction.

He still isn’t satisfied. Bauman and other Louisville Republicans behind the bill have been receptive and “willing to continue to work to help shape House Bill 5 into something that is better informed,” Cromley said last week, but overhauling the state’s criminal justice system without careful consideration of long-term impacts is dangerous.

Comley said measures in the bill that would require longer sentences, including life in prison for individuals convicted of three violent crimes, take discretion away from judges and prosecutors who can examine unique circumstances behind each case. Those measures would also remove incentives for people in prison to work toward reentering society and take part in programs to reduce recidivism.

Longer and more frequent prison sentences would cost the state billions in coming years during a time in which the state income tax is dropping, he added, and hearken back to failed policies instituted during the escalation of the “war on drugs” decades ago.

“I think that’s just a combination of errors that we’ll pay for over the next decade or two that will just drive us into a deficit and disrupt so much of the good that’s going on right now in Kentucky,” he said.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation reported spending more than $41,000 on lobbying in Kentucky in 2023, including $16,130 in the last four months of that year and an additional $8,750 in January 2024 lobbying on HB 5 and a number of other criminal justice bills.

Comley, hired as Right On Crime's Kentucky director last August, is its lone listed legislative agent.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a "research and educational institution" founded 35 years ago that pushes conservative ideals nationally on topics including public safety, parole and victim compensation.

It may not always have a ton in common with Dream.Org, a national nonprofit based out of California and co-founded by activist Van Jones with an aim to “close prison doors and open doors of opportunity into the green economy.” But that organization, which spent $5,000 on lobbying in January, shares a goal with the Texas Public Policy Foundation this session.

The group released an online ad last month calling for building a safer Kentucky by addressing underlying causes of problems like addiction and mental health issues, including treatment programs outside prison to help former inmates stay out of trouble, over increasing punitive measures. The nearly two-minute video quotes advocates along with a Georgetown Police officer discussing the department's "harm reduction model" for treating individuals with drug issues who have been charged with crimes.

John Bowman, Dream.Org’s senior campaign organizer in Kentucky, said he’s used to having “those tough conversations and (getting) people to really talk to each other — usually people that wouldn’t normally sit with each other.” He wasn’t surprised the two groups had common ground.

“We work with people on both sides of the aisle,” he said last week. “We all know that these provisions don’t work. We’ve done our research, we’ve looked at the data, and everyone is in agreement on that. These are things that don’t work.”

Well, maybe not everyone.

One national organization that's worked to provide input on the proposal is Cicero Action, with a four-member team of lobbyists paid $2,500 in January to pitch legislators in the first few weeks of the session. Cicero Action is the lobbying arm of the Cicero Institute, a Texas-based policy and research institute that pushes for more strict laws on homelessness and a tougher prosecution system.

Bryan Sunderland, the group’s advocacy director, did not respond to an email last week seeking comment. But in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader, he said homeless encampments in Louisville are “becoming a nuisance to the community in some measure, but it’s also becoming unsafe, because these areas can’t be properly cleaned or secure.“

Cicero’s fingerprints are on HB 5, with language cracking down on homelessness that mirrors parts of Cicero's 2021 model bill, the “Reducing Street Homelessness Act," including measures such as a ban on outdoor camping on non-designated state-owned lands punishable as a class C misdemeanor and limits on state funding toward short-term housing (similar text was initially included in HB 5 but has since been dropped).

In a July 2022 post on its website, the group touted its success pushing bills around the country. Four states (Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Utah) have passed parts of its homeless legislation into law, with ongoing efforts in several other states, as well.

In all, organizations that acknowledged lobbying efforts on HB 5 spent nearly $170,000 total in the first month of the session, though most of those groups lobbied on behalf of several other bills, too. That money represents just a fraction of all lobbying expenses in January.

Who spent the most on lobbying during Kentucky legislature's first month?

Groups spent just over $2.8 million lobbying General Assembly members in the first month of the 2024 session. They spent the vast majority of that (about $2.6 million) on compensation for lobbyists.

You can expect plenty more where that came from. In 2022, the most recent 60-day session, a record $24.6 million was spent on lobbying, breaking the previous record of $23.1 million set in 2018.

Here's a quick look at groups that spent the most money on lobbying in January. A total of 39 groups spent more than $10,000, with the biggest spender pumping more than $50,000 into Frankfort.

1. Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, $51,720 — Bills the state's chamber of commerce have lobbied on are not listed on the January filing, but the organization's 2024 legislative priorities include creating a "competitive tax environment" through slow lowering of the state's income tax rate, approved in the 2022 General Assembly.

2. East Kentucky Power Cooperative, $30,499 — The not-for-profit utility company based out of Winchester did not list which bills it has taken action on during the first month of the session.

3. ACLU of Kentucky, $29,469 — Members of the Kentucky branch of the national civil rights organization did not list which bills they support or oppose, but have spoken out against HB 5 and efforts to curb diversity, equity and inclusion on college campuses.

4. Save the Children Action Network, $28,472 — A national nonprofit with a Kentucky office, Save the Children Action Network reported lobbying on bills concerning meals served in local low-income schools.

5. Greater Louisville Inc., $27,800 — Louisville's chamber of commerce has lobbied on the two House budget bills along with legislation on "business interests, economic development incentives, education, environment and energy, local tax reform, state budget, talent attraction, and workforce participation."

6. Frankfort Plant Board, $27,605 — The Central Kentucky utility company lobbies "all legislative items of interest or impact to the Frankfort Plant Board and legislation impacting municipal utilities services or operations."

7. Kentucky Hospital Association, $24,791 — The hospital nonprofit has lobbied on several bills, including legislation concerning freestanding birthing centers and violence against health care workers.

8. Kentucky Justice Association, $22,912 — The trial lawyer organization based out of Frankfort has input on HB 5 as well as several other bills concerning the right to retain an attorney, consumer legal funding, settlements and annuities on behalf of minors and other legal legislation.

9. Kentucky Retail Federation, $22,095 — The self-proclaimed "voice of retailing" did not list which bills or legislation it's lobbied on so far this year. Its website says it works to raise "greater awareness of the retail industry."

10. Kentucky League of Cities, $21,585 — The Lexington-based "united voice of cities by supporting community innovation, effective leadership and quality governance" did not list bills it's lobbied on but has listed priorities including ensuring cities can annex property, modernize revenue options and rework Kentucky's road funding formula.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Safer Kentucky Act, HB 5, draw lobbying efforts in General Assembly