John,

A disastrous bill in Kentucky will set a dangerous precedent nationwide — and we only have a few days to stop it.

House Bill 5, the so-called “Safer Kentucky Act,” will enact harsher penalties for violent crimes, increase sentencing lengths, limit charitable bail, and even criminalize homelessness. If this bill becomes law, it will provide momentum for outdated, ineffective, and inhumane “tough on crime” legislation across the country. 

We’re mobilizing a coalition of local organizations and lifting up the voices of people impacted by addiction and the justice system. With the KY Senate poised to consider this bill any day now, we urgently need your help.

Donate Now: Stop This Disastrous Bill

Your donation won’t only be used to fight the, what we call, “Suffer Kentucky Act '' but it will also help grow our funds as we prepare to fight other similar bills across the country that are likely to come if HB 5 is successful in KY. 

Kentucky already has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the country. Instead of treating addiction like a public health crisis, HB 5 would classify fentanyl trafficking that leads to a person's death as manslaughter in the first degree. It’s the same “war on drugs” model of locking people up and denying them services that has failed for decades.

HB 5 would also:

• Increase sentencing lengths
• Limit charitable bail
• Criminalize homelessness
• Overcrowd already understaffed prisons
• Increase correctional facility violence due to overcrowding
• Cost tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money

None of this will make Kentucky safer. And the bill’s passage would send a message heard nationwide.

The Dream.Org team is mobilizing a coalition of unlikely allies. We have and will continue to lift up the voices of both people who have struggled with addiction as well as jailers and county governments who will face worse conditions and higher costs as a result of the bill. We’re reaching out to senate Republicans, and centering those who have been impacted by the failed policies of the past.

But we need your help. The KY senate could consider this legislation within days, so we don’t have a lot of time to act. Can you chip in now?

Help Us Stop HB 5 and Other Disastrous Bills Across the Country

Let’s make our opposition loud and clear — and show that reform advocates across the country are paying attention.

Our voices are powerful. Let's use them to protect our future and demand a better way forward.

In solidarity,
— Dream.Org