Key education measures move forward

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

Drop Out Bill

A bill giving school districts the power to mandate student attendance until age 18 passed the House Education Committee on Thursday morning.

Senate Bill 97, sponsored by Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, is the Republican Senate’s alternative to the Democratic House’s bill to mandate school attendance to age 18 statewide. Currently school attendance is compulsory to age 16. The bill passed the Senate earlier 36-2.

The House has already passed its dropout bill, House Bill 224, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Greer, D-Brandenburg, which would raise the compulsory school attendance age to 17 in 2017 and to age 18 a year later.  HB 224 passed out of the House earlier this session but has yet to have a hearing in the Senate Education Committee.

Compromising with the Senate, the House changed the provisions of SB 97 to include a provision that if 55% of school districts adopt the mandate to make the minimum drop out age 18, a statewide law will go into effect after four years.

Gov. Steve Beshear has made the dropout bill a top priority this legislative session. The Chamber is supportive of the collaborative effort to send the message that kids should not be permitted to dropout.

Early Graduation

Senate Bill 61, sponsored by Sen. Mike Wilson, allows high school juniors who meet specific academic criteria to graduate from high school early and attend a public two-year or four-year postsecondary institution, getting them into the workforce quicker. The bill passed the Senate last week and had a hearing in the House Education Committee Thursday.

As a compromise, the House added the provision that if a student graduates from high school early, state funding that is distributed to schools under the SEEK formula would be split between the school district and a one year scholarship that the student could use at a college/university, or at a trade/technical school.

This Chamber-supported bill now heads for a vote on the House floor.

Filed under: Education, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Hemp bill one step away from Governor’s desk

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

Senate Bill 50 (Hornback), which creates a structure for the regulation and production of industrial hemp, if and when the federal government allows it to be grown, passed the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee on Tuesday morning. Rep. Tommy Turner, of Somerset was the only no vote in committee.  Before hearing SB 50, Chairman Tom McKee addressed the Committee and stated that despite reports regarding the hearing on the bill last week, he did not abruptly end the meeting, nor was it his intent to block a vote on this important issue.

After the vote, Cynthiana farmer, Brian Furnish, a member of the Hemp Commission, spoke to the committee to encourage their support of allowing a hearing of SB 50 on the House floor.  Speaker Greg Stumbo is on record as not being in favor of the legislation. With only six legislative days left in the 2013 session, a vote on the House floor is the last step for the bill before heading to the Governor’s desk for signature into law.

Legislation has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Thomas Massie, Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell. The Chamber supports SB 50 to position Kentucky as a leader in the production and commercialization of industrial hemp.

Filed under: Government Modernization, Kentucky Competitiveness | Leave a Comment »

Take action on pension reform

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

Only 7 days remain in the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly. Urge legislators to avoid a special session by working together in conference committee to pass pension reform now. Call 1-800-372-7181.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Kentucky Business Leaders Support Smoke-Free Law to Strengthen State’s Economy

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

New report shows smoke-free legislation is good for Kentucky’s businesses and future workforce

FRANKFORT, KY (February 21, 2013) – Kentucky business leaders today released a report from America’s Edge showing that passage of a statewide smoke-free law will improve Kentucky companies’ bottom lines, help attract new businesses and workers, and produce a more productive current and future workforce.

According to the report, Smoke-Free Legislation Is Good for Kentucky Businesses, the ongoing costs to businesses from smoking are substantial. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking-caused direct health costs in Kentucky are $1.5 billion annually, with Kentucky businesses absorbing much of those costs. Productivity losses related to early deaths from smoking cost Kentucky businesses $2.3 billion every year.

“Tobacco use costs the state’s economy $3.8 billion in health care costs and lost productivity,” said Dave Adkisson, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. “This drain on our precious financial resources is preventable, and we need to take action now.”

The America’s Edge report shows that Kentucky’s future economy is already jeopardized by the large percentage of the workforce that is already hooked on tobacco. Over 24 percent of the state’s high school students are already smoking, and 6,100 Kentucky youth start smoking each year. According to the CDC, employees who smoke cost their employers an average of $1,897 in lost productivity each year, and a national study on U.S. workforce productivity found that tobacco use was one of the greatest causes of lost worker production time – greater than alcohol consumption, family emergencies, age or education.

Fortunately, Kentucky has the power to change these potential outcomes. In states, counties, and cities across America with strong smoke-free laws, the odds that children will start smoking drop by 40 percent.

And while smoking hurts businesses’ bottom lines, smoke-free laws will not. An extensive U.S. Surgeon General’s report found no adverse impact from smoke-free laws on the hospitality industry. A study of Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky, found that “No important economic harm stemmed from the smoke-free legislation over the period studied.” Restaurant employment grew. Employment in bars stayed the same, and bar openings and closings showed no significant difference.

The report is available here.

Filed under: Health & Wellness | Leave a Comment »

House Committee hears Right to Work law, but no vote taken

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

For the first time in seven years the House Labor and Industry Committee heard four labor bills that would make Kentucky more competitive and in line with surrounding states. Arguments from both sides were heard, but per the sponsor, Rep. Jim Decesare, no vote was taken.

House Bill 308, “The Kentucky Right to Work Act,” removes the requirement that anyone employed in Kentucky would be forced to become or remain a member of a labor organization or pay dues to any union or third party organization.

House Bill 309, would add a new section to KRS 65 that would remove the provision requiring a labor agreement on any project for the Commonwealth and cities, counties, consolidated local governments, districts and local public agencies.

House Bill 311, removes the construction of any elementary, secondary or post secondary education buildings from the definition of ‘public works’ under KRS 337.010.  The change would include but not be limited to adjunct and support buildings, dorms, administrative buildings, sports facilities, parking facilities, and health facilities.

The last of Rep. DeCesare’s four bills, House Bill 312, essentially repeals all definitions of prevailing wage.  It removes all language related to the various definitions, pay schedule, and penalties and fines related to Kentucky’s prevailing wage under various current statues.  It also does away with Kentucky’s Prevailing Wage Review Board, and also changes the maximum amount paid to a master electrician for an inspection from the prevailing wage scale to a wage paid to an amount equal to what the majority of master electricians are paid in the region specific to the inspection.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce commends Rep. Decesare and supports these pro-business pieces of proposed legislation. States with similar laws report faster per capita income growth, faster growth in manufacturing and non-agricultural jobs, greater capital expenditures, lower unemployment and fewer work stoppages. As Kentucky struggles to recruit new business and to retain existing and expanding businesses, Kentucky’s failure to enact pro-business legislation has allowed the Commonwealth to cede competitive ground to other states.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Take action on Senate Bill 2

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Chamber urges lawmakers not to back up on pension reform

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Kentucky Chamber Blog

On Feb. 20, the Kentucky Chamber delivered a letter to members of the Kentucky General Assembly urging them to pass Senate Bill 2 - pension reform - without “watering it down.” The bill incorporates the bipartisan recommendations of a legislative task force that spent several months last year reviewing the problems and developing proposed solutions.

Let your legislators know that Kentucky’s employers won’t consider the 2013 session a success unless meaningful pension reform is enacted.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 53 other followers

%d bloggers like this: