Williams' version of the "Bully Bill" unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and later passed the full senate. The Senate has refused to even hear any version of a "Bully Bill" for the past four legislative sessions. But Senate President Williams has been catching plenty of heat from WHAS Radio talk show host "Francene" for refusing to push for a vote for Rep. Mike Cherry's version of the bill, which unanimously passed the House. So today, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard from Cherry and Williams co-opted his bill with a committee substitute. Here are the highlights:

When a teacher gets wind of a student threatening, harassing or embarrassing another student, the teacher MUST report it to the school principal.

The principal is REQUIRED to report every instance of alleged intimidation or threat to the police or county attorney within 48 hours. The cops or prosecutor are then REQUIRED to investigate the allegation.

Failure to report is a Class B misdemeanor, the same as failure to report suspected child abuse.

Schools must also make monthly reports to the Legislature's Office of Education Accountability, detailing every incident of alleged "bullying" so the legislature can figure out if it's really a problem in Kentucky schools, according to Williams.

In other words, the first time a student sends a text message to another student which says something like "I'm gonna whip your butt if you ask Chelsea out" or "you're the ugliest, dumbest kid in the school" and a teacher finds out about it, the police will be called to investigate.

Williams is smartly pushing a bill to answer his critics who say he's holding up a measure that's designed to make schools safer and backed by dozens of groups. At the time, the bill is so onerous, Williams knows it will never pass. His version and Cherry's version will likely wind up clashing in conference committee where Williams could refuse to back down from the reporting and criminalization portions of his bill, effectively killing any compromise and killing the "Bully Bill" again.

Cherry said he wouldn't question Williams' motives and was pleased that some form of a "Bully Bill" was finally getting through the Senate. Williams denies any effort to make the bill so tough that teachers, principals, parents and police will lambast it and kill it in the court of public opinion. He says kids who intimidate, harass or embarrass other kids should be sent to the court system where professionals can properly deal with them. He also says there will still be some subjective judgements made by teachers on whether the student on the receiving end of the tactics is actually a victim. But Wayne Young of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents says the threat of being hit with criminal charges if they fail to report will likely lead teachers and principals to report every little incident to the police or county attorney. Good thing they don't have anything else to do.