January 15, 2016 Legislative Report No. 3 - Kentucky General Assembly
Posted on Jan 15, 2016We have been discussing several of our priority issues with members of the General Assembly regarding agricultural programs and services, taxation, water resources, regulatory authority, highways, roads and bridges, and forestry.
Some bills of interest:
HB27: T. Mills, L. Belcher, M. Meredith, J. Richards - AN ACT relating to sales and use tax. This bill would exempt bees used in a commercial enterprise for the production of honey or wax for sale and certain items used in that pursuit. This bill has been assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.
HB58 - C. Harris, S. Santoro - AN ACT relating to the registration of trailers. This bill would amend KRS 186.655, regarding the licensing of trailers, to shift the annual registration renewal date from April 1 to April 30. This bill has been assigned to the House Transportation Committee.
This bill would amend KRS 177.320, regarding allocation of a portion of fuel tax revenue to the rural secondary and county road aid funds, to change the revenue sharing formula to divide 48.2% of motor fuel tax revenues between incorporated and unincorporated areas based on population, road mileage, and land area, it would also clarify that the share of the three splits
allocated to incorporated areas shall be used by cities in accordance with Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Act. Clarify that the share of the three splits allocated to unincorporated areas shall be used by counties, with 54.8% going to rural secondary roads and 45.2% used for county roads and it would amend KRS 177.360 to eliminate the formula of fifths for allocation of rural secondary and county road aid funds among the counties and instead allocate funds to counties based on population, road mileage and land area. This bill has been assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.
HB112: M. Denham, S. Westrom - AN ACT relating to tangible personal property used in the production of equine. This bill would exempt feed and feed additives, seeds, commercial fertilizers, farm chemicals, farm machinery, water, fuels, and on-farm facilities used in the production of equine from the sales and use tax. This bill was assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.
HB208: T. McKee, M. Denham, R. Crimm - AN ACT relating to the Prescribed Fire Program. This bill would develop a comprehensive prescribed fire program and training, education, and experience for certified prescribed fire boss. This bill was assigned to the House Nature Resources and Environment Committee.
These two bills would exempt drugs and over-the-counter drugs if used in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, llamas, alpacas, buffalo, aquatic organisms, cervids, ratite birds, or equine. These bills have been assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.
HB234 - R. Heath AN ACT relating to sales and use tax. This bill would exempt from sales and use tax poultry for use in the production of food for human consumption and exempt poultry or livestock bedding materials purchased on and after August 1, 2016, but before July 31, 2020, to facilitate the removal of poultry and livestock manure within the confines of an on-farm poultry or on-farm livestock facility. This bill has been assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.
HCR27 - A. Koenig This resolution would create the Mileage-Based Transportation Funding Task Force to develop and study the implementation of a mileage-based transportation funding mechanism and outline task force membership and require the task force to meet at least monthly during the 2016 Interim and to submit any proposed findings or recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2016. This resolution was assigned to the House Transportation Committee.
HCR29 - L. Combs This resolution would direct the Legislative Research Commission to establish a Timber Theft and Trespass Reduction Task Force. This resolution was assigned to the House Natural Resource and Environment Committee.
SB14 - P. Hornback, D. Thayer, R. Alvarado, T. Buford, D. Carroll, J. Higdon, D. Seum, M. Wise - AN ACT relating to animal fighting. This bill would include the owning, possessing, keeping, breeding, training, selling, or transferring of dogs for fighting purposes within the offense of cruelty to animals in the first degree. This bill has been assigned to the Senate Agriculture Committee.
SB27 - J. Bowen - AN ACT relating to motor vehicle registration fees. This bill would establish an additional initial and renewal registration fee of $100 for plug-in electric vehicles. This bill has been assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee.
SB62 - R. Webb - AN ACT relating to the lawful taking of wildlife. This bill would define "unmanned aircraft systems" and prohibit the use of unmanned aircraft systems to track, hunt, or harvest wildlife and it would also prohibit the use of unmanned aircraft systems to conduct surveillance of persons lawfully engaged in hunting, trapping, or fishing. This bill has been assigned to the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee.
Special Election
Please note there will be four Special Elections for the seats listed below on Tuesday, March 8, 2016.
House District 8 – Christian and Trigg counties
House District 54 – Boyle and Casey counties
House District 62 – Fayette, Owen, and Scott counties
House District 98 – Boyd and Greenup counties
FUTURE DATES OF INTEREST
January 18.......................................... Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
February 15…................................................ President's Day Holiday
February 19…............................................... Last Day for Bill Request
February 29........................................... Last Day for New House Bills
March 2….............................................. Last Day for New Senate Bills
March 2……………………………..KFB Legislative Drive-In/Food Check-Out Day
March 25 & March 28.............................................. Concurrence Only
March 29 – April 8........................................................... Veto Period
April 12…................................................. General Assembly, Sine Die
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS
During the week, you may reach your representative and senator in Frankfort by calling 502.564.8100.
If you do not desire to talk to your state legislator immediately or you just want to leave a message, you may dial toll-free 800.372.7181. An answering service will take your message for your representative or senator. The legislative calendar information line is 800.633.9650, the bill status line is 866.840.2835, and the Governor's office number is 502.564.2611.
YOUR LOBBYISTS
The following are registered to lobby for Kentucky Farm Bureau for the 2015 session: Jeff Harper, Public Affairs Director, extension 5104; Bryan Alvey extension 7218; Tony Sholar, extension 5121, and David S. Beck, extension 5101. If you would like to call your lobbyists during the evening, call
502-352-4280 at the Frankfort headquarters or call 502.495.5000 and key in their extensions.
If you would like to contact one of your lobbyists during the day, please call Sara Stivers at 502.495.5121 and she will put you in touch with one of them.
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