The 2023 General Assembly Begins
Kentucky’s 2023 General Assembly convenes starting at Noon, Tuesday, January 3, 2023. This year is a 30-day "short session" which is scheduled to meet for four days this week (Part 1) and then will re-convene for Part 2 on Tuesday, February 7th, then run through March 30th (full schedule here).
During a short session, events will change rapidly. We will be sending you fast-breaking email alerts as needed on key bills during the session and then we will depend on the quick response from you—our grassroots activists from across the state—to contact your lawmakers on the important environmental policy issues as they are introduced. If you are interested in even faster notification on key actions during the session, you may also sign up for our “rapid response” texts here. And then watch for our weekly in-depth email summary as bills are filed.
How KCC Reviews Legislation During the Session
At the end of every week during the Assembly, the staff and board of the Kentucky Conservation Committee review every piece of legislation filed during that week, and then we assemble a detailed analysis, gathering the diverse perspectives of our expert team. Then we assign a rating on a five-point scale from “strong support” to “strong oppose”
What do we anticipate during this session?
Only 40 “draft” bills and resolutions had been filed prior to the start of the session, with only a handful directly targeting environmental issues. However, based on the activity during the interim legislative session, there are several topics we anticipate seeing during this General Assembly:
Solar: During the past session there had been a failure to pass either of two competing solar bills (SB69 and HB392) that would have provided more clarity on requirements for large-scale merchant solar farms—including language to guide reclamation, bonding, and siting. We anticipate that this unresolved issue will resurface for the 2023 session. Fortunately, the state’s Energy Generation and Transmission Siting Board (which currently reviews proposals for large-scale solar) has been doing a very good job ensuring that many concerns raised by the public are heard on these projects. As of our last count, there have been 39 case files established for the Siting Board to review, with a few projects being withdrawn, and approximately 20 of these projects were either granted or conditionally granted their construction approval. We are happy to see that many of these approved projects have incorporated some of the best practices we have recommended in KCC’s Citizen’s Guide for Large-Scale Solar, such as pollinator plantings, visual buffers, and other enhancements that promote sustainable use.
Public Service Commission: Last session, there were resolutions filed to confirm two of the three Commissioners to the Public Service Commission (the Governor appoints the Commissioners, but the legislature must confirm them). In an unusual exchange last session, Senator Stivers asked his chamber to vote against confirming the appointment of Commissioner Marianne Butler, and then passed over the confirmation of Commissioner Amy Cubbage, leaving the Commission with only its Chairman, Kent Chandler, remaining. This past July, Governor Beshear made another attempt with a new appointment, Mary Pat Regan. However this appointment will also need to be confirmed by the legislature during the 2023 session.
Utilities: We anticipate there could be legislation this session relating to how utilities address ratemaking— specifically the costs, mechanisms for, and benefits of utilizing alternative rate mechanisms (ARMs). Alternate Rate Mechanisms are defined as “any change to traditional ‘cost of service’ ratemaking adopted by a state to accomplish a specific policy goal. During the 2022 session, HCR 138 prompted a study by the Legislative Research Commission to review the impact of ARMs from examples in other states. A concern is that ARMs generally allow public utilities to increase rates annually based on projected costs through an accelerated process that can provide less oversight of the public utilities. We will be watching for any legislative proposals that may be filed as a result of that 2022 study during this session.
Challenges to Socially Responsible Investing (ESG): Last session, SB205, the “energy boycott” bill passed and signed into law, which allows the Attorney General, treasurer and others to go after certain companies working with the state who have a policy of fossil fuel divestment. This is part of a coordinated effort happening in several states where state legislatures are attacking socially responsible investing due to their stand on fossil fuels. The Kentucky Bankers Association (KBA) has filed suit against the Attorney General’s office, alleging that the AG's demands violate the First Amendment rights of banks by seeking ongoing state surveillance into their communications.
In addition to actions by state legislatures, Kentucky’s U.S. Representative Andy Barr was attempting to dismantle a recent Department of Labor rule allowing retirement plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment actions.
The anti-ESG purge sets a dangerous precedent, experts warn, by empowering state officials to weaponize public retirement funds and other state money against political adversaries. The issue was raised in several Interim Joint Committees during the legislative session and we will be watching for any other activity on this issue that may come up during the General Assembly. You may also sign up for updates on this issue here.
Flood Control: During the 2022 session, HB597, a good bill to address flooding and emergency action plans for certain dams, failed to pass in the final hours of the session. That bill was held back due to an egregious last-minute committee substitute which would have eliminated protections against over-application of animal wastes on lands—with no limits on odors or other air pollutants. We hoping that the original and necessary flood legislation will now come back— hopefully this time without the unacceptable language on animal wastes.
Join us for KCC’s Legislative Conference
These are just a few of the environmental policy topics we anticipate for this legislative session. We hope you will join us on Sunday afternoon, January 22nd for a full briefing of these issues and more during KCC’s Legislative Summit and Annual Meeting, which will be held in-person at Kentucky State University in Frankfort (and we are also offering a virtual option). We will have experts on hand to answer your questions on land conservation, energy, and biodiversity issues. Register here.