After opening its odd-year short session at the start of January, the Kentucky General Assembly is now on a three-week break before returning on Feb. 5.

The first week of the session was marked by the introduction of a school safety bill and the announcement of a new working group to tackle the massive funding shortfall with in the state’s pension systems.

There are dozens upon of dozens of other bills filed for this session, from medical billing practices to tax measures to changing the election cycle for state officials.

State Sen. Ralph Alvarado (R-Winchester) filed a number of bills, many of which touch on medical issues.

One of Alvarado’s new bills would require the state Energy and Environment Cabinet to notify county government about hazardous waste violations within that county. Another would ban tobacco use on all public schools. A third would require the city or county government to review and approve tax increases from local special purpose governmental entities, such as library districts or school districts.

“Let’s say a special purpose governmental entity files a tax rate above the compensating rate,” he said. “(this bill) would give local government the ability to veto.”

Another bill would ease the requirements to call for a recall vote on a tax rate by reducing the number of required signatures and extending the time frame to file the necessary petitions.

“I heard more about that on the campaign trail in Fayette County than anything else,” said Alvarado, whose district includes part of Fayette County.

For freshman representative Les Yates, the build up has been equal parts of information overload and finding his place on Frankfort.

“The first week you have to learn where the coffee pot, bathroom and the cafeteria are,” he said. “For a new guy, it’s about getting up to speed.”

Yates began his first term as the representative for Clark County and part of Madison County, succeeding Donna Mayfield who dropped out of the race before the primary.

Though school safety has made many headlines, Yates said he thinks progress may be made on pension reform with the establishment of a new working group to explore the system which is a shortfall in the billions of dollars.

The regular session in 2018 ended with a bill which was later overturned by the Kentucky Supreme Court on procedural grounds. A hastily called special session prior to Christmas ended after 24 hours.

“What they want to do on pensions this time is to be very open and transparent and fix it once and for all,” he said. “We shouldn’t even be in this situation. That’s taking everyone’s energy right now.”

Yates has not filed any bills himself but is looking at a lot of bills before lawmakers.

“Medical marijuana is gaining a lot of speed,” he said. “I feel it might make it through the house, but I’m questionable about the Senate.”

Though it likely won’t happen in this session, Yates would like to see an update to the state’s tax structure as well.

Yates and Alvarado are scheduled to participate in a session update at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Clark County Public Library. The event is open to the public.