House Education Committee attempts compromise on dropout bill

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

In a meeting of the House Education Committee this week, an attempted compromise proposal passed the committee to address the high school dropout issue in Kentucky.

SB 109 (Westwood) was heard in committee and committee chair Representative Carl Rollins offered an amendment that would make raising the compulsory school attendance age local-option for two years prior to the phase in of the statewide policy in 2017. The bill with the committee-approved amendment would allow local school districts to raise the dropout age to 18 through a local mandate until July 1, 2016 when the statewide phase in would begin. Starting in 2016, students across the state would be required to stay in school until the age of 17 and to 18 starting in 2017.

This is an encouraging development and we encourage legislators to work together on this issue as it moves through the process to send a message to all Kentucky students that dropping out is not an option. This bill joins HB 216 (Greer) and SB 52 (Higdon) in attempting to keep more students in school. It is estimated that approximately 6,000 students drop out of school each year in Kentucky, impacting not only those individuals’ lifetime earning abilities, but the educated workforce from which businesses can hire employees. Nationally, the average unemployment rate of a high school dropout is 13.1 percent, more than three times the 4.2 percent of the population with a bachelor’s degree

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Smoke-free bill to be heard in committee on March 8

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

HB 289 (Westrom), a statewide smoke-free bill that prohibits smoking in indoor public places, is expected to be heard in the House Health and Welfare Committee on March 8 at noon. Chamber members overwhelmingly support a smoke-free law because they now see the effects of smoking on our workforce in terms of absenteeism and lost productivity, as well as their insurance premiums and tax bills. Smoking is not only killing us, it is bankrupting us – both in terms of costs to business and state government. Click here to sign up yourself and your organization to support the cause, and be sure to urge your legislators (1-800-372-7181) to endorse a smoke-free Kentucky. If you would like to testify in support of HB 289 at the committee hearing, please contact cgeorge@kychamber.com. 

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Senate Education Committee passes bill for tribunal reform

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

SB 132 (McGaha) passed the Senate Education Committee this week. The bill would reform the system by which teachers are given due process to appeal termination, suspension or reprimand. The current system to review cases of misconduct and inadequate job performance for school employees is both complicated and inefficient. Superintendents are reluctant to suspend or fire an employee no matter what the employee’s indiscretion, due to the cost, complexity and likelihood that their decision will be overturned.

Currently, when disciplinary action is taken against a teacher or public school employee, they can appeal the action via tribunal. The tribunal is set up similarly to an actual court proceeding, though instead of one judge, the issue is heard before a panel; one lay person, one teacher and one superintendent from a different district. The tribunal hears the facts of the case and then has the opportunity to uphold the disciplinary action taken by the school system, overturn it in its entirety or take alternative action.

SB 132 would make the process more consistent by requiring the same thorough case-review training for all tribunal jurors. It would also delineate between types of cases; ensuring that cases of professional misconduct (i.e. – insubordination or immoral character) would be handled by a hearing officer appointed by the commissioner of education, while cases of poor teacher performance would be handled by an administrator and teacher with teacher evaluation training and an unspecified third person. Though the tribunal process would not change significantly for performance-based cases, the tribunal participants would receive improved training and would no longer be able to create alternative disciplinary actions, only overturn or uphold the school system’s action.

The Chamber joins the Kentucky School Boards Association, Kentucky Association of School Administrators and the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents in supporting the legislation. The Kentucky Education Association opposed the bill. The bill will now move to the full Senate for a vote.

 

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Oppose Rx-only mandate for cold and allergy medication

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

A bill (SB 50) requiring a doctor’s prescription for cold and allergy medication containing pseudoephedrine (PSE) – a key ingredient used to manufacture methamphetamine – was withdrawn this week, but the proposal is not likely going away. Additional bills containing the requirement have been filed and will be discussed in the Senate Judiciary Committee as early as next week. While there is talk of a compromise, it is important to continue to urge your legislators to use every alternative available to decrease meth labs before forcing an Rx-only mandate on Kentucky citizens.

Though the Chamber recognizes the urgent need to address Kentucky’s meth lab problem, there is little evidence mandating a prescription for PSE would actually decrease meth labs. Instead, it would penalize the vast majority of more than 500,000 Kentuckians who purchase these medications legally and increase employer health care costs and absenteeism.

Only two states have mandated Rx-only PSE – Oregon and Mississippi. In Oregon, the number of meth labs declined from 467 in 2004 to 12 in 2010, a 90% decrease. However, most of that decline occurred before the Rx-only requirement was implemented in 2006, by which time the number of labs had already fallen to 50. Nearly every other western state experienced a similar decline in labs as Oregon and ten states have experienced at least a 90% reduction since 2003, indicating the Rx-only requirement was not responsible for curbing meth labs.

Mississippi’s Rx-only mandate was just implemented in July 2010, and the number of meth labs from January-November 2011 have declined by 62%. However, during the same time period, Alabama saw an even steeper decrease – 76%. Because meth is increasingly being manufactured in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S., most experts say homegrown meth labs are beginning to decline across the country.

The Chamber offered a number of other solutions to legislators that could be more effective in combating meth, many of which are contained in HB 80 (Yonts) and SB 79 (Rhoads). These bills decrease the amount of drugs that may be purchased and enhance the real-time Meth Check system (NPLEx) by blocking the sale to those who have been convicted of meth-related crimes. In 2011 alone, NPLEx stopped more than 32,000 illegal boxes of PSE from being sold in Kentucky.

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Bill to streamline business filing process moves forward

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

A bill that created to simplify the process of doing business in Kentucky passed the House State and Local Government Committee today. HB 277(Richards) requires the Secretary of State to create a standard form to be used by all local tax districts for the filing of returns of net profits, gross receipts and occupational license taxes. The current system consists of over 200 local taxing districts each with its separate and unique filing form, creating an administrative hassle for employers. The compromised bill came together thanks to officials from the Kentucky League of Cities and Kentucky Association of Counties working together with numerous business associations to make Kentucky a more business friendly state. The bill now awaits a vote by the full House of Representatives.   Please contact your legislator and urge their support for HB 277.

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Independent contractor clarification passes Senate

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

A measure that clarifies the definition of an independent contractor was passed in the Senate on Wednesday. Chamber-supported SB 77 (Schickel) creates a fair, straightforward procedure that streamlines compliance and ensures a level playing field for employers. Current laws are ambiguous and confusing for those hiring subcontractors. The implementation of a simplified system requiring proof that a subcontractor is truly an independent, legitimate business should be added to the existing laws to speed enforcement. The measure also provides clarity to the Revenue Cabinet’s current authority and streamlines compliance and will enhance revenue collections. Please contact Sen. John Schickel and thank him for his support and hard work to pass this measure in the Senate.

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Expanded gaming clears Senate committee 7-4

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

Senate floor vote today

Kentucky Chamber President and CEO Dave Adkisson joined Gov. Steve Beshear and Agriculture Commissioner James Comer today to testify at the Senate State and Local Government Committee in favor of SB 151 (Thayer), a constitutional amendment that would allow citizens to decide the issue of casino gaming in Kentucky. The bill provides a 60-mile buffer to prevent casinos from cannibalizing our state’s licensed racetracks. After nearly two hours of debate both for and against the bill, committee members passed SB 151 on a vote of 7-4. The Chamber recently joined the Kentucky Alliance for Jobs, a coalition of groups who support the people’s right to vote on expanded gaming.

Senate Bill 151 will be voted on by the full Senate today. Please call the legislative message line NOW at 1-800-372-7181 and ask your senator to support SB 151 and let the people decide or CLICK HERE to email your legislators.

 

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Chamber-supported bill to cap Kentucky’s debt ceiling clears Senate

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

Legislation that would cap the Commonwealth’s debt supported by General Fund appropriations was approved by the Senate Wednesday by a 34-2 vote. SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Bowen and Sen. Thayer, implements a key recommendation of the Chamber’s 2011 Building a Stronger Bucket report by prohibiting the legislature from appropriating more than 6 percent of General Fund appropriated revenues to bonded indebtedness.  That percentage is a generally accepted industry standard used by bond rating agencies and is essential for Kentucky to get its financial house in order. We urge you to contact Sen. Bowen and Sen. Thayer and thank them for their leadership on this issue.

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Let the people decide

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

As you probably know, our organization recently joined a large coalition of Kentucky business, labor, education, economic development, tourism and equine interests in support of putting expanded gaming at racetracks on the ballot this November for the people of Kentucky to decide. Our coalition is called the Kentucky Alliance for Jobs and is the largest coalition to unite behind a major piece of legislation in more than a decade.

87% of Kentuckians support letting the people decide whether we should have a constitutional amendment to allow for expanded gaming in Kentucky. The question of whether we are going to continue sending hundreds of millions of Kentucky dollars to out of state gaming facilities is one that should be answered by the people, not the politicians. We the people should evaluate whether we want to keep those dollars in Kentucky to invest in education, transportation, health care, economic development, and protect the horse industry and protect our heritage and history as the horse racing capital of the world.

There are people of good conscience on both sides of this issue – and we respect both groups and both positions. Our bipartisan goal is very simple and is shared by 87% of the people of Kentucky – whether you are for or against gaming, settle this issue once and for all, and let the people decide.

We need your help getting the message to Frankfort. Please click on this link to “like” the Kentucky Alliance for Jobs Facebook page, and watch your Facebook news feed for updates on our efforts to pass a constitutional amendment. And please be ready to call or email your elected representatives and give them a simple message – let the people decide.

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Chamber president testifies on quality of Kentucky’s graduates

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Kentucky Chamber Blog


At a meeting of the House Budget Review Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education this week, Chamber President and CEO Dave Adkisson shared the employer community’s take on the quality of graduates in Kentucky. Adkisson was invited to join the state’s postsecondary education institution leaders to share in the annual conversation before the legislative committee about the successes and financial situation of the state’s colleges and universities.

Adkisson’s testimony focused on the most recent Chamber member survey questions relevant to postsecondary education, including the quality of graduates and the areas of skills inadequacy faced by Chamber members. Adkisson highlighted Chamber member Atlas Machine Supply Company of Louisville and president Rich Gimmel for his approach to filling his company’s job openings. Gimmel utilizes the local community and technical college system as well as his own dynamic pitch to potential employees to gain the qualified workforce needed to run his 4th generation owned business.

To view Adkisson’s presentation, click here.

Filed under: Education, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

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