(Click here to view the 2007 Legislative Calendar)
This marks the second edition in 2007 of The Capitol Update, a weekly newsletter designed to inform Northern Kentucky Chamber members of critical issues being discussed in Frankfort, as well as an up-to-the-week way to follow progress on the Chamber's legislative priority issues. Future editions will be issued on: February 16, 23, March 2, 9 and 30.
The first meeting of the NKY Legislative Caucus was held on Wednesday, February 7th. Eleven of the sixteen caucus members attended, a very good turn out. Several organizations were included on the agenda and addressed the Caucus, as follows: NKY Chamber Board Chairman, John Cain; City of Covington Commissioner Jerry Stricker; Dobbs Ackermann of The Ackermann Group; & Wally Pagan of Southbank Partners.
Future meetings will be held on Feb. 14, 21, 28 and March 7, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:55 a.m. in Room 111 of the CapitolAnnexBuilding in Frankfort.If you wish to be included on a meeting agenda, contact Caucus Chair Sen. Damon Thayer's assistant, Susan Rambo, at 502-564-8100.
Several NKY Caucus members came together on pieces of legislation this past week. These are not bills that the NKY Chambers currently has a position on, but we wanted to highlight some of the great efforts of our Caucus members in working together on common issues.
Rep. Dennis Keene of Wilder has introduced House Bill 347, a bill designed to grant an extension for Newport on The Levee's tax incentives and to encourage the owners of the entertainment development to make an additional investment in the property.At the Feb. 7th NKY Caucus meeting, Rep. Sal Santoro of Florence brought the preliminary "bill jacket" to the meeting, and all of the House members attending the meeting signed on as co-sponsors.A similar measure is expected in the coming days to assist The Kentucky Speedway, near Sparta.At this writing, Keene's bill has 8 co-sponsors, all from NKY.
Similarly, Rep. Addia Wuchner of Burlington and Sen. Katie Stine of Southgate introduced House Bill 299 and Senate Bill 110 this week, following a press conference held on Thursday, Feb. 8th.The identical or "companion" bills call for integrating 30 minutes of daily physical activity as part of the school day for all elementary and middle schools in the state. Notably, all of the female legislators in the House and Senate, from both parties, co-sponsored this legislation, along with Rep. Simpson and Rep. Draud of NKY. This "consensus-building" approach to increase physical activity follows legislative action in previous years to improve the quality and limit the size of vending machine food/snacks sold on school premises.
The deadline for filing new Senate bills is next Friday, Feb. 16th, and the deadline for filing new House bills is Tuesday, Feb. 20th. Legislators have until these dates to determine all of the pieces of legislation that they wish to file and have considered during the entire 2007 legislative session.
At this writing, nearly 400 bills have been introduced in the House and nearly 150 bills in the Senate. On average, less than 10% of these bills will become law, and because this is a "short" 30-day session, the percentage of bills actually becoming law may be even lower.
Of this total, the Chamber staff is following approximately 50 bills very closely that are aligned with our "Where We Stand" policy positions.
Thanks to Kentucky's Legislative Research Commission (LRC) website (www.lrc.ky.gov), you too can follow legislation of interest on a daily basis. Click here to go directly to the LRC page dedicated to 2007 legislation.
(Click here to review the NKY Chamber's 2007 Bill Tracker. Please note that some bills are not priority issues, but are being monitored by the Chamber as they may be of interest to some of our members.)
Vetoed Projects.HB 1, co-sponsored by Speaker of the House Jody Richards of Bowling Green and House Appropriations Chair Harry Moberly of Richmond, reinstates projects previouslyline-item vetoed by Governor Fletcher at the end of the 2006 General Assembly.The Northern Kentucky Consensus Committee process determines its capital project needs on a regional basis, and the Carrollton campus of the JeffersonCommunity & TechnicalCollege was the only NKY project not funded.HB 1 funds the relocation/expansion of the Carrollton campus ($12 million). NKYChamber supports.
NKU Residence Hall.HB 327, sponsored by House Appropriations Chair Harry Moberly of Richmond, allows NKU to spend its own agency funds to acquire and renovate an existing building for more residence hall capacity on campus ($23 million). NKYChamber supports.
Health Care Transparency.While a bill has not yet been filed, one is expected to be introduced next week on this issue.The bill will likely be sponsored by House Health & Welfare Committee Chair Tom Burch of Louisville, and it appears to enjoy widespread support.This bill will includes language which directs the Cabinet for Health & Family Services to create a website where consumers can easily access statewide information on health care costs, outcomes, and quality. This language was originally included in the 2006 State Budget Bill. The problem is that the Budget Bill will sunset in June 30, 2008, so currently this provision would also end in 2008. It is important that this health care information provision be made permanent.NKYChamber supports.
Teacher Incentives.Several bills were filed this week on this issue. All of the bills propose different types of financial incentives for teachers. They are as follows:
