2026 Regular Session - Day 45 - HB 506 | Rep. David Hale

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity today to present House Bill 506. Would you please have the clerk report House Committee Substitute 2. Mr. Clerk, please report. House Committee Substitute 2 to House Bill 506. Gentleman from Menifee. I move for its adoption, sir. Motion made for the adoption of House Committee Substitute 2. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor please signify by saying aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. House Committee Substitute 2 is adopted. Gentleman from Menifee. Thank you again Mr. Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen, today as I stand here before you to present a bill that I'm very passionate about, I don't think I probably have to tell you that. This is a piece of legislation that deals with our Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife law enforcement officers, which are probably referred to by most of us in here as game wardens. They show up to when there's tornadoes, they show up to rescue people and help and assist in that avenue and also the KSP very, very often they're assisting them with traffic stops and different things of that nature. So they are a very, I think a very important part of even our protection as citizens here in Kentucky. But there's one thing that the majority of these officers, especially those that begin and those that are just coming through the academy, when they begin they go into a very, very dangerous situation. And they are, their starting pay is almost embarrassing what they start these men and women out on the amount of what they are compensated for. And so what House Bill 506 is hoping to do is to possibly be able to give them a raise in their salary structure, but this funding to do this would not come from general fund dollars. It would come from a program called CLIF and I think probably most of you in here know what that is, but it's called the Kentucky Law Enforcement Officers Program, Foundation Program. They have over the course of many, many years, their officers have been getting a stipend, but that has been paid out of the Fish and Game Fund. This bill would allow that stipend to be paid out of the CLIF Fund which every other law enforcement officer gets. So the savings on that or the amount that that would be able to go into the amount that they would possibly be able to get raises from that would be about $730,000 is the specific amount of that. Mr. Speaker, just real quick, just a personal privilege if I could just for a moment. We all know that game wardens, they are the face of Fish and Wildlife. They are. There's a lot of other divisions, but they are the face of that department. And for transparency's sake, I think most of you know in here that I worked for that department for a long time. And my father worked for that department. My father deceased and I saw him in the many years that he worked for Fish and Wildlife. Before the modern things that we have today, I would see people call our house as a young boy, threatening him, telling my mother that she was going to find him dead on the Lickin River or Cave Run Lake or somewhere. And so they are in a very dangerous situation and I believe it's very important that if we can possibly compensate them and get their salaries up to where they can retain their officers. Not just get people to want to come into the field, but to retain them and keep those good officers in that department. So Mr. Speaker, if there aren't any questions or if there are, I'd be glad to answer those if I could, but at this time I move for passage of House Bill 506 as amended by the House Committee Substitute 2.