<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">I figure most of you have seen these, but just in case some of you have not, here you go.<div><br><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><b>From:</b> Joe Graviss <joe@joegraviss.com><br><b>Date:</b> September 27, 2019 at 3:46:55 PM EDT<br><b>To:</b> Joe Graviss <joe@joegraviss.com><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>legislative update</b><br><br></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
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<p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Hi everybody,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">For nearly 40 years now, our country has recognized October as a time to shed light on the dark history of domestic violence. It began with a “Day of Unity” in 1981, and formally
expanded to a full month by the end of that decade.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> Numerous studies have shown just how big of an impact domestic violence has had on the victims and society as a whole. It’s estimated, for example, that 20 Americans
are physically harmed by an intimate partner every single minute. Over a lifetime, a quarter of women and more than a tenth of men will suffer severe physical or mental trauma at the hands of a current or former partner. Many times animal abuse comes first
before future violence grows.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> Nationally, domestic violence is the cause of 15 percent of all violent crime and is behind a third of all murders involving women. Economically, domestic violence causes
victims to miss the equivalent of eight million work days annually.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> For too long, this crime was all but hidden and seldom prosecuted, and services for victims were scarce if available at all. Thankfully, that began to change about 50
years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> Kentucky became part of that welcome trend when it opened its first rape-crisis center in 1971, and by the late 1970s, Louisville’s YWCA began running the first of what
are now 15 shelters across the state for victims of domestic violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> In addition to budgeting money for these and related programs, the General Assembly has adopted a number of laws over the decades designed to better protect victims and
crack down on offenders.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:.5in">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">That includes toughening criminal penalties in these cases; keeping insurance companies and landlords from discriminating against domestic-violence victims; mandating training for
law enforcement and other officials; and establishing protective orders that have since been expanded to include victims of dating violence, stalking and sexual abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> Kentucky was also first in the nation to establish an automated notification system that lets the victims know if their offender has been released from incarceration
or has escaped from authorities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> In more recent years, legislators have taken other steps designed to improve how we respond to domestic violence and similar cases. This year, we enhanced the penalties
for those who strangle their victims, and last year we closed a loophole that required victims of domestic violence to pay for their spouse’s court costs if the victim initiates divorce while the offender is in jail.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Hopefully you can support a couple pre-filed bills for the 2020 regular session that allow veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse (<a href="https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/20rs/prefiled/0380.html">https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/20rs/prefiled/0380.html</a>
BR 205 and 288). Remember, animal abusers frequently become people abusers. <o:p>
</o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> Several years ago, we laid the foundation to clear a backlog of several thousand untested rape kits. While we were successful in getting that done, there are signs that
these kits are still not being tested as quickly as they should, something that will require closer scrutiny when legislators approve the next two-year state government budget in the spring.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> A related challenge is increasing the funding for domestic violence shelters/services. A nationwide census taken each fall shows these programs in Kentucky handle close
to 1,000 cases a day, but nearly 60 people have to be turned away temporarily due to lack of space or personnel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> If you are a victim of domestic violence or know someone who is, please take action quickly. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-SAFE (7233), and our
15 shelters have toll-free lines as well. You can find those numbers and more information at the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence website (KCADV.ORG).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"> If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or others affecting the state, please let me know. My email is
</span><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#954F72"><a href="mailto:joe.graviss@lrc.ky.gov">joe.graviss@lrc.ky.gov</a></span></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">, and you
can leave a message for me or any legislator by calling the General Assembly’s toll-free message line at 800-372-7181. For those with a hearing impairment, the number is 800-896-0305.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joe Graviss<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">56<sup>th</sup> District Representative<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kentucky House of Representatives<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">P.O. Box 1002<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Versailles, KY 40383<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">859-433-4392<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt">“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at it’s best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” Dr. Martin Luther King, August 16, 1967<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt">“I believe we can agree that hearing and considering opinions differing from our own is important, and acknowledging the honorable and sincere intentions of our adversaries in advocacy should take precedence
over partisan interests.” </span></i><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Nathaniel Adams-- April 20, 2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt">“Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the constant omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.” </span></i><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Franklin
Delano Roosevelt—June 27, 1936<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt">"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion
toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black."
</span></i><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Robert F. Kennedy, April 4, 1968.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Pets can't add but they sure can multiply. Please spay\neuter.
<a href="http://www.woodfordhumanesociety.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0563C1">www.woodfordhumanesociety.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Please consider the environment before printing this email.
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:8.0pt">The information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this e-mail by anyone else but the intended addressee is unauthorized. If you are
not the intended recipient please delete this immediately and any disclosure, copying, distribution, or any other action taken with this e-mail is prohibited and may be unlawful.
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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