Kentucky State Sen. Chris McDaniel wants to set up a $50 million initiative to help resettle refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine (as well as other conflicts) in Kentucky, and lawmakers gave his plan its first green light Wednesday.
The United Nations’ refugee agency says more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.
“That would be roughly the equivalent, in three weeks, of 450,000 new people entering the borders of the commonwealth with nothing but the clothes on their back,” said McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, who called the war a humanitarian “catastrophe.”
“As this year advances, there are probably going to be significant opportunities to help with the resettlement of these people, who wanted nothing but to be free. And they’re leaving countrymen behind who are fighting the very kind of fight that this nation fought several centuries ago to be able to live free in a nation where they self-determine.”
Related: In encrypted texts, a Louisville woman’s family describes their terrifying life in Ukraine
McDaniel’s proposal, Senate Bill 195, would set up a fund that appropriates $10,000 per family for up to 5,000 families displaced by international conflict, including the war in Ukraine. Those families would be relocated to Kentucky.
The legislation also would establish a scholarship for the families’ children and would devote $5 million per year for the next two fiscal years that would go toward administering this program.
“Obviously, this is for refugees displaced by international conflict broadly,” McDaniel said. “But more specifically, we believe that over the course of the next six-to-nine months, the opportunities to resettle Ukrainians is pretty dramatic.”
He introduced this legislation Wednesday morning and got an initial green light to advance the bill from the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee, which he chairs.
McDaniel indicated he’s open to making adjustments to the bill, which will need full approval from the Kentucky Senate and House of Representatives to become law.
More: ‘My heart is breaking’: Louisville Paralympian born in Ukraine speaks about Russia
He suggested this is a chance not only to support people who’ve fled violence but also to help Kentucky with its relatively low level of participation in the workforce.
“And if we can help human interest, basic decency and public policy all meet at a common point, I believe it is incumbent upon us to do so,” he said.
More: One family’s harrowing escape from Afghanistan, and the road to resettlement in Louisville
Ukrainian and Russian officials are in the midst of negotiations, but the war continues as well.
At least 691 civilians have been killed and 1,143 civilians injured since the invasion last month, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. That agency believes the real totals are considerably higher.
While Kentucky lawmakers greenlit aid for refugees Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a virtual address to Congress that same morning and asked America to do more to support his embattled country.
Morgan Watkins is The Courier Journal’s chief political reporter. Contact her at mwatkins@courierjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter: @morganwatkins26.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky lawmaker proposes $50M plan to welcome Ukraine war refugees
