KCC Week 10 Recap- General Assembly 2026
Read our full lists and make your calls—Particularly on our “Strong Support” and “Strong Oppose” bills!
Please call the legislative message line at 1-800-372-7181 (Monday-Friday 7AM-6PM) to express your views on these bills. You may also email your legislators if the phone lines are closed.
Thank YOU for Making Those Calls!
We have now completed day 46 of the 60-day “long” session. Now the the time where lawmakers will be looking for ways to get their bills through- in ways that. may not always be visible to the public— KCC reviews existing bills on a continual basis for amendments and other changes, and this is the time when “surprise” changes can happen!. Lawmakers who have slow-moving bills will be looking for ways to attach provisions to bills that may have more of a chance of completing the journey to the Governor’s Desk. So this is the time to be alert— make sure you are watching KCC’s Facebook, X, and Instagram posts for fast-breaking information on bills.
Bills That Need Attention!
We know that many times people are focused more on “stopping bad things” from happening and we appreciate when people react to our action alerts. But we want to make sure that people don’t forget about many good bills that we really need to pass. While you can find many great bills on our House and Senate bill lists, we’d like to ask if you could make calls to support land conservation:
We need MORE calls for funding for the Heritage Land Conservation Fund, through House Bill 723 (KCC Strong Support). Please call and thank Rep. Whitakerfor filling House Bill 723 which provides an additional funding mechanism for the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. Annually transfers 80% of the sales and use taxes, interest, and penalties collected during the preceding fiscal year from sporting goods stores from the general fund to the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. ACT: Call members of the House Appropriations & Revenue and ask them to support this important funding through HB723.
And please keep making those calls to support House Bill 377 (KCC Strong Support) to address utility disconnection protections during extreme weather. Kentucky is one of only a handful of states that do not have statewide protections. The bill is currently in the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee.
Bills That YOU have slowed down…Keep it up!
First, we want to THANK everyone for their efforts to stop Senate Bill 199. This bill may have final passage as early as MONDAY. The bill was slowed down this week by a special witness, Ms. Mary Kathryn DeLodder, who testified on the implications of this bill that would put more risk on the people that are harmed, rather than the manufacturer when it comes to a “failure to warn” on the dangers of certain products. We urge you to watch her testimony on Senate Bill 199 here. The good news is that the bill was schedule to pass on Friday, but was held back, and there are now several floor amendments pending to address some of the concerns. We urge you to watch the video, and then call “all members of the House” to oppose this bill. While the floor amendments will help improve the bill, it does not address the fundamental problems. However we do believe amendments to the bill such as House Floor Amendment 3 will help.
Second, we are continuing to fight Senate Bill 100- EPIC Commission Bill which is now through the Senate. The Kentucky Energy Planning and Inventory Commission (EPIC) is a taxpayer-funded commission advising on energy policy would be exempt from Kentucky’s Open Records Act. This body was created during the 2024 General Assembly to review utility decisions regarding the retirement of fossil fuel power plants, tipping the scale toward fossil fuels and impacting evidence that comes before the Public Service Commission. What Senate Bill 100 does, among its provisions, is grant the Executive Director of EPIC full authority to act on behalf of EPIC, with the board and executive committee now only serving in an advisory capacity. It also empowers EPIC to exercise its authority to conduct energy planning, assess energy supply adequacy, and review proposed electric generating facility requirements without interference or influence from any Kentucky executive branch agency. This bill has passed the Senate and is headed toward the House. Please call your Representative and ask them to oppose this bill. MORE on this bill in the Kentucky Lantern.
Finally, we are still monitoring Senate Bill 178 (Strong Oppose) the anti-”Precautionary Principle” bill. Because of efforts from everyone including allied groups that pushed back hard on this bill, the bill sponsor has definitely paused for now. (see story). However the bill is still live - and we are proceeding to watch closely as bills have a tendency to “come back to life” late in the session.
Above: Join us on Monday for a Town Hall meeting — See link below! Right: Witness Mary Kathryn DeLodder testified on SB199
Nukes on the Move:
Senator Carroll’s Senate Bill 57 - “An act relating to nuclear energy development” to establish the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program passed out of the Senate and is now has been assigned to the House Appropriations & Revenue committee as of 3/13. While environmentalists can continue to debate the merits of this energy source, we believe that current efforts at the federal level to de-regulate the development of nuclear energy is undermining the technology improvements designed to improve public safety. We also have concerns about the expense of this pilot program, offering $25,000,000 per project for costs incurred in applying for and procuring an early site permit, construction permit, or combined operating license from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If you need a refresher on nuclear energy, we are hosting regular weekend trips up to Cincinnati to a former nuclear processing site which is now a nature preserve, and we are also offering to assist citizens who wish to make comments at the upcoming public meetings on nuclear energy. See our “Upcoming Events” below for details.
Upcoming Events:
KCC along with several groups we work with are hosting a free “Town Hall” webinar on Monday, March 16th (see above) to discuss the overarching themes from this session where lawmakers have considered bills that would limit how state agencies protect public health, and also restrict the voice of the public in utility cases. These debates raise important questions about how environmental policy, public health, and civic participation intersect. Join us at 6:30PM on Monday- Register for the Town Hall here!
We are also continuing to run Saturday/Sunday field trips to visit the Fernald Preserve- a former nuclear site - to educate the public on current issues involving nuclear energy while you enjoy the birding trails and exhibits on the site.