Bipartisan is one of those terms that gets tossed around casually, then quietly abandoned when it becomes inconvenient. When there is a legislative supermajority, it is often replaced by muscle memory. Count the votes. Move the bill. But the Family Preservation and Accountability Act has refused to follow that script.
This bill has earned support from conservatives and liberals for a simple reason. It does not ask anyone to abandon their principles. It holds nonviolent offenders accountable while recognizing a truth most families already know. When you unnecessarily incarcerate a primary caregiver, the punishment does not stop with the sentence. It lands on children. It destabilizes families. And it creates long-term costs that the state eventually pays anyway.
That is not a left idea or a right idea. It is a reality-based idea.
Which brings us to the second word.
Bicameral reminds us that Kentucky’s legislature has two chambers, each with its own politics, pressures, and priorities. Progress requires more than agreement within one room. It requires compromise across both. That is hard in polarized times. Hard things are usually the ones worth doing.
The Family Preservation and Accountability Act shows what is possible when lawmakers choose outcomes over ideology. It is not loud. It is not flashy. It is careful, practical, and humane. In other words, it is exactly the kind of governing that families are desperate for.
Brittany Herrington is an amazing example of this. You can listen to her story of addiction, incarceration, and recovery – and the impacts it had on her son here. Her story reminds us of the power of a parent’s love and the responsibility of our communities to do what we can to preserve families, not rip them apart unnecessarily. Her story is one of success, but part of what makes her stand out is the unfortunate reality that most similar stories don’t end in joy.
The Family Preservation and Accountability Act is a roadmap. Not just to a better Kentucky for kids and families, but to a better way of legislating altogether. Bipartisan solutions moving through a bicameral system are not relics of the past.
They are still possible.