We often judge newly elected politicians on what they can get done within the forst 100 days of their term in office. It looks like Republican governor Matt Bevin wants to get the important things done first and one of those things is not an anti-transgender bathroom bill.
LOUISVILLE – Gov. Matt Bevin said Friday he does not think a bill to determine where transgender people use the bathroom should be considered in the upcoming legislative session.
“Why? Why would we? Why would anybody need it? Is it an issue? Is there anyone you know in Kentucky who has trouble going to the bathroom?” Bevin said at a news conference Friday to talk about his first year in office and the upcoming year. “Seriously. Have you heard of one person in Kentucky having trouble taking care of business in Kentucky?”
Bevin said “the last thing we need is more government rules. Making government rules for things that don’t even need government rules would be silly.”
Instead, Bevin said he would like lawmakers to focus on bills “that have been bottled up for years,” such as measures that would establish charter schools and allow employees to avoid paying union dues in unionized workplaces.
His comments come weeks after several Republican state House candidates campaigned heavily on the issue of where transgender people use the bathroom, blanketing airwaves and mailboxes with ads that criticized their Democratic opponents for ignoring the issue.
House Speaker-elect Jeff Hoover, who in January will become the first Republican to lead the House since 1921, has said members of his caucus are interested in the issue and that “we’ll have to look at it.”
If the legislature does approve a transgender bathroom bill, Bevin did not specify if he would sign it into law.- kentucky.com
For more on Kentucky's history of trying to propose an HB2-like bill, head over to kentucky.com.
So yes, there is some hope now that there will not be a HB2-like bathroom bill in Kentucky, but that hope may be temporary. There are many that want the bill to be discussed eventually. Maybe other states will say no to such bills and be influential to others before Kentucky gets around to its bill.
h/t: kentucky.com