Preparing for “Part 2”
Preparing for Part II of the General Assembly
The Kentucky General Assembly completed their “Part I” of the legislative session on January 13th, after extending the legislative calendar by four days. As a result, the modified calendar for Part II of the General Assembly has now been posted. The session is still set to resume on February 2nd. However in the adjusted schedule, February 2nd will also be the last day for your legislators to file a bill request, and then once requested, the last day for new Senate bills to be filed will now be on February 10th and the last day for new House bills will now be on February 11th. All of the budget-related bills are now being sent to a conference committee, so the calendar has identified six working days for the conference committee to meet in early March to complete work on the budget. The session is scheduled to conclude on March 30. Full calendar here.
Just a reminder that due to COVID-19, access to the Capitol and Capitol Annex is restricted. Information on access restrictions can be found here.
Your participation, more important than ever. We hope the information we provide for you gives you the tools to be an effective and engaged citizen in our democracy.
So while our lawmakers are taking a brief respite from their session, we invite you to take the opportunity to make your calls and send your emails to express your opinion on the bills of your choice. It’s a great time to get your lawmaker’s attention before they resume their work in February.
ACT: We want to thank Senators Higdon and Webb for joining us during last Friday’s installment of the KCC Legislative Summit. The second of three sessions featured a “deep dive” on wildlife corridors and their impact on supporting biodiversity, plus how to integrate transportation issues in ways that can reduce wildlife/auto collisions. If you attended the conference, we urge you to also contact Senators and Higdon and Webb to express your appreciation for sharing their time.
We invite you to register for the final session, which take place this Friday the 29th from 11:00 to 12:30 Eastern Time. This week’s session will include a panel discussion on large-scale solar energy development and interaction with agricultural landowners. We are excited to have experts on solar energy as well as farming to join us. Information about the Summit can be found HERE.
Bill Highlights: ACT
Legislative Message Line: 1-800-372-7181. Operators accept a message that you dictate, no questions asked, from 7 am to 11 pm ET Monday to Thursday, and 7 am to 6 pm ET Friday, during sessions.
Email your legislators at firstname.lastname@lrc.ky.gov. Don’t know who your legislator is? You can find them here.
HB164 Protest penalties bill (Strong Oppose) (Huff). Increases penalties, fines, and jail times for offenses related to protesting, including assaults on officers and emergency responders, "rioting," obstruction of highways, camping on public property, and disruption of government meetings. We do not see the rationale for raising these penalties and are concerned with unintended consequences for legitimate citizen protest on environmental issues. Please contact members of the House and tell them that the increased penalties in this bill are excessive and can impact legitimate peaceful protests.
HB207 Utility pre-emption bill. (Strong Oppose) (Gooch). Creates a new section of KRS Chapter 65 to prohibit a local government entity from taking any legislative or executive action that has the purpose or effect of impairing a consumer's ability to use a utility service that is described in KRS 278.010(3)(a), (b), or (c) and that is provided by a utility regulated by the Public Service Commission under KRS Chapter 278 or is otherwise incorporated under KRS Chapter 279.Prohibits local governments from taking any legislative or executive action that impairs a consumer's ability to use a gas service. This is in response to states such as California and Colorado who are passing laws that prevent home hook ups to fossil gas infrastructure. Please contact your member of the House and let them know you oppose this bill. Learn more about “fuel switching” and beneficial electrification here.
HB107 Constitutional Amendment (Strong Support) (Raymond). Proposes to create a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky establishing a right of the people to have a clean and healthy environment with the preservation of the natural, scenic and cultural values of the environment, and for the Commonwealth to serve as the trustee for the conservation and maintenance of the environment and its natural resources for the benefit of all people. Please thank Rep. Raymond for sponsoring this legislation and contact your House Representative and ask them to co-sponsor.
HB246 Protest Bill (Strong Support) (Willner). Changes the definition of "riot." A person must be "knowingly" engaging in violent and unlawful conduct causing a public disturbance that creates substantial imminent risk of damage to property or physical injury to a person to be guilty of a rioting charge. Currently, the definition does not require that a person "knows" they are engaging in the conduct. Please contact your House Representative and ask them to co-sponsor this bill. Please also thank Rep. Willner for filing this bill.
HB260, SB58 Plastic Waste (Strong Support). Prohibits the intentional release of more than 25 plastic balloons, establishes a ban on plastic, single-use carryout bags by July 1, 2026, and a ban the provision of single-use plastic straws and Styrofoam food and beverage containers by retail food and beverage establishments by July 1, 2024. Contact your House and Senate members and ask them to co-sponsor these bills. Please also thank Rep. Marzian and Senator Harper Angel for filing these bills.
HB272 Water Districts (Oppose) (Bray). Allows water districts and water associations to charge a late payment charge of 10% of the amount billed and prohibits the Public Service Commission from modifying, rejecting, or suspending late payment charges established by tariff. Our allies at the Appalachian Citizens Law Center and Martin County Concerned Citizens, who have been dealing with water issues in Eastern Kentucky, oppose this bill because it is designed to punish ratepayers who fall behind on their payments at a time when many customers are struggling to make payments due to COVID, and believe that late fees merely increase customers' arrearages, rather than incentivize on-time payments. We need to work toward making utility payments more affordable and helping customers who are struggling to pay their bills rather than punishing those who can least afford it. Please contact members of the House and express your opposition to this bill.
SB17 Tort Reform (Strong Oppose) (Alvarado). Alvarado's annual tort reform bill. Proposes to amend Section 54 of the Constitution of Kentucky to allow the General Assembly the power to limit noneconomic damages for injuries resulting in death or for injuries to persons or property. Will have a chilling effect on victim's ability to recover damages for environmental harms. Call members of the Senate State & Local Government Committee to oppose this bill.