Public decency bill dies in final days of session
Bill to help cities regulate strip bars fails to make it over final hurdle
from Kentucky Citizen Digest, April, 1999

When HB 595 came up for consideration before the House Judiciary Committee, committee members made quick work of it by passing it out without discussion. But just as the handful of people who showed up to testify were leaving the table, the bill was brought up for reconsideration, and lost. Then, about 45 minutes later, it was taken up again and passed.

The 1998 session has become noted for the dramatic death and resurrection of various pro-family bills, but the committee action on HB 595 had to beat all.

HB 595 was the result of concern over so-called “adult businesses” that have been infesting parts of the city. The issue arose in Lexington after concerned citizens organized a town meeting to draw attention to the issue. Over 700 people attended.

Brandstetter, although conservative, is not known as firebrand, but he took command of the issue in introducing HB 595, which would have created a statewide definition of public decency that could have cramped the style of much of the sleaze industry in Lexington.

It defined what constituted public nudity and listed various sex acts known to have taken place in many of the establishments. It also clarified what was acceptable public behavior. The bill would have made it easier for cities to regulate the businesses.

The bill had the staunch support of Lexington Democratic representatives as well as some in Louisville. A number of Democrats even cosponsored the bill.

When HB 595 came before the House Judiciary committee, Brandstetter, Lexington Urban County Council member Sandy Shafer, Democratic Rep. Joni Jenkins and Martin Cothran of The Family Foundation took seats at the table to give testimony, but just as Brandstetter was about to introduce those joining him at the table, Lexington Rep. Kathy Stein, one of the House’s leading liberals, made a motion to pass the bill out of committee. The bill was swiftly approved. But before bill supporters even reached the door, objections by Louisville Democrat Perry Clark caused the bill to be reconsidered. Since several lawmakers who supported the bill were in other meetings at the time, the bill lost on the reconsideration vote.

But bill supporters hung around, and as soon as several of the bill’s supporters returned to join the committee, Lexington Republican Stan Cave performed an adroit parliamentary maneuver, forcing another vote and giving the bill a new lease on life.

Although the bill managed to make it through both the House and a Senate committee, it was not so lucky when it headed for the Senate floor, the final hurdle before passage. Senate Majority Leader David Karem, who had concerns that the bill’s language might be too broad, sent the bill to an unfriendly committee, where it stayed until the session ended.

Karem and others who have concerns about the bill have indicated they are willing to consider whether changes in the legislation might render it acceptable, and supporters hope that it could be considered in a later sesson.
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander, Executive Director Martin Cothran, Senior Associate Policy Analyst