The Kentucky legislature’s interim committee meetings kicked off Thursday at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington.
The meetings were also held in conjunction with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s “NKY United,” an event meant to showcase the Northern Kentucky region.
“The interim gives us the time to do a little deeper delve into the issues that are coming at us and/or what we just finished in the session,” said Senate President Pro Tem David Givens (R-Greensburg).
The interim meetings combine members from the Senate and House and meet when the legislature is not in session; members of the committees meet separately when in session. The goal is to bring them together to form one large committee instead of having senators and representatives talk about the issues separately.
“We get the chance not only to discuss new important issues but to discuss it across the chambers,” Givens said.
The meetings are held throughout the year outside of the legislative session. This year the committees are making a couple of special trips, with the first being Northern Kentucky and the second the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville.
The committees that met Thursday include: Licensing and Occupations; Economic Development; Tourism, Small Business, and Information Technology; Health, Welfare, and Family Services; Transportation; Banking and Insurance; and Appropriations and Revenue.
With the meetings held in Northern Kentucky, a lot of NKY companies and institutions presented to the myriad of committee meetings. Representatives from CVG, the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky, Enzweiler Building Institute, New Riff Distilling, and Braxton Brewing Company were among several that talked to different committees.
While presentations were an important portion of the meetings, the committees addressed some critical issues. With the legislature just passing a budget during its 60-day session, the committees will be meeting with stakeholders throughout the state to understand how the money is spent.
“We just came off a budget session this spring,” Givens said, elaborating that it’s the largest chance the Republican-controlled legislature has had to invest Kentucky’s money in infrastructure and ongoing improvements. The state also had a windfall of money from the federal COVID-19 emergency bills, such as the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan.
“We’re going to be having lots of talks about the budget,” Givens said, then they will focus on, “Are we hitting the revenue targets necessary to keep the budget on track? Right now, it looks like we are, but this is a turbulent time.”
The interim committees will also be looking at elections in the fall. Topics such as election integrity and voter turnout are on the agenda. Primary turnout was 19 percent statewide, which fell below the 23 percent predicted by Secretary of State Michael Adams. The low turnout was just one reason some argue that the Northern Kentucky caucus lost three influential chairmen to far-right challengers.
Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger), Rep. Ed Massey (R-Union), and Rep. Sal Santoro (R-Union) all held important chairmanships in the House. Koenig chaired the Licensing & Occupations, Massey the Judiciary, and Santoro chaired the Transportation subcommittee.
The committees will also be talking about the school safety questions facing the country and state.
“That along with the school safety questions that I’m confident will be coming at us in the work we’ve done with the SROs (School Resource Officers) in 2019 and Senate Bill one with school safety,” Givens said.
All schools will be required to implement an SRO by Aug. 1. In the 2022 session, Rep. Kevin Bratcher (R-Louisville) introduced House Bill 63, which serves as an extension of the School Safety and Resiliency Act passed in 2019 requiring an SRO in Kentucky schools.
One major issue facing the bill and its implementation is that some schools don’t have the funding. Schools that don’t comply, or don’t have the financial means to comply, can reach out to the Kentucky State School Security Marshal Ben Wilcox. The office was created as part of this bill in 2019.
“I know the Speaker (of the House) and the President (of the Senate) have both spoken together this week and have indicated commitment to make sure the funding is there,” Givens said.
The interim committee meetings will be heard throughout the session and the rest of the year.