A Fast-Changing Landscape
KCC List of House Bills we are watching as of 3/26
KCC List of Senate Bills we are watching as of 3/26
March 25th marked the 56th day of the 60-day legislative session. General Assembly will resume on Tuesday, March 29th and Wednesday, March 30th. There will also be Standing Committee meetings on Monday the 28th. For the daily schedule, check this link.
With only four days remaining in this year’s regular session, lawmakers are working to finalize bills this coming week before breaking for a 10-day veto recess. Then they are scheduled to come back for two more days on April 13th and 14th. That gives the General Assembly time to override any vetoes from the governor before adjourning for the year.
How to Act on bills: You may call the Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 From 7AM-9PM M-TH and from 7AM-4:30 PM on Fridays. Or you can email lawmakers using this link.
Bills On the Move:
SB205 (KCC Strong Oppose) State Opposition to Energy Boycotts (Mills) This bill claims investment firms and corporations are colluding to force fossil fuel companies to transition to clean energy and are boycotting fossil fuel companies, so now it wants the state to not do business with the firms and companies that are boycotting fossil fuel companies. See WFPL’s article on this week’s hearing.
ACT: The bill is now back in the Senate for concurrence. Contact Senate Leadership and ask them not to concur with the House, and that you oppose final passage of this bill. The phone lines open at 7AM on Monday. You may also email members here.
HB45 (Oppose) (Bowling) “An Act Relating to Resource Recovery” (A.K.A. “Chemical Recycling”). This week the House concurred with the Senate Committee Substitute of this “Advanced/Chemical Recycling” bill which allowed it to pass the House with a vote of 88-3 on Friday. The bill will now be making its way to the Governor’s desk. While we are disappointed with its passage, we are grateful that the changes initiated through the House Committee Substitute remained intact (which substantially improved the bill). However we still oppose this bill that reclassifies certain wastes as feedstock and provides an extension of the full life cycle of plastics. As the public moves away from fossil fuels, organizations like the American Chemistry Council have been promoting these technologies as a way to address the plastic waste problem rather than encourage the reduction of single-use plastic production such as those promoted by the Break Free From Plastic movement. The EPA is currently considering regulations on Chemical Recycling, and the proposed "Break Free From Plastics Act of 2021-2022 (S. 984, 117th Congress) if enacted, would suspend permitting of these facilities for three years to study the environmental impacts on air, water and local communities.
HJR41 (Strong Support) (Bowling) on equitable tax assessments for well-managed forests. This resolution would direct the Department of Revenue and the University of Kentucky's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources to submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission detailing their recommendations for equitable property tax assessment procedures for well-managed forests. The resolution has passed the House and was reported favorably in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. Now it is on its way to the Senate as a consent bill.
We thank our allies at the Kentucky Woodland Owners Association for their efforts on this resolution. If you want to know more about KWOA’s work, we encourage you to register for their Annual Meeting on March 29th & 30th. Information here.
HB222 (Strong Support) (N. Kulkarni) “An act relating to the exercise of a person’s constitutional rights” is the Anti-SLAAP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) legislation establishes procedures for dismissing legal actions filed in response to a party's exercise of free speech, right to petition, or right to association. The bill has already passed the House and this week it passed out of Senate Judiciary. The bill is now posted for passage in the Senate as part of their regular orders for March 29th.
ACT: Call your Senator to support. And then THANK Rep. Kulkarni and co-sponsor Rep. Nemes for their dedicated bipartisanship to move this important issue.
SB217 (Strong Oppose) (Webb) Re-organization of Fish & Wildlife Commission and Department. This week this re-organization bill was reported favorably out of the House Tourism & Outdoor Recreation Committee after successfully passing in the Senate. During the committee hearing, strong opinions were raised on the political tone of the management of the department and commission, limiting the Governor’s role, and also concerns about fiscal oversight. Advocacy groups such as the Kentucky Backcountry Hunters lobbied for amendments to the bill to make sure that procurements to the Department are subject to the Kentucky Model Procurement Code. Aside from questions over the constitutionality of the bill, we raised concerns over requirements for Commission members to have held hunting and fishing licenses for the previous five consecutive years, as these kinds of requirements may be counter to efforts to help make the agency more inclusive. While we understand the counter-argument some advocacy groups have expressed that they want representation that demonstrates a history of investment, we recognize the efforts that outdoor recreation groups such as the Together Outdoors Coalition have been making to encourage more under-represented groups to participate in hunting and fishing.
ACT: This bill has passed the Senate and is now posted for passage in the House for Tuesday, March 29th. Please call 1-800-372-7181 or email your representative to oppose.
Beware of Last-Minute Changes!
The final days of the General Assembly are the times when last-minute amendments and bill substitutes can be particularly problematic. We saw this in action this week with HB597 (Gooch) a bill that was requested by the Cabinet to align state floodplain statutes with federal regulations and programs associated with FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program, and address emergency action plans for high-hazard dams. We supported this bill, however at the last minute a troubling bill substitute (Senate Committee Sub 1) was added without advance notice or opportunity for public review before it passed out of committee as a consent bill. While the primary bill addressed important water and flooding issues, the Senate Committee Substitute added language that would prohibit air pollution standards and emissions limits related to agricultural operations that are more stringent than standards and limits enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. SCS1 would eliminate state regulation of water pollution from wastes associated with livestock such as hog and poultry farms. It would also eliminate protections that would address over-application of these wastes onto land and impact from the odors generated from waste application.
ACT: Since the bill was already set for the Senate consent calendar, SCS1 would need to be withdrawn before the bill is passed and sent to the House. Please ask Senate Leadership to “withdraw Senate Committee Substitute 1 to HB597.”
VICTORY! Thanks for your calls!
HB341, (Strong Oppose) (J. Gooch) was a bill that would have allowed utilities the right to ask for a quicker approval process with less notice and less public participation for items such as rate changes. See our summary from our previous blog post. Because of your fast action with calls and emails, the bill never made it to committee and was withdrawn this week. We want to THANK YOU for your quick early action on this bill.
More Good bills in the Final Stretch
HB306 (Support) (M. Pollock) Expands the Johnson grass control program to the "pest and noxious weed" control program. The bill has passed the House and is now posted for passage in the Senate as a consent bill.
HB399 (Support) (J. Branscum) Requires local governments to provide for public input and public meetings into the expenditure of public funds for economic development and the expenditure of road funds. All public comments must be considered and all people wishing to speak at a public meeting shall be provided the opportunity to do so. The bill passed the Senate on Friday and will soon be on its way to the Governor’s desk.
HB453 (Strong Support) (J. Dixon) An act relating to open meetings. Requires any public agency to provide specific information regarding where any member of the media or public may view the meeting electronically (provide the meeting link). Requires a primary physical location of the video teleconference where all members of the public agency who are participating may be seen and heard, if the public agency provides a physical location for the meeting, or where two or more members of the public agency are attending a video teleconference meeting from the same physical location. This bill was delivered to the Governor on 3/23.
HB195 (Support) (DJ Johnson) Pipeline Location Notification- Among its provisions: Establishes notification requirements regarding the location of an interstate pipeline if that pipeline is within 660 feet of the development prior to a Planning Commission granting approval for that development. Exempts Planning Commissions from liability relating to interstate pipelines if statute is followed. The bill has now passed the House and Senate and will shortly be on its way to the Governor.