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The 8th week of the Kentucky legislative session passed fairly quietly, with a slew of bills coming out of committee on a wide variety of issues, none of which address the biggest of the session: the budget, the road fund, and any potential revenue raising bills that may accompany those. Historically, things are right on schedule, but that is not necessarily desirable for a legislative body that has been repeatedly called back to Frankfort for failure to pass budgets and road plans during regular sessions. Regardless of the result, the process begins to move more rapidly in March. Legislative receptions will give way to impromptu committee hearings, extended recesses and longer floor debates as the legislature races to the April 1st veto recess.
GREEN SLIP TIME-[1]911 BILL [2]NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION[3]
HB 391, sponsored by Rep. Martha Jane King, contains several fixes for local government-funded 911dispatch centers. But it is struggling to garner enough support from the House Appropriations & Revenue committee. We must have affirmative commitments from the members listed below, or it will not receive a hearing. Opponents to the bill are working to circulate inaccurate information in hopes of maintaining the current disparity in prepaid fees, which has cost 911 over $21M since 2006. We need your call by Monday to set the record straight with your legislator. Please utilize the attached fact sheet on HB 391 when speaking with your legislator on every facet of this bill
. It will ensure 911 receives more equitable funding across the board from all technology capable of a 911 connection, not just local general fund dollars or declining landline fees.
If you have a representative listed below, we urge you to contact your legislators by Monday and ask for their vote. Each month, counties lose money to declining landlines and prepaid phone cards that remit 40% less than contracted phone carriers. It is critical that you give your House members the assurance needed to vote this bill out of committee and onto the House floor.
Rep. Rick Rand, ChairmanRep. Marie Rader
Rep. Dwight ButlerRep. Jody Richards
Rep. Bob DamronRep. Steven Rudy
Rep. Arnold SimpsonRep. Sal Santoro
Rep. John "Bam" CarneyRep. Rita Smart
Rep. Leslie CombsRep. John Will Stacy
Rep. Jesse CrenshawRep. Fitz Steele
Rep. Ron CrimmRep. Jim Stewart III
Rep. Mike DenhamRep. Tommy Turner
Rep. Myron DossettRep. David Watkins
Rep. Kelly FloodRep. Jim Wayne
Rep. Jim GlennRep. Susan Westrom
Rep. Richard HendersonRep. AddiaWuchner
Rep. Jimmie LeeRep. Jill York
Rep. Reginald Meeks
If you cannot reach them at home this weekend, contact them in Frankfort during the week by calling the Legislative Research Commission's direct number at (502) 564-8100 and asking for your representative listed above. You can also call the Legislative Message Line and leave your green slip message at (800) 372-7181.
ROAD FUND IN JEOPARDY
House committees held informational hearings on several major policy initiatives this week. The House Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation met to discuss the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s proposed road plan. The road fund is separate from the general fund in Kentucky, and its coffers are filled mostly by a gasoline tax that is established by a formula based on the average wholesale price per gallon. The formula is such that the tax “floor” drops faster than the “ceiling” rises. Market forces have substantially reduced that tax floor, thus reducing available road funds, leaving legislative members with a choice to raise the gasoline tax or risk jeopardizing projects in districts across the state. The road plan as presented is predicated on that higher gasoline tax, which provides extra motivation for members to raise the floor. The road fund bills typically follow the same timeline as the other budget bills. The KACo legislative committee supports raising the gas tax "floor" in the Governor's budget. In January, the 1.5% drop caused an $18M hit to local governments. Call your legislators and tell them you support the adjusted floor for the gas tax as proposed in the Governor's budget (HB 235).
CONSTABLES
On Tuesday, HB 158 sponsored by Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Boone, Kenton, Campbell) passed out of the House Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain joined Rep. Koenig at the table, along with Commissioner John Bizzack of the Department of Criminal Justice Training. The bill would allow each fiscal court to decide on the need for constables in their county, and abolish the office if desired, as well as reestablish the office. Language was added to allow cities in a county that does not abolish the office to prohibit a constable from exercising any authority within city boundaries. The bill awaits a House floor vote. This level of home rule is the best compromise for all stakeholders. Please tell your legislator to ask House leadership to bring the bill up for a floor vote.
LIFT
On Thursday, the House Economic Development Committee hosted a discussion on LIFT – the proposal to give local communities the option to impose up to one additional penny on the sales tax to fund specific projects. Among those testifying in support of this local control option were Lexington Mayor Jim Gray and Washington County Magistrate Hal Goode, who also serves as executive director of the Kentucky Association for Economic Development. 37 states already allow a local option sales tax, and in order for Kentucky to become the 38th, the legislature must first put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The committee’s response was quite favorable, with the theme of local control and the lack of federal and state funding for economic development projects resonating with members. Constitutional amendment bills have been filed in both the Senate (SB 135) and House (HB 399), with the accompanying enabling legislation expected to drop next week. If the amendment language were to pass, it would appear on Kentuckians’ ballots in November of 2014.
TRENDING ISSUES
The growing popularity of electronic cigarettes have prompted legislators to take a closer look at how they are defined, how they are taxed, where they can be “smoked” and to whom they may be sold. Over a half-dozen bills, plus the governor’s tax reform proposal, attempt to address those issues, and the Senate moved one of those forward in committee this week. SB109 would restrict the sale and possession of e-cigarettes to minors and may be voted on by the entire Senate as early as next week. The statewide smoking ban bill remains ready to be heard by the full House if and when advocates can wrangle together a majority. In a related note, a Kentucky legislative committee passed a measure that would approve the use of medical marijuana with a prescription. Three Louisville legislators sponsor HB 350, but the measure is buoyed in part by Speaker Greg Stumbo’s (D) open-mindedness to the concept. It is hard to imagine a scenario in which the full House supports the measure, but the issue has moved farther and faster than many observers would have anticipated just a year ago. For its part, the Senate Health & Welfare committee moved a bill that would allow cannabis oil to be used in certain medical situations.
Additional issues that gained some notoriety this week were the passage of a pilot program that would open juvenile court hearings to the public and an ethics bill that would implement a “no cup of coffee” rule for legislators to cut down on gifts from lobbyists. Also, after three hours of cumulative debate over multiple committee hearings, the House Judiciary Committee passed a proposal that would define “naturalgasliquids” in Kentucky statutes and prevent the use of eminentdomain(HB 31) for land acquisition for the pipelines that carry them. The bill as originally drafted intended to specifically address the Bluegrass Pipeline proposal, but the amended version that passed committee encompasses a host of existing projects and operations large and small. Its fate before the whole House is uncertain.
Expanded gaming continues to be a topic of conversation. Rep. Larry Clark, House Speaker Pro-tem and sponsor of that chamber's bills on gaming, met again this week with representatives of Kentucky Thoroughbred tracks on Thursday to get his bills moving through the process.
RIGHT TO WORK
On Thursday, House Republicans unveiled a Right to Work bill (HB 496) that would prevent employers from forcing employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment. The measure was introduced in a press conference that was attended by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, who lamented missing out on economic development opportunities to other – particularly southern – states who have already passed Right to Work. With the House majority on the line in the 2014 general election, Democrats and Republicans have used this session to jockey for position in November. The lines are quite clear; Democrats have zeroed in on a an economic growth strategy based on wage protections and public investment in education and workforce development, while Republicans are following the lead of border and peer states that have modified their tax and policy statutes in an attempt to spur corporate and private investment.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Next week marks another milestone on the legislative calendar. Monday, March 3rd, will be the last day for the filing of new House Bills. The Senate deadline is two days later on Wednesday, March 5th – the 40th day of session. Look for a laundry list of bill introductions, including several “mule” or “vehicle” bills serving more or less as placeholders, to be repopulated at a later date with the actual legislation intended for the bill. It is at this point in the session that amendment filings take on much greater importance. You can access the KACo bill tracking list by clicking here.
Upcoming Key Dates:
March 3-Last Day for New House Bills to be filed (Day 38)
March 5-Last Day for New Senate Bills to be filed (Day 40)
March 28 and 31-Concurrence Only
April 1-11-Veto days
April 15-SINE DIE (Day 60)
Legislative Message Line, open M-Th 7 a.m. to 11-p.m and Fridays until 6 p.m.: 1(800) 372-7181.
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