Beech Tree News Network

With the end of the 2021 Regular Session in sight, fellow lawmakers and I are wrapping up legislative efforts by passing a variety of bills and finalizing the state’s annual budget.

As bills move through the process, vetoes are always a possibility. With that, the General Assembly needs to pass most bills by Tuesday, March 16, to consider any veto overrides that may be necessary.

Why so soon? The legislature will recess on Tuesday, March 16 and will reconvene on Monday, March 29. During the recess period, the Governor will have time to consider bills that have arrived on his desk. Upon returning to the Capitol at the end of the month, the legislature will only have 2 days remaining to pass additional legislation and override any vetoes. Therefore, any legislation sent to the governor during those final days will not be eligible for a veto override, as we are constitutionally required to conclude Regular Session business before April 1 in odd numbered years.

In other news, the House and Senate have overridden the Governor’s vetoes on Senate Bill (SB) 3 and House Bill (HB) 6. Since both of these measures contain what’s known as an emergency clause, the bills go into effect immediately upon becoming law rather than 90 days after adjournment.

Senate Bill 3 moves the Office of Agricultural Policy under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner’s Office. Moving these critical boards under the authority of the Commissioner of Agriculture streamlines our efforts to strengthen Kentucky Agriculture and help our farmers. The office’s official role is the promotion of interests of agriculture and horticulture, agricultural revenues, and the protection of Kentucky’s livestock industries.

House Bill 6 strengthens an already existing legislative committee which, with the passing of this bill, would become the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee. It codifies subpoena powers, gives the committee the ability to maintain the confidentiality of investigative documents, and imposes fines on those in non-compliance with the committee’s efforts.

Bills are now with the Governor for consideration include:

House Bill 312 limits the ability of people who do not live, work or conduct business in Kentucky to obtain records through the state’s open records law. These restrictions would not apply, however, to out-of-state journalists. A second section of HB 312 would explicitly allow open record requests to be made via email. A third would provide a standardized form for the requests but not require that it be used. Under this bill, the time to comply with requests would also be lengthened to five days from three.

House Bill 518 would change the makeup of the Kentucky State Fair Board and clarify how it operates. Not only does the fair board operate the Kentucky Exposition Center where the state fair is held, but it also operates the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville. The two properties have an annual $500 million economic impact and generate $40 million in taxes.

The General Assembly took significant steps regarding the one-year State Budget this past week. Biennial budgets, or two-year budgets, are traditionally enacted in even-numbered years, the 60-day regular sessions of the General Assembly. As the budget was being crafted last year amid the pandemic's onset, legislators did not know what the economic outlook, and therefore, what state revenues would be. Out of an abundance of caution, it was determined to pass only a one-year budget, then return to the 30-day session this year to pass another. This year’s budget will essentially be a continuing budget and will look similar to last year’s budget. 

The budget conference committee met to publicly review and discuss decisions regarding the budget proposals from the Governor, the House, and the Senate. This committee consists of Majority and Minority Leadership and Appropriation and Revenue Committee Chairmen from both chambers. You can find the archived video of budget conference committee meetings by visiting www.ket.org/legislature/archives.

I know many still suffer from the economic impacts of COVID-19. A recent report from the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet shows that our state unemployment rate more than doubled to 6.6 percent during the shutdowns. According to the Director of the University of Kentucky’s Center for Business and Economic Research, the report’s numbers likely do not reflect the true magnitude of the impact the last year has had on the jobless rate and unemployment. Between March and April of 2020, unemployment spiked to almost 17 percent.

Constituents are still sharing their frustrations with legislators, indicating that they cannot connect with anyone at the Labor Cabinet to assist with their claims. Unfortunately, the unemployment claim process is solely an executive branch function.

The legislature has done all it can to assist, such as recently passing Senate Bill 7, which gives the Secretary of the Labor Cabinet authority to forgive requirements that people pay back benefits mistakenly given to them but did not qualify for. I encourage you to keep in good spirits. I am hopeful that with a decline in COVID-19 cases, regional unemployment offices will reopen soon for in-person appointments. Please take a moment to visit the Kentucky Career Center website at www.kcc.ky.gov to view phone appointment availability.

I continue to keep those impacted by recent weather events in my prayers. It has been inspiring to see communities and the whole state come together to support those in need. Please remain patient as assessments of damage are done by the state to determine our unmet needs. Once preliminary damage assessments are conducted by federal, state, and local officials, the Governor can submit a declaration request to the regional FEMA administrator. The president can decide whether or not to grant it.

These final days of the session will be busy, so I encourage you to utilize the many legislative resources available to the public. Stay up to date on committee meetings and bill activity by visiting the LRC’s website at www.legislature.ky.gov. Additionally, you can stream live legislative coverage by logging onto www.ket.org/legislature.

If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or email me at [email protected].

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Note: Senator C.B. Embry, JR (R-Morgantown) represents the 6th District including Butler, Hopkins, Muhlenberg, and Ohio Counties. He is Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee and Co-Chairman of the Tobacco Settlement Statutory Committee. Senator Embry is also a member of the Senate Standing Committees on Transportation; and Natural Resources, and Energy.