Every Drop Needs Every Vote

Written By Lane Boldman

How to Contact the Governor here

KCC’s List of Priority Bills on the Governor’s Desk here

Then Contact Your Legislators here and ask them to uphold the Governor’s actions

For those bills that made their way to the Governor’s desk, the Governor may sign a bill, permit it to become law without signature, or veto it.

The veto period which officially started on March 15. However several bills were sent to his desk even earlier, so be mindful of the following deadlines:

  • The Governor has 10 days (excluding Sundays) to act on a bill after it is received.

  • Lawmakers will return on March 27th and 28th for their final two days of the General Assembly, where they can choose to override or sustain any of the Governor’s actions. They can also continue work on other remaining bills.

  • The bill may be passed over the Governor's veto by a majority of the members of both houses.

Act for World Water Day, March 22

This Saturday, March 22, is World Water Day. We hope this will bring more attention this week to the importance of our waterways. This event, which was launched in 1993, focuses on the importance of the planet’s freshwater. Our water is under extreme threat not only from Senate Bill 89, but also from other impacts such as a growing population, increasing demands of agriculture and industry, and the worsening impacts of climate change. 

But the most important action we hope you will take for our waters is to make sure you have reached out to the Governor, and to your House and Senate members to stop Senate Bill 89. And if you have already done this much (thank you!) then we urge you to reach out to friends and family to do the same.

Local Events in Support of Water today, tomorrow: Several of KCC’s allies have events coming up in support of water, so we hope you will join them!

Continue to Contact the Governor on Senate Bill 89 and more—”Veto” then ask Lawmakers to “uphold the veto.”

KCC, along with our allies at Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Kentucky Resources Council and Kentucky Sierra Club continue to reach out to our members about the dangers of Senate Bill 89. Read our joint statement here. Please continue to reach out to the Governor, and also your lawmakers who voted for the bill and ask them to reconsider and “uphold the veto.”

The most recent veto actions of the Governor at presstime was on the Governor’s veto of House Bill 4, targeting “diversity, equity and inclusion” efforts at public universities. This bill would require Kentucky's public universities and community and technical colleges to defund DEI initiatives, eliminate DEI offices and prohibit them from requiring students or staff to attend DEI training sessions. While this bill was not part of KCC’s environmental list, we support our members who wish to uphold this veto.

Earlier this week, the Governor vetoed House Bill 216, which was part of KCC’s monitor list and would allows employees of the Department of Agriculture who are not part of the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy to apply for and receive funds, awards, or contracts administered by the Department of Agriculture through the Office of Agricultural Policy.

The Governor’s veto message read in part: “…House Bill 216 allows conduct that has always been unethical and unlawful under the Executive Branch Ethics Code. In two separate Advisory Opinions issued to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the Executive Branch Ethics Commission has confirmed that KRS I IA.040(4) prohibits executive branch employees from accepting grants and loans from a program run by the agency they work for. For good reason, this rule applies to all executive branch agencies and employees…”

We agree with the Governor’s comments and recommend that our members ask their lawmakers to “uphold the veto.”

The Governor also vetoed Senate Bill 245 (KCC Oppose) at presstime. In his veto message, the Governor stated:

“…Senate Bill 245 prevents Commission members who are reappointed from being able to serve without Senate confirmation. This legislative game-playing is not what the sportsmen and sportswomen of Kentucky deserve. They recommend appointments and reappointments, and Commission members are accountable to them, but the Senate's paltern of denying confirmation of the members they select shows the legislature is deferring to someone besides the sportsmen and sportswomen…”

We still have several bills we are concerned about that are in the Governor’s hands, so check our full list of actions:

You can find all of the bills where KCC has requested a veto action here. If the Governor vetoes these bills, your next step is to ask the House and Senate to “uphold the veto.” You can contact the House and Senate at 1-800-372-7181.

Thank you for Supporting KCC!

The collective effort to stop the rollback of the state’s water protections, and continuous monitoring of hundreds of pieces of legislation, plus educational and technical support of our grassroots allies on legislative matters, is what your donations are supporting. We appreciate your contributions and ask for your help to grow our base!

Note: Donations to KCC are not tax-deductible due to our effective direct lobbying work.

Lane Boldman
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In the Governor’s Hands