A Recap of Week One- GA 2023
Part 1 of the General Assembly kicked off this past Tuesday, January 3rd, for four days of setting the stage for the rest of the session. Lawmakers went straight to moving on some of their priority issues, which included a focus on tax cuts.
On Thursday, the House advanced House Bill 1, which builds on a major overhaul to Kentucky’s tax structure that began last year. The bill would codify a drop in the state income tax rate from 5% to 4.5% for 2023 and further reduce the rate to 4% beginning next year. Our friends at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy provided compelling information about how the current path in this bill, set in place by last year’s HB8, will weaken the state’s finances in the long run. A diverse coalition of 28 Kentucky nonprofits, including KCC, signed on to KCEP’s statement of concern over these cuts. Lowering the income tax disproportionately benefits the wealthier individuals in our state and is a policy that is regressive, adversely impacting middle and low income families. House Bill 1 now heads to the Senate for consideration.
On January 4th, Governor Andy Beshear delivered the State of the Commonwealth address, where he highlighted the impact of weather-related disasters this past year—and the resiliency of the communities that were impacted by these climate-driven disasters. He also highlighted the role of Kentucky’s state parks in those regions, that because the temporary refuge for many citizens impacted by these events, and taking the time to honor the staff at Jenny Wiley State Park. “The Task that remains is a long-term rebuilding…and gives us a chance to re-imagine our communities, to go beyond just re-building…” as Governor Beshear highlighted the first high-ground community to be built in Knott County—Olive Branch—intended to be designed with strong, resilient infrastructure.
Between 2021 and 2022, the Governor stated that the state secured the best two-year period for economic growth in state history, ($24 billion in new investments) and featuring some of the new electric vehicle battery plants that have come to the state, calling it an “electric vehicle revolution” and the battery production capital of the United States. In addition, he also highlighted a high-tech battery recycling and production facility in Hopkinsville (Ascend Elements) as the second largest economic development announcement of 2022 in Western Kentucky, near the storm-impacted Dawson Springs. The project will provide 400 new jobs.
This Friday concluded Part I of the 2023 General Assembly, where new members made up nearly a quarter of the legislature. When the session opened, a total of 31 new lawmakers were sworn in, with an increased the Republican supermajority in both chambers.
The General Assembly adjourned Part 1 of the session, and will resume for Part 2 on Tuesday, 2pm Feb. 7th. Lawmakers will have until Feb. 21 to introduce new bills in the Senate and until Feb. 22 to introduce new bills in the House. The chambers are scheduled to adjourn sine die on March 30.
Environmental Legislation- Highlights:
This first week of the session primarily included environmental bills that had been filed in the past, or were tied to issues from the previous session. We will provide a full description of all the environmental bills and KCC rankings in next week’s Guardian. But below are some initial highlights of new and returning legislation:
House Bill 11 (Petrie) which moved swiftly through the House this first week, and was an amendment to the 2022-2024 Transportation Cabinet biennial budget. We wanted to take note of this bill as it involved adjusting the funding for the Electric Vehicle Charging Program. Sponsor Petrie assured, however, that the change would not affect the EV Charging Program, but would simply re-balance the books to now reflect funds that were actually necessary for that budget period. This adjustment allowed the legislature to move on appropriating funds within the 2022-23 fiscal year from the Budget Reserve Trust Fund account to support House Bill 2, to support the construction of the Bowling Green Veterans Center.
Term Limits through Article V: Once again, another resolution has been filed invoking “Article V” of the constitution. This came in the form of House Joint Resolution 8, filed by Rep. Lawrence of Maysville. The resolution would apply to Congress under Article V of the Constitution of the United States for the calling of a “convention of the states” limited to proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States that limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of term limits, KCC has generally opposed resolutions that invoke Article V. This is primarily driven by groups such as the Convention of States, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) typically who promote the call for an Article V convention. A Convention would allow state legislatures to propose new amendments to the US Constitution. Once a convention is called, they are not limited on the kinds of amendments that can be proposed. Two-thirds of states (34) need pass a resolution to call for a convention. Nineteen states have already passed a Convention of States resolution.
Healthy Soils: We were pleased to see the re-filing of Rep. Kulkarni’s “Healthy Soils” legislation, now listed this session as House Bill 94.
ACT: Please email Rep. Kulkarni and thank her for re-filing this bill, and reach out to your Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor. During the 2022 session, the bill had four additional co-sponsors, however two of those lawmakers are no longer in the legislature for 2023…so…
ACT: We ask if you are represented by Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson (Lexington) or Rep. Lisa Willner (Louisville) that you ask them to co-sponsor Rep. Kulkarni’s Healthy Soils bill once again. And if you live in a rural or farming community, we ask that you reach out to your Representative and ask them to co-sponsor this legislation.
Black Lung: We were also pleased to see Rep. Tackett Laferty re-file two bills addressing the needs of black lung patients. Now filed for the 2023 session as House Bills 121 and 122. HB121 Removes the requirement that an affected employee previously diagnosed with occupational pneumoconiosis (black lung) resulting from exposure to coal dust must have an additional two years of employment in the Commonwealth wherein the employee was continuously exposed to the hazards of the disease in order to reopen a claim. And HB122 reverses the legislation passed several sessions ago that only allows board certified pulmonary specialists to diagnose black lung patients.
ACT: Please thank Rep. Tacket Lafferty for re-filing these bills and reach out to your Representative to co-sponsor.
Constitutional Amendment for the Environment: We were glad to see Rep. Raymond re-file her bill from last year, now listed as House Bill 140 for 2023, proposing to create a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to the environment. The bill calls for a establishing a right of the people to have a healthy environment, including a right to clean air, pure water, and ecologically healthy habitats.
ACT: Please thank Rep. Raymond for re-filing this bill and reach out to your Representative to co-sponsor.
And finally, we can’t close out this first week of the General Assembly without mentioning the filing of Senate Resolution 19, which will honor our renowned local treasure and environmental icon, Wendell Berry.
We hope you will join us on Sunday Afternoon, January 22nd for KCC’s Legislative Summit and Annual Meeting where we will go over the full list of environmental legislation, along with special guest speakers and background briefings on key environmental issues. The conference will be held in Frankfort at Kentucky State University and we will also offer a virtual option. Register for the Summit HERE!