General Assembly 2024 Week 1 Recap
KCC has already prepared our initial list of environmental bills and resolutions for you, our members. You may find our 2024 House Bills HERE and 2024 Senate Bills HERE.
The Session Begins
Coming back from the New Years holiday, The Kentucky General Assembly kicked off their 60-day session on January 2nd. The session is scheduled to end on April 15th. The full 2024 legislative calendar can be found at this link. Lawmakers hit the ground running with hundreds of bills and resolutions already being filed in just this first week.
We were disappointed, but not entirely surprised, that lawmakers chose to make no significant operational changes this session, despite the concerns about transparency as highlighted in the excellent report by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky, that brought to light the many procedural tactics that challenge the ability for citizens to easily participate in the legislative process. You may find the League’s report here.
And then earlier this week, Governor Andy Beshear gave his “State of the Commonwealth” address for 2024. You may find a link to his full State of the Commonwealth address HERE. The newly re-elected Governor highlighted many success such as economic development projects related to electric vehicle manufacturing. He also highlighted work within the state to rebuild parts of Eastern and Western Kentucky that had been impacted by storms, including $50 millon to repair local bridges across the state and $500 million in grants for improving drinking water systems.
One of the most anticipated items is the state’s biennial budget. See this article from the Kentucky Lantern on Beshear’s proposed two-year budget. You can track budget bills on the 2024 Budget Bills webpage. The spending plan will guide state appropriations through the end of fiscal year 2026. Democrats have already filed two bills related to the budget and Republicans expect to release their plans next week. The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy posted an excellent blog this week on how the state has the funds needed to support essential programs that should be included in the budget. We hope that lawmakers will consider some of these suggestions in this year’s budget.
Grassroots Action in the News
This past Tuesday, Kentucky Conservation Committee joined with several allies that are part of the Kentucky Together coalition (a project from the Ky. Center for Economic Policy), to hightlight issues related to the budget (full video and press release HERE). KCC used their segment during the conference to highlight the continuing issues related to funding for land conservation, including the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the Purchase of Agricultural Easements program. We have been discussing these two programs with newer lawmakers during the Interim session to get them up to speed on the funding challenges for these programs.
We also want to salute our partners at the Evolve Electric Vehicle Group, who has been working with us on bringing attention to new fees that have been imposed on electric vehicles and charging infrastructure from previous sessions. Finally, we want to thank all of the birding groups who have already been making calls on SB59, a bill we strongly oppose that would prohibit the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife from enforcing or imposing fines and penalties for the taking of Cooper's hawks or red-tailed hawks.
Grassroots nonprofits spotlight legislative issues: Lane Boldman with KCC raises budget issues on land conservation as part of KyPolicy’s Kentucky Together coalition press conference this last week, while Mike Proctor from Evolve KY highlights the issues with double-taxation of electric vehicles from previous sessions.
Register for KCC’s Legislative Summit- Sunday afternoon, Jan. 21, 2024
We hope to see you on Sunday afternoon at the Kentucky State University Campus for KCC’s 2024 Legislative Summit and Annual Meeting. Registration for this legislative event is now open!
How to Act on Bills:
Once you go through KCC’s House and Senate bill lists, we encourage you to comment on issues with lawmakers by calling the General Assembly’s toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181. The Message line is open Monday thru Thursday from 7AM-9PM and Fridays from 7AM-6PM. 2024 House Bills HERE and 2024 Senate Bills HERE. You may also email lawmakers directly with your comments. Email links here.
Kentuckians can track the action through the Legislative Record webpage, which allows users to read bills and follow their progression through the chambers.