KCC Legislative Update

On his 100th birthday, Hubie Blake, the noted blues composer remarked “If I had known that I was going to live this long I’d have taken better care of myself.” I experienced a similar feeling as I stood in front of over thirty people representing conservation, recreation and preservation groups from across the state. I never really thought I would live long enough to see the sight.

Called together jointly by The KCC,The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Trust for Public Lands (TPL), the meeting marked the beginnings of the creation of a statewide coalition to push for legislation designed to fund a comprehensive Land Stewardship program. For over six years this has been the major thrust of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, but not until today have we seen the actual groups assembled that can get the job done. There were organizations that one wouldn’t normally see around the table together: The League of Kentucky Sportsmen; The Sierra Club; Kentucky Heartwood; The League of Women voters and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to name but a few. It was a clear indication of the shared interests of these groups and all Kentuckians in seeing the advent of serious funding for the protection and promotion of Kentucky’s natural land assets.

Presentations by myself and Dr. Bill Martin on the last legislative session and the results of the Land Stewardship Task were followed by a review by TNC and TPL of their recent efforts nationally in securing funding for Land Stewardship and their suggestions for Kentucky. The meeting ended with specific tasks to be performed by TNC and TPL to begin the coalition building process and complete a legislative strategy and included a commitment by both National organizations to come up with funding for the studies. The first two steps will be to complete an economic feasibility study of funding mechanisms and then commence actual polling to try and gauge public sentiment for the initiative. It’s all exciting stuff for an old campaigner. I’m confident that we can continue to build and expand the coalition to the point that the Legislature will have to take notice. Please contact your local conservation, recreation or preservation group and encourage their participation in the cause.

Although HB 419 fell to the forces of looneydom that have gained increasing power of late over many weak-willed legislators the movement for a comprehensive State program remains. We learned a lot from HB 419, not the least of which is that we’re going to need a lot more help from a lot more places if we hope to provide the kind of long-term funding such a program would require. Two recent meetings among concerned parties such as The KCC, the Heritage Land Conservation Fund, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Lands hold out the hope of just such a concerted effort. If we’re going to try again in 2011, we’re going to have to continue to expand our efforts at raising awareness, in particular awareness among groups that are involved with land conservation and with the legislators that represent them. With the help of the two National conservation groups (The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Lands) I believe that we can take this effort to the next level and get the attention of lawmakers and interest groups enough to push this forward in 2011. No one group can do this. It will have to be an effort from all conservation, recreation and general environmental groups, and there will need  to be a willingness to put aside some individual interests for the good of a comprehensive program. It’s been a long road, and the journey isn’t over yet. To steal a quote from Winston Churchill “It’s not the end or even the beginning of the end. But it is, I believe, the end of the beginning.” Onward to 2011!

In 1922 Schlomo Macintosh the famous Scottish/Israeli marathoner slipped on a banana peal 100 yards from the finish of the prestigious Sioux City marathon and ultimately lost a race he had led the entire way …  o.k. I made that up, but I only did it to assuage the pain of getting a bill all the way through the legislative process only to see it die on the floor of the Senate on the last regular day of the session.

Why did HB 419 fail? Well, there are many reasons. First, I’ll step up and take some of the blame. I probably could have done a better job explaining the bill to members of the Senate Natural Resources Committee. The fact is I thought that having the bill in a committee where the chairman was a major supporter would go a long way in assuring it’s passage. I was wrong.

Secondly. who would have expected our bill to be the target of a group of  property rights folks who saw it as a government plot to take their land.

Lastly, who can figure the legislative process? One part of our problem was a simple personality conflict between two members of the two main Houses of the Legislature. Another was that we were fighting an ingrained dislike for the PACE program by some members of the Senate. Another was the general craziness of the final days of the session when everything comes to a head in a couple of hectic days. Perhaps most important was that we were never able to get the support of the most important member of the Senate, Senate President David Williams who has the ultimate power to hear bills or let them die.  I thank all those who emailed and texted in vain.

But, all was not loss. It often takes two or even three attempts to pass significant legislation, and providing adequate funding for a program to preserve  and protect unique areas of our State is certainly significant. We also learned a lot about our opposition and how to better approach the issues in the future. Perhaps best of all, we raised the awareness of a large number of legislators to the need for more funds for land stewardship and in turn garnered a lot of support for the idea from many areas of the State. This will bode well when we start building a coalition of interests from preservation, conservation and recreation groups to return to the fray in 2011with a plan for funding Land Stewardship in Kentucky.

Finally, some thankyous are in order to Rep Charlie Hoffman and Rick Rand and Senators Brandon Smith, Damon Thayer, David Boswell and Dorsey Ridley who were especially helpful in this process. Also many thanks to my old pal Bill Martin as well as KCC chair Vicki Holmberg for helping contact so many legislators and a special thanks to former first lady Libby Jones who has always been a great resource and ardent supporter.

The silly season is officially in full stride. With a flurry of voting and re-voting, Senator Bob Leeper’s SB 26 (which allows nuclear power plants and other processing facilities to operate without a plan for disposal of the waste) was successfully tacked onto Rep. Rocky Adkins HB 213 which gives condemnation powers to CO2 pipelines. It’s unclear what the fate of this will be when it returns to the House for a concurrence vote on this amendment. This is just one of what will be a flurry of last-minute attempts to get bills passed that have stalled in the other House. KCC will continue to monitor this activity until the last day of the concurrence session next Tuesday. It would behoove those who oppose the promotion of nuclear power without a solution to the problem of long-term storage of waste to contact their Representative and express their concerns with this amendment.

A second issue we are monitoring closely is the so called “bill board bill” (allowing the cutting of obstructing trees on the public right-of-way) which was unsuccessful in the Senate and withdrawn a week ago. When a bill is withdrawn it becomes a prime candidate to show up as an amendment on another piece of legislation. Just which bill is the question. So far it hasn’t appeared, but we will continue to closely watch.

As to HB 419, there is word of an amendment that KCC can live with being added on the floor today or tomorrow. This would send it back to the House for concurrence either Monday or Tuesday. That still gives it a chance.

I think it was veteran Louisiana politician Russell Long that once said “one day the people of Louisiana are going to get good government … and they ain’t gonna like it”. With one nay and six yes votes, the people of Kentucky got good government today and it remains to be seen whether the Kentucky Senate likes it. The Land Stewardship Fund bill passed out of the Senate Natural Resources Committee after some tense debate on the use of tax dollars to fund the PACE program and the general merits of purchasing private land for any public purpose. This leaves the last, and perhaps most difficult hurdle, a vote from the full Senate. With only two days scheduled to finish Senate business and two more to deal with amendments to bills, it will take a concerted effort to get this bill posted on the orders of the day. This posting comes from Senate Leadership. It is also very possible that there will be a floor amendment filed prohibiting the use of tax dollars for the purchase of private agricultural easements. Senator Bob Leeper will likely file it. KCC along with the Kentucky Resources Council is working on possible language that might be acceptable to all parties, but the exact language has not yet been produced. An amendment not withstanding, this will be the last big push in what has been a long and difficult journey for HB 419. If you still have it in you, a blast to all the members of the Senate supporting HB 419 would be most helpful. When a certain perennial gubernatorial candidate was running back in the eighties a good friend of mine came up with her campaign slogan: “Let’s all get behind Doris and push!” Let’s all get behind HB 419 one more time and push. Thanks

HB 419, the Land Stewardship Taskforce’s bill is still breathing, but will need a near miracle to pass the Senate. The Senate Natural Resources Committee will meet Wednesday. The bill has enough votes to pass out of the committee, but that will put the it only two short days away from the last regular voting day of this session. The last two days in March are …as of now… reserved for considering bills that have been amended in the other chamber. In order to pass, HB 419 will have to get its three readings and onto the orders of the day by Friday. This is a tall order, but not impossible. To do so, it will need the solid support of all of you, emailing and calling your Senators. Don’t worry if you’ve already done it, it can’t hurt to keep reminding them of your support.

In other news, HB 562, Rep Tanya Pullin’s good net metering bill passed the house and is in Senate Judiciary. A quick email to Senator Tom Jensen, et. al would be in order. This bill provides some real incentives for people wanting to put alternative energy to work in Kentucky.

Almost given up for dead, HB 419 may see a committee vote early this week. Spurred on by the efforts of Committee Chair Brandon Smith and members David Boswell and Dorsey Ridley to name two others, HB 419 clings to life. Thanks to a concerted by supporters, ( special thanks to Bill Martin, Libby Jones and Larry Arnett) the hope now is that it will clear the Natural Resources Committee and hit the floor of the Senate by mid-week. This gives it a chance to pass. We’ll need every email and message possible, especially to members of the Senate leadership, to see this thing through to the end. I’m reprinting for the blog an explanation were are giving to each member of the Senate:

WHY SUPPORT HB 419?

• HB 419 is the product of four years of study by the 22 members of the Land Stewardship Taskforce, who compared Kentucky’s land conservation programs with those of surrounding states.
• HB 419 is the first phase in what will be a campaign to raise awareness of and financial support for land stewardship in Kentucky.

WHAT IS LAND STEWARDSHIP?

• Land Stewardship refers to a combination of programs designed to preserve and promote the natural beauty of our state. There are three components of land conservation in land stewardship:

1) Preservation: nature preserves, unique habitats, endangered species, etc.

2) Conservation: working farms, forests and woodlands and green spaces.

3) Recreation: fishing, hunting, trail riding, bird-watching, off road vehicle’s as well as other access to Kentucky’s natural beauty.

All of these areas are equally important in a land stewardship program.

WHAT DOES HB 419 DO?

• HB 419 simply creates a fund, a logical place to put money when and if it becomes available.
• HB 419 also makes private non-profit conservation groups of all kinds eligible for Heritage Land Fund projects.

WHAT DOESN”T HB 419 DO?

• HB 419 does not carry any kind of appropriation nor does it raise any taxes.
• HB 419 can use tax receipts as part of its fund, but only if the Legislature creates the tax, or the people vote for it through a constitutional amendment.
• HB 419 buys property only from willing sellers, there is no power of eminent domain

PLEASE HELP CREATE A LAND STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM IN KENTUCKY BY SUPPORTING THE TASKFORCE RECOMMENDATION AND VOTING YES ON

HB 419

No one was as surprised as myself, Bill Martin and the bill’s sponsor Charlie Hoffman when two men who identified themselves as private citizens showed up at the Senate Natural Resources Committee to speak against the Land Stewardship bill. What was the gist of their problem? It seems that they were opposed to using tax dollars to purchase private land. I guess they’ve never stayed at a state park or fished in a reservoir. One of the men actually alluded to the bill being a tool promoted by the United Nations to take private land away. As crazy as it may sound, these objections teamed with the absence of two key Senators and some long held resentments against the PACE program ( Senators Tapp and Leeper) was enough to get the bill ” laid on the table”. This means that it can be brought up and voted on again at a later date, but is never a good sign for a piece of legislation. I find it disturbing that the work of the Land Stewardship Task force over almost four years could be subverted in this manner. I urge all of you to email or call the members of the Senate Natural Resources Committee and voice your support for the protection of what’s left of Kentucky’s unique natural areas and for the future of outdoor activities in our fair state. The number to leave a message for the committee members is: 800-372-7181, you can also call 502-564-8100 and ask for the legislator by name. If you cannot get them personally you can leave a message with their staff. We need everyone’s help on this! Thanks.

HB 419, The Land stewardship bill, with an assist from committee chair and former chair of the Land Stewardship Task Force Brandon Smith (R-Hazard) made it’s way from the House A&R committee to the Senate Natural Resources and Energy committee. This is good news for the bill since Brandon has been active in land preservation issues and is knowledgeable about the goals of the Task Force. Now’s the time to email members of the committee and voice your support for this important legislation.

In other news, SB 105 which this bloggster has declared  a “fowl” piece of legislation mainly because of its ability to stifle local control of confined animal feeding operations, is sitting quietly in Rep McKee’s Agriculture Committee and hopefully will be for some time. While you’re flexing your email muscles, you may want to pop one to Rep McKee and other members of the Ag and Small Business Committee expressing your delight at its peaceful repose. It makes a difference, it really does.

HB 419, with Charlie Hoffman as the primary sponsor, sailed out of the full House Thursday on a 91-2 vote. The two nay votes were from Rep. Stan Lee from Lexington and Rep Mike Harmon from Danville. My only guess as to why they opposed it was a concern over funding. The bill carries no fiscal impact for this session,as the new Fund can only be activated when it receives some money from some source. That very problem is what your KCC will be addressing in the next session of the legislature. We are poised to make a push for a real land conservation program for this, one of America’s most beautiful states, in 2011. We will need the help of every individual and organization concerned with leaving a bit of this beautiful Commonwealth for future generations to enjoy. The strategizing for the big push will start very shortly after the end to this session. In the meantime, we still have the challenge of getting this bill through the Senate. I’ll be asking for every one’s support through emails and phone calls soon, so stay tuned.

P.S many thanks to the fine co-sponsors of HB 419 Eddie Ballard, Derrick Graham,Joni Jenkins, Mary Lou Marzian, Tom McKee.Reginald Meeks, Don Pasley, Jody Richards, Jim Wayne and Brent Yonts.