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Quick Facts
Personal Details

Thomas Burch is a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing District 30. Burch is running for re-election in the primary on May 22, 2018. The general election will take place on November 6, 2018. He was first elected to the chamber in 1978 and served a term prior to that from 1972 to 1974.

Burch's professional experience includes working as a production control manager for General Electric Corporation. He served as a petty officer in the United States Navy Reserve from 1952 to 1956 and in the United States Navy from 1948 to 1952. Burch has five children. He has been a member of the Brooklawn Youth Services Board, co-founder of Day Spring, and a member of the Home of the Innocents, Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, Kentucky Organ Donor Council, Kentucky Welfare Reform Coalition, Kosair Children's Hospital, Lions Foundation, and the National Organization for Women.

Education

  • BA, Business Administration, Bellarmine University, 1959

Professional Experience

  • BA, Business Administration, Bellarmine University, 1959
  • Production Control Manager, General Electric Corporation, 1953-1991
  • Petty Officer, United States Navy Reserve, 1952-1956
  • Petty Officer, United States Navy, 1948-1952

Political Experience

  • BA, Business Administration, Bellarmine University, 1959
  • Production Control Manager, General Electric Corporation, 1953-1991
  • Petty Officer, United States Navy Reserve, 1952-1956
  • Petty Officer, United States Navy, 1948-1952
  • Representative, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives, District 30, 1972-1974; 1978-present
  • Candidate, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives, District 30, 2018, 2020

Former Committees/Caucuses

Former Member, Health and Family Services Committee, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives

Member, Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee

Former Co-Chair, Joint Committee on Health and Welfare, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives

Former Member, Joint Committee on Licensing and Occupations, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives

Former Member, Joint Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives

Former Member, Judiciary Committee, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives

Former Member, Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations Committee, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives

Former Member, Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives

Current Legislative Committees

Member, Health and Family Services Committee

Member, Joint Committee on Health, Welfare, and Family Services

Member, Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations

Member, Joint Committee on State Government

Member, Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations Committee

Member, State Government Committee

Religious, Civic, and other Memberships

  • BA, Business Administration, Bellarmine University, 1959
  • Production Control Manager, General Electric Corporation, 1953-1991
  • Petty Officer, United States Navy Reserve, 1952-1956
  • Petty Officer, United States Navy, 1948-1952
  • Representative, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives, District 30, 1972-1974; 1978-present
  • Candidate, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives, District 30, 2018, 2020
  • Founding Member, Saint Ignatius Church, present
  • Former Member, Brooklawn Youth Services Board
  • Co-Founder, Day Spring
  • Member, Home of the Innocents
  • Member, Kentucky Domestic Violence Association
  • Member, Kentucky Organ Donor Council
  • Former Member, Kentucky Welfare Reform Coalition
  • Member, Kosair Children's Hospital
  • Member, Lions Foundation
  • Member, National Organization for Women

Other Info

— Awards:

  • Distinguished Service Award, Jefferson County Health Board
  • Kentucky Association of Homes for Children Circle of Love Award
  • Kentucky Outstanding Legislator Award for Health Legislation
  • Kidney Foundation Legislative Award
  • Legislator of the Year Child Support Enforcement 1990

Policy Positions

Kentucky State Legislative Election 2006 National Political Awareness Test

Abortion

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer

2. Abortions should always be legal.
- X

3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
- No Answer

4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- X

5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- X

6. Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions.
- No Answer

7. Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Budget and Tax

State Budget: Indicate the funding levels (#1-6) you will support for the following general categories. Select one level per category.

1. Education (Higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Emergency preparedness
- Eliminate

4. Environment
- Greatly Decrease

5. Health care
- Maintain Status

6. Law enforcement
- No Answer

7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- No Answer

8. Welfare
- Slightly Decrease

9. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

State Taxes: Indicate the tax levels (#1-6) you will support. Select one level per tax.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Greatly Increase

2. Capital gains taxes
- No Answer

3. Cigarette taxes
- Slightly Increase

4. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status

5. Gasoline taxes
- No Answer

6. Income taxes (incomes below $75,000)
- No Answer

7. Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
- Slightly Decrease

8. Property taxes
- No Answer

9. Sales taxes
- No Answer

10. Vehicle taxes
- Greatly Decrease

11. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

12. Should the state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
- Yes

13. Should accounts such as a ?rainy day? fund be used to balance the state budget?
- No

14. Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
- Undecided

15. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Campaign Finance and Governmental Reform

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.

1. Do you support the current limit of terms for Kentucky governors?
- Yes

2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Kentucky state senators and representatives?
- No

Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

1. Individual
- No

2. PAC
- No

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Parties
- No

5. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes

6. Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns?
- No

7. Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes?
- Yes

8. Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Kentucky are closed?
- Undecided

9. Should Kentucky recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Undecided

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Crime

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

1. Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
- No Answer

2. Support the death penalty in Kentucky.
- No Answer

3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X

4. End parole for repeat violent offenders.
- No Answer

5. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- X

6. Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
- X

7. Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
- X

8. Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
- No Answer

9. Require that crimes based on race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation be prosecuted as hate crimes.
- X

10. Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
- X

11. Increase state funding for state and local emergency agencies to prevent or respond to terrorism.
- X

12. Strengthen sex-offender laws.
- X

13. Support the restriction of the sale of products used to make methamphetamine (e.g. tablets containing pseudophedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine).
- X

14. Allow police to ticket motorists for not wearing their safety belts even if they have committed no other traffic violation.
- X

15. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Education

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

1. Support national standards and testing of public school students.
- X

2. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer

3. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer

4. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
- X

5. Increase funds for hiring additional teachers.
- X

6. Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
- X

7. Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools.
- No Answer

8. Require public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- No Answer

9. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- X

10. Increase funding for Head Start programs.
- X

11. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- X

12. Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
- X

13. Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
- No Answer

14. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Employment and Affirmative Action

Employment: Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.

1. Increase funding for state job-training programs that retrain displaced workers and teach skills needed in today?s job market.
- X

2. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion.
- No Answer

3. Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
- X

4. Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X

5. Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X

6. Include sexual orientation in Kentucky's anti-discrimination laws.
- X

7. Increase the state minimum wage.
- X

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies? decisions on:

1. Public employment
- Yes

2. State college and university admissions
- Yes

3. State contracting
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- a, b, c) if qualified People are available and have the qualification to do their jobs

Environment & Energy

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

1. Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
- X

2. Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, and oil).
- X

3. Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
- X

4. Provide incentives for improvements to Kentucky's power generating and transmission facilities.
- X

5. Support funding for open space preservation.
- X

6. Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
- No Answer

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Gun

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.

1. Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- X

2. Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

3. Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

4. Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
- X

5. Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
- X

6. Require a license for gun possession.
- No Answer

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Health

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.

1. Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
- X

2. Transfer current Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
- X

3. Limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- No Answer

4. Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
- X

5. Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
- No Answer

6. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Kentucky.
- No Answer

7. Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- b) If possible

Welfare and Poverty

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare.

1. Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
- X

2. Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
- X

3. Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.
- X

4. Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations.
- No Answer

5. Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor.
- X

6. Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients.
- No Answer

7. Eliminate government-funded welfare programs.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Legislative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 75 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- No Answer