Budgets, Boycotts and Bill Subs

Written By Lane Boldman

KCC List of House Bills we are watching as of 3/11

KCC List of Senate Bills we are watching as of 3/11

March 11th marks the 46th day of the 60-day legislative session. The General Assembly will conclude on April 14th.

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.

Budget Updates:

House Bill 1, the two-year budget plan, is another step closer to passage after the Senate voted Wednesday to approve the amended bill and return it to the House for concurrence. Among the highlights of the current bill are $250 million for upgrades to the state parks system and a $75 million grant pool for nonprofits. However, we still have concerns with the proposal with regard for adequate funding for the Public Service Commission and State Nature Preserves, both of which show smaller amounts in the Senate Committee sub for HB1 than was proposed in the Governor’s budget. KCC is continuing to lobby for increased funds in these areas. The Senate version of the bill was presented only an hour before it was heard in committee, so we anticipate much more scrutiny and debate before this bill is finalized. The bill as passed with the Senate Committee Substitute is now on its way back to the House for concurrence.

Bill Updates- On the Move:

One of the challenges this session has been the significant quantity of “placeholder” bills, which are bills that did not have their full language in place by the filing deadline—lawmakers file “placeholder” legislation with minor language changes that will be replaced in a bill substitute. We are presently watching 30 such placeholder bills. 

Two of these “placeholder bills” are House Bill 669 (Gooch) and Senate Bill 315 (R. Mills) “An Act Relating to Oil and Gas,” which now have adopted their substitute language. We support these two bills that adjust the definition of “abandoned wells” in order to maximize access to the federal funds under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that will clean up these wells. These bills will direct monies coming into the fund in the form of grants issued, and require the Energy and Environment Cabinet to implement expedited review and procurement for work contracted for under the program. The program will limit the number of wells per vendor contract to not more than 25, which will allow smaller vendors to be considered—to support local jobs.


Oppose HB330 (Massey) A voting bill that prohibits payment (but not expenses) to any person by a candidate or candidate's campaign committee, or any person acting on behalf of a candidate or candidate's campaign committee, for the purpose of transporting a voter to the polls.

  • ACT: This bill is posted for passage in the regular orders of the day. Contact House Leadership to oppose and also begin contacting your Senator to oppose.

Oppose SB301 (Higdon) “An Act Relating to Biosolids.” Defines "biosolids" as nutrient-rich, organic, residual material that results from the treatment of domestic sewage or sewage sludge in a treatment facility and can be recycled and applied as a fertilizer to improve and maintain productive soils and requires the Energy and Environment Cabinet to promulgate new administrative regulations that are no more stringent than federal standards. The bill is posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Monday, March 14, 2022.

Continue to Oppose: SB217 (Webb) (see note below on SFA1) This bill re-organizes the Fish and Wildlife Commission and Department. Among the provisions, the bill restructures members terms, and does not allow more than two terms and requires that a candidate to be a commission member must have held a hunting and fishing licenses for the previous five consecutive years. That portion of the bill was amended to now state that nominees shall be eligible if they have hunted and fished in the Commonwealth for the previous five years and either held a license or were licensed-exempt under KRS 150.170. The limitations for nominees raises concerns to us about diversity and inclusion, and perpetuating the existing demographic. These kinds of requirements run counter to what staff members are doing to help make the agency more inclusive.

The bill was passed with a Senate Floor Amendment (SFA1) that directs the secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet to acquire perpetual conservation easements on approximately 54,000 acres of real property located in Knox, Bell, and Leslie Counties, and provides that the funds for purchasing the conservation easements be paid from federal funds, grants, and gifts.

  • ACT: While we are very supportive of the Senate Floor Amendment on conservation easements, we continue to oppose this bill based on the nominee restrictions stated above. This bill has passed its third reading in the Senate and is making its way to the House. Contact House Leadership to oppose.

Good News: PFAS Resolution HR85 (Kulkarni) was adopted this week by voice vote. We want to thank Rep. Kulkarni and Rep. Bratcher for their bipartisan work on this issue. See our “deep dive” on PFAS legislation here. And see Rep. Kulkarni’s testimony on this resolution below.

Rep. Kulkarni’s testimony on PFAS.


Boycott Bill — Oppose Now:

We were surprised to see momentum this week behind SB205 (Mills) “An act relating to state dealings with companies that engage in energy boycotts.” that would create new sections of KRS Chapter 41 to declare findings regarding the financial harms of boycotting energy companies for dealing in fossil-fuel based energy. For a detailed description of what the bill does, see this link. More than 101 banks have joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance to cut their investments in fossil fuels by 2030.

  • ACT: The bill has PASSED 36-5 with the committee substitute and is now in the House Committee on Committees. Contact House Leadership to oppose this bill.

Good Bills and Resolutions Need Your Support:

Support HJR41 (Bowling) Directs 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. This resolution was brought to us by the Kentucky Woodland Owner’s Association, a KCC partner group, and we thank them for their work on this.

Support SB347 (Higdon) Requires the Transportation Cabinet to develop an electric vehicle infrastructure development plan to describe how the state will administer the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program funds and requires presentation of the plan to the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation. The bill is now posted for passage in the Senate in the Consent Orders of the Day for Monday, March 14, 2022.

  • ACT: We ask that you THANK Senator Higdon for supporting electric vehicle infrastructure through SB347, and also ask that, as Chair of Senate Standing Committee on Transportation, he oppose language in other bills that include inequitable fees for electric and hybrid vehicles. We believe all users of the road should pay their fair share, but not in ways that penalize efficiency.

Support HB222  (Kulkarni) Anti-SLAPP Legislation (Strategic lawsuit against public participation). This bill allows you to recover costs and attorney fees for successful defense of SLAPPs.

  • ACT: The bill has passed the House unanimously and is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Please contact members of this committee and express your support for this legislation.

“It’s Complicated”— Solar bills, Trail bills

Support: Solar Bill HB392 (Branscum) For the last several weeks, we have been mentioning two bills on “Merchant Electric Generating Facilities,” (HB392 and SB69) to address concerns over large-scale solar farms. Of the two bills, we felt that the Senate bill was far more protective of landowners than the House bill.

However this past week, the sponsor of the Senate bill (Senator Hornback) proposed an amendment to HB392 (Senate Committee Substitute 1) that brings in more of the language from SB69. We are glad to see that these two lawmakers have been able to consolidate the intent of these bills. HB392 was passed out of the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee with the Senate Committee Substitute. However the bill has now been passed over twice and retained in the Orders of the Day.

Support: Trail Towns and Rail Trails. HB716 (Flannery) has already been reported favorably in the Tourism & Outdoor Recreation Committee and has now been recommitted to Appropriations & Revenue this past week. The bill requires the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet to consult with the Kentucky Mountain Regional Recreation Authority, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, Department of Parks, and all other relevant state and local agencies to develop strategies for integrating the Rail trail and Trail Town programs into a single comprehensive statewide trail program

While we are very supportive of trail towns and rail trail initiatives, we have concerns that the primary driver for the initiative is to accommodate a system of motorized vehicle trails, and we would like to see good environmental oversight. We would like to see more emphasis to prioritize input from the Division of Conservation in order to incorporate a “best management practice” philosophy into the planning strategies of this program.




Lane Boldman
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