The Halfway Mark: General Assembly 2024
We are now on day 33 of the 60 day legislative session. The last day to file new bills in the House will be on February 26th. The last day to file new bills in the Senate will be February 28th. The General Assembly will be on recess through President’s Day on Monday and will resume at 4PM on February 20th. HOWEVER- We have checked and the Legislative Message Line will be OPEN on President’s Day- So this is a GREAT time to make calls! 1-800-372-7181 (Monday-Thurs. 7AM-9PM and Friday 7AM-6PM) to express your views on these bills. You may also email your legislators.
Senator Schickel presents Senate Bill 16, the “Ag Gag” bill, to the Senate for that chamber’s vote before heading to the House.
“Ag Gag” Bill SB16 Passes the Senate, Moves On to the House….Continue to “Oppose.”
Senate Bill 16 (Schickel, KCC Strong Oppose) has now passed the Senate and is on its way to the House. This is an anti-transparency bill, which will make it more difficult for employees and citizens from holding recalcitrant companies accountable for unlawful actions, and will make it more difficult for the public from being educated on where their food comes from. The driver for this bill is a focus on the poultry industry, which is reportedly the largest agricultural industry in the state.
We believe the bill is overly broad and will cause harmful intended and unintended consequences to workplace and public safety. The bill prohibits the operation of unmanned aircraft such as drones, video or audio recording devices, or photography equipment on or above animal feeding operations, concentrated animal feeding operations, or commercial food manufacturing or processing facilities without written consent of the owner or authorized representative of the facility and establishes criminal liability for violations. While the law exempts the use of unmanned aircrafts by several parties, primarily government officials, law enforcement, emergency services, insurance personnel, and utilities, from criminal liability, it does not exempt these same parties from criminal liability for those that record or distribute, photographically, electronically, or otherwise, any part, procedure, or action of a key infrastructure asset.
KCC provided the following brief to the Agriculture Committee on the original bill, which was held at first for “additional work.” However the revised Senate Committee Substitute 1 continued to be every bit as problematic if not more so, using a different statute in a previously-signed bill from several years ago that was designed to protect on “critical infrastructure” such as fossil fuel pipelines.
ACT: The bill is now in the House Committee on Committees. Please contact your Representative and House Leadership to oppose this bill.
More Actions to address PFAS contamination filed this week
Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering regulatory measures with respect to perfluoroalkyl and 3 polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS. This week, Senator Brandon Smith filed Senate Joint Resolution 149, another PFAS action that directs the Energy and Environment Cabinet to provide guidance and consultation on best management practices for PFAS to entities that discharge directly or indirectly into Kentucky's waterways. This joint resolution is the latest action on PFAS, in addition to Senate Bill 159 (Armstrong) and House Bill 116 (Kulkarni) that Establishes a PFAS Working Group to research the effect that exposure to PFAS has on health outcomes in the Commonwealth. As for the previous PFAS bills:
SB159 has currently been assigned to Senate State & Local Government. Contact members of that committee and ask them to “support.”
HB116 remains stuck in the House Committee on Committees. Contact your Representative to ask them to co-sponsor this bill, and then contact the Committee on Committees and ask them to assign this bill to a committee.
Highlights of New Bills and Resolutions of Note This Week:
House Bill 501 (Oppose) (Dossett) Which limits the Govern’s powers by requiring Senate confirmation for all appointments or reappointments made by the Governor to many boards, commissions, committees, and councils. Contact your Representative to oppose.
House Bill 509 (Strong Oppose) (Hodgson) which has been described as an “assault on transparency” and open records See full details on our House bill list, and see this article by the Kentucky Lantern. Contact your Representative to oppose.
House Bill 531 (Strong Support) (Donan) Excludes hybrid vehicles and hybrid motorcycles from the ownership fee paid annually when registering an electric or hybrid vehicle. A $60 per year fee began to be imposed on hybrid vehicles and motorcycles on January 1, 2024. The same fee is not imposed on ICE vehicles that can attain similar gas mileage. Contact your Representative to support.
House Bill 582 (Strong Support) (Palumbo) Another bill that also excludes hybrid vehicles from the ownership fee paid annually when registering an electric or hybrid vehicle. Applies to registrations of vehicles completed on or after August 1, 2024. Contact your Representative to support.
Senate Bill 216 (Oppose) (Carpenter) Prohibits the Transportation Cabinet or any other state agency, department, or political subdivision from adopting or enforcing emissions standards on new motor vehicles, or from requiring purchase or sale of electric vehicles. Contact your Senator to oppose.
Lane Boldman, Cathy Clement and Randy Strobo Visiting Rep. Duvall (Left) and Rep. Burke (Right) during “Stop the Shutoffs” Lobby Day to support HB180
“Stop the Shutoffs” Lobby Day a Success- Tell Reps. to Support HB180
This past week, several of the nonprofits participating in the "Kentuckians for Energy Democracy" Coalition (K4ED), including KCC, interest groups, met with lawmakers to build more support for House Bill 180. See KCC’s summary on this bill here.
In Case You Missed It: Budget Bill (HB6) Favors Gas Fleet Vehicles over EVs
We found it curious that the two-year state spending plan in House Bill 6, passed by the House this month would require various state agencies looking to replace fleet vehicles to purchase ONLY those that have internal combustion engines. In the section titled "Fleet Management Vehicle Replacement" we observed the following language: "Every fleet vehicle replaced shall be replaced with a vehicle that has an internal combustion engine." Read more in this story in the Kentucky Lantern. House Bill 6 is currently in Senate Appropriations & Revenue—Ask them to remove that requirement.
And while you're making those calls...If you have not yet asked your Representative to support House Bill 398 (KCC Strong Support) now's your chance! This bill will will exempt low-wattage “Level 2” public EV chargers from the 3-cent per kw tax on electricity used for these chargers. Contact your Representative and ask them to be a co-sponsor of House Bill 398.