Week One of the 2021 Assembly
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The 2021 General Assembly kicked off on January 5th, and lawmakers immediately moved with great speed during this short 30-day session. With well over 200 bills and resolutions already filed in the House, and nearly 100 bills and resolutions filed in the Senate, KCC has been combing through all the filings to bring to you 57 pieces of legislation to take action on.
What should you do with these lists?
You will see that we have ranked bills on a 5-point scale ranging from “strong oppose” to “strong support.” These rankings come from review and debate by KCC’s Board of Directors and our two legislative agents. You will see that bills marked either for “strong oppose” or “strong support” are also listed as KCC Priorities. We ask that you review these lists to find the issues of most interest to you, and then…
Call your legislator to ask them to take action on your chosen bills: 1-800-372-7181. Operators accept a message that you dictate from 7 am to 11 pm ET Monday to Thursday, and 7 am to 6 pm ET Friday, during sessions. You can leave a message for only one legislator, a list of legislators, all members of a committee you name, or all members of the House and/or Senate.
You can also send email to a legislator using email addresses: firstname.lastname@lrc.ky.gov. You can also find a full list of emails here.
What do I say?
Say “Please oppose/support House Bill xxx” and say how the bill would affect you personally. For bills you support, you may also ask your legislator to sign on to your chosen legislation as a co-sponsor.
Whether a bill passes or not, it is important for lawmakers to see when an issue has momentum. So encouraging lawmakers to be a co-sponsor is a great way to indicate momentum.
Highlights For this Week
Before even making it through this first week, lawmakers had already adjusted their legislative schedule to give themselves maximum time and will now be in session this Saturday 1/9. They will also be meeting Monday 1/11 through 1/13 before completing Part I of the session. Part II of the session will resume on Tuesday, February 2nd. You can find the revised session schedule at this link.
The big highlight was the presentation of Governor Bevin’s budget, which had been delayed from Wednesday to Thursday due to events this past week in Washington. What was presented is considered to be a conservative budget, focusing on education and raises for state employees, plus addressing continuing Covid-19 impacts. Federal funding from the CARES act and better-than-anticipated tax revenue has given the Governor more flexibility, however Senate President Stivers has pointed out that the federal support creates an inflated sense of security that is temporary, indicating desire for an even more conservative proposal. We will continue to monitor the changes in the budget throughout the session, particularly with regard to funding for our public lands and any impacts that could slow down the adoption of cleaner energy resources.
Bills On the move
Lawmakers are moving quickly on several bills that would limit the Governor’s emergency powers such as SB2, (KCC Oppose) which has already passed the Senate and is now in the House. But other bills moving quickly include HB3 and HB4 (also KCC Oppose bills) that have already passed the House and are now in the Senate. We invite you to read our analysis of these bills and contact your lawmakers to express your opposition soon.
More bills to oppose
We ask you to contact your member of the House to strongly oppose HB207 (Gooch) that would prohibit 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. We also ask that you call in strong opposition to SB17 (Alvarado), a tort reform bill that would have a chilling effect on victim's ability to recover damages for environmental harms.
The good news
After such a tumultuous week, we think it best to bring your attention to some of the more positive bills and resolutions. Please thank these lawmakers and ask the lawmakers in your district to co-sign:
HJR11 Strong Support (Osborne) Directs the Energy and Environment Cabinet to study the economic impact and feasibility of adopting an electronic waste disposal program in Kentucky.
HB23 Strong Support (Wheatley) “Fair Maps Act” to establish a commission on fair redistricting.
HB107 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.
HB127 Strong Support (Hatton) Requires that rate affordability be included when the PSC is determining fair, just and reasonable utility rates.