KCC List of House Bills we are watching as of 3/19

KCC List of Senate Bills we are watching as of 3/19

March 18th marked the 51st day of the 60-day legislative session. The General Assembly will conclude on April 14th.

How to Act on bills: You may call the Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 From 7AM-9PM M-TH and from 7AM-4:30 PM on Fridays. Or you can email lawmakers using this link.

Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Action

KCC spent time during the past two weeks working with electric vehicle advocates, to move or amend several bills dealing with electric and hybrid vehicles. During the week, we took a break with the Evolve Electric Vehicle group to join them in the Louisville St. Patrick’s Day Parade (photos above).

Working with EV advocacy groups, we are advocating for the following actions on HB8 (Revenue Bill):

To clarify EV charger language in House Bill 8 on proposed fees ($0.03/Kwh excise tax) for electric vehicle chargers to ensure that “fee free” chargers are not impacted.
To work on modifications to prevent double-taxation on Kentuckians who do not have home chargers, since they may be subject to both a $140 road usage fee and the excise tax.
To remove language in House Bill 8 that includes Hybrid cars as vehicles subject to new road usage fees. We feel this is misplaced, since Hybrids already pay taxes for the gas they use.

We believe that all users of the road should pay their fair share. However we also want to ensure that the desire to collect fees from electric cars does not depress this emerging market and is structured in ways that are comparable to internal combustion engine cars. In addition to the advocacy work on House Bill 8, we also urge you to support Senator Higdon’s bill SB347, which asks the Cabinet to develop an electric vehicle infrastructure development plan. That bill has passed the Senate and is now in House Transportation.

Oppose NOW:

SB205 (KCC Strong Oppose) State Opposition to Energy Boycotts (Mills) This bill claims investment firms and corporations are colluding to force fossil fuel companies to transition to clean energy and are boycotting fossil fuel companies, so now it wants the state to not do business with the firms and companies that are boycotting fossil fuel companies. Allows the attorney general or the treasurer to enforce.

ACT: Tell the House Natural Resources Committee that you “oppose SB205.” The phone lines open at 7AM on Monday. You may also email members of the committee here.

Support NOW:

HB222 Anti-SLAPP legislation (Strategic lawsuit against public participation). (KCC Strong Support) (Kulkarni) Allows you to recover costs and attorney fees for successful defense of SLAPPs.

ACT: This bill passed 82-0 in the House, was reported favorably in Senate Judiciary, and is now in the Senate Rules Committee. We now ask you to contact the “full Senate”. Call the legislative message line (1-800-372-7181) to support.

Funding for Land Conservation: Please take a few minutes to review this land coalition brief prepared by Kentucky Conservation Committee, Kentucky Natural Lands Trust, Bluegrass Land Conservancy and American Farmland Trust with core information about our land conservation funding shortfall, and then:

ACT: CALL members of the Budget Conference Committee (where the budget bill currently resides) to express your support for more land conservation funding. in the state budget House Bill 1,. Contact House and Senate Appropriations & Revenue and House and Senate Leadership. Call the Legislative Message Line (1-800-372-7181) and ask for your message to be directed to the “conference committee” and tell them you want to see more funding directed to land conservation as described in the “Conserving Kentucky” plan.

More Bills On the Move:

HJR41 (KCC Strong Support) (Bowling) Directs the Department of Revenue and the University of Kentucky's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources to submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission detailing their recommendations for equitable property tax assessment procedures for well-managed forests. This resolution is strongly recommended by our allies at the Kentucky Woodland Owners Association, a KCC Partner organization.

ACT: This resolution was adopted 89-0 in the House this week and is now in Senate Natural Resources & Energy. Email or call Senate Natural Resources (1-800-372-7181) to support.

Support the “Tree Bill.” - HB485 (KCC Strong Support) (Timoney) An act relating to vegetation maintenance— requires electric utilities regulated by the Public Service Commission to have a vegetation management plan approved by the commission and that vegetation maintenance to be performed in conformance with ANSI standards endorsed by the International Society of Arboriculture. The bill establishes notice requirements to the public and property owners, and allows property owners to sue utilities for unauthorized tree pruning. The bill is now in the House Local Government Committee as of 3/17.

ACT: Contact members of the House Local Government Committee immediately to support this bill. Call the legislative message line (1-800-372-7181) to support.

Continue to Oppose:

“Riot” bills HB396 (in House Committee on Committees) and SB44 now in Senate Judiciary. Contact Senate Judiciary (1-800-372-7181) to oppose.. Summary info here.
Utility Rate bill HB341 (Gooch) that impacts transparency on utility rates. See details here.
“Grid Reliability” bill HB470 (Gooch) that requites "intermittent power" (solar, wind) to provide "firm power" (coal power) up to its average output level during periods of peak net load,

Solar Update:

HB392 (Branscum) “AN ACT relating to merchant electric generating facilities” that provides rules for large scale solar and other energy facilities was passed out of the House and then amended in the Senate with provisions we support, similar to those in Senate bill 69. The bill is now back in the House for concurrence. We strongly support HB392 as amended by the Senate.

ACT: The bill is currently in the House Rules committee and could move at any time. Ask the House to “concur” with the bill as amended in the Senate by Senate Committee Sub 1, (SCS1). Call the legislative message line (1-800-372-7181).

Other News

Cryptocurrency/Bitcoin “Gold Rush” in Kentucky (link here). We want to thank the Thomson Reuters Foundation for their wonderfully detailed article about how cryptocurrency companies are converging on Kentucky, the implications on energy use for certain currency such as Bitcoin, and implications for the climate as well as the communities where these projects reside.

KCC featured cryptocurrency as one of our topics during our January Annual Meeting, due to several bills that were filed this session and the previous two sessions. We hope you will take some time to read this important article.

And then see KCC’s actions on SB16, SB17 and SB67 on our Senate list and HB387 on our House list for actions to take. More background info here.

Senate committee approves measure that seeks research on nuclear energy. Senate Concurrent Resolution 171 received approval this week from the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee with an 8-0 vote. Sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Benton, the legislation would request the Legislative Research Commission examine funding sources and research institutions capable of conducting a feasibility study of advanced nuclear energy technology for electric power generation in Kentucky. The Tennessee Valley Authority is working toward small modular reactors, with one in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. If the legislation is signed into law, a committee or subcommittee at LRC would explore funding sources for a feasibility study.

Support EVs, Support Trees