GA 2024 Week 4 Recap
“Ag-Gag” Bill - Continue to Oppose
This past week, we had expected a Senate Agriculture committee hearing of Senate Bill 16 (Schickel) , “An act relating to agricultural operation interference” also know as the “Ag-Gag” bill., a bill that KCC strongly opposes. However while the bill was scheduled to be heard, it was decided to hold on the bill for additional work. In the meantime, KCC submitted comments on this legislation as presently written, and we look forward to seeing any substitute language for the bill.. “Ag-Gag” laws are are anti-whistleblower laws that apply within the agriculture industry. ACT: You may contact members of the Senate Agriculture Committee to express your opposition to this bill by calling the legislative message line at 1-800-372-7181.
Bills on the Move
House Bill 5 (KCC Oppose) also known as the “Safer Kentucky Act”- an omnibus “tough on crime” bill, held a marathon hearing on the House floor on Thursday as lawmakers made their way through twenty-seven house floor amendments and a House Committee Substitute on the bill. After hours of debate, the House passed the bill 74-22 with House Committee Sub 1 and House Floor Amendment 27. During the debate, lawmakers objected to sections of the bill letting police fine and arrest homeless people for the offense of “unlawful camping,” which was also an area of great concern for KCC. The bill now heads to the Senate. ACT: Contact your Senator by calling the legislative message line at 1-800-372-7181 to oppose this extreme bill.
House Bill 136 (KCC Oppose) on Environmental Audits: KCC has concerns that the proposed language conflicts with some provisions in KRS Chapter 77, and that facilities are already supposed to investigate their facilities and certify that their facilities are in compliance with the Clean Air Act on an annual basis. Has passed the House and is now in the Senate. ACT: Contact your Senator to oppose.
Senate Bill 25 (KCC Oppose), which prohibits local governments from adopting or enforcing an ordinance that requires a landlord to participate in a housing program under Section 8, has passed out of the Senate and is now in the House Committee on Committees. Affordable and attainable housing interest groups have been vocal in their opposition to this legislation. ACT: Please contact your Representative to express your opposition to this bill.
KCC Legislative Summit Recap
First, we want to thank all of you who attended KCC’s Legislative Summit this past Sunday! It was SO great to see so many attendees in person and virtually despite the sub-zero weather on Sunday afternoon. And we appreciated the hospitality of the Kentucky State University staff. Our conference had to end prematurely due to the weather-related disruption of a burst water pipe. While we could not control the weather, we are hoping to make up for the missing trainings and we are presently scheduling those affected sessions for recording on video, in order to still share them with you. So we will send them out as soon as they are recorded. But for those who could not attend last Sunday’s conference, we have the first half of our conference sessions posted below. This included sessions on legislative highlights, an overview of the state budget by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KyPolicy), PFAS Chemicals with Senator Cassie Chambers-Armstrong and Rep. Nima Kulkarni, and our Keynote speaker, Public Service Commission Chair Kent Chandler.
Some of the sessions that were disrupted included our session on Outdoor Recreation and Land Conservation, as well as our session on Electric Vehicle Infrastructure. Watch for videos of those re-scheduled sessions, which we hope to have by next week’s blog. In the meantime, we encourage you to explore conference materials and training videos, which you can find on our “Legislative Resources 2024” webpage and “Legislative Summit 2024” page.
Support Trail Towns! More Sponsors Needed for Senate Bill 35
One of our disrupted sessions included guest Senator Deneen who presently has legislation to support Kentucky’s Trail Towns. We will soon be sending you a recorded session on this bill and other outdoor recreation issues, but in the meantime we encourage you to ACT by Contacting your Senator and encourage them to sign on as a co-sponsor to this bill.
Stop the Shutoffs! Upcoming Trainings to help you advocate for House Bill 180
You may also find KCC’s handout on this bill here, plus a video by KCC board member Rachel Norton on this issue here. Kentucky Conservation Committee also networks with, and is a partner of, many different environmental coalitions in order to help effectively represent their issues in Frankfort. We are part of the "Kentuckians for Energy Democracy" Coalition (K4ED) where we are collectively fighting to address utility shutoffs. K4ED will be having a training on this issue called "Stop the Shutoffs" on February 1st, and you can register for that training here.
We are also working with K4ED to set up a lobby day, tentatively for February 15th. So mark your calendars and watch for updates in our next blog. But there is also no need to wait- you can ACT and contact your Representative to ask them to co-sponsor this bill!