defeat. Join the Facebook group against SB 68 here.
Last Friday the Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee played politics
with children’s lives. Committee members fast tracked Senate Bill
68, which seeks to ban all unmarried couples — gay or straight —
from fostering or adopting children. The Williams Institute at UCLA
estimates that Kentucky will face $5.3
million in additional foster and adoption costs. More than
7,000 foster children will find fewer available homes. More
than 600 foster children could be removed from their current
placements.
In Kentucky, the Fairness Campaign and Kentucky
Fairness Alliance are working hard to defeat SB 68. At the
national level, Family Equality Council has encouraged its supporters
in Kentucky and beyond to make sure every fair-minded Kentuckian
knows what they can do to stop this bill from hurting children and
families. Thousands have responded, spreading the word about SB 68
in a few short days.
We expected the full Senate to fast track the bill, too, with a
vote on Tuesday. In advance of the expected vote, Family Equality
Council’s Executive Director, Jennifer Chrisler, issued a strong
letter of opposition to Kentucky’s senators.
The vote yesterday did not happen, and today the
Courier-Journal is reporting that SB 68
sponsor, Senator Gary Tapp, is saying it’s “too late” for the bill
to go anywhere this session.
That’s good news, but it’s not the end of the
story.
The Kentucky Senate still has three scheduled days to hear and vote
on bills in the current session. Tapp’s and others’ concessions may
be an attempt to rally their own supporters to push for the bill’s
quick passage.
It’s more important than ever that you take action to
defeat this bill.
If you live in Kentucky
Call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-372-7181. Leave messages for
your Senator (find them here) and Senate Leadership (find them here) telling them you OPPOSE SB 68.
It’s bad for Kentucky. It’s bad for Kentucky’s children.
If you don’t live in Kentucky
First tell everyone you know in Kentucky about SB 68. Send them a
link to this blog post so they can access the Legislative Hotline
and find their Senators’ names and information. Tell them they have
just three short days to keep the spotlight on this bad bill.
Then tell everyone else you know. You might not have a
strong network in Kentucky, but your neighbor might.
Together we can stop these bad bills from hurting children and
families. Take action today and stay tuned for updates as we
closely monitor this bill.