Last week was another monumental week at the Capitol. We received the Senate’s version of the budget, saw the full passage of a number of priority legislation, and perhaps most importantly we are in the home stretch of this long session with eight working days left. As we enter these dwindling days, we see democracy working first hand. Here are some headlines from the last week in Frankfort:

Budget       

While colloquially we refer to the “budget” as a single entity, it more broadly refers to House Bill 6, the budget for the executive branch’s functional budget for the next biennium, and House Bill 1, a historic collection of one-time investments to a variety of programs and recipients across the Commonwealth. The House passed their version of these two bills on February 1. The budget process now heads into conference committees where bipartisan leadership meets to hash out the final edits of the budget. It then moves to the Governor’s desk for review. The budget is unique in that it is the only legislation which the governor has line-item veto power.

The Senate version of the budget contained a number of key wins for Louisville and number of GLI top priorities that we have been advocating for this session including:

• Almost $8 million dollars over two years for the Kentucky Talent Attraction Initiative, including $250,000 in FY24-25 for consulting and strategic support and $7.5 million in FY25-26 to support the creation and implementation of the Kentucky Talent Attraction Initiative and to support local and regional talent attraction campaigns through a grant program.
• $100 million dollars across two years to the Department for Local Government budget unit to be distributed to Louisville Metro Government for the revitalization of downtown Louisville to include these projects:
  • The Belvedere;
  • Community Care Campus;
  • LOUMED Campus;
  • Louisville Gardens;
  • Downtown Vacant Lot Revitalization; and
  • Butchertown Sports District;
• A one-time allocation of $1.5 million in fiscal year 2024-2025 for an Immigration Law Clinic at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.

To read more about the passage of the budget, check out our latest Policy Distilled blog post.

Talent Attraction Taskforce

Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 176), which forms the Workforce Attraction and Retention Task Force has passed the Senate. This taskforce will study how Kentucky can attract and retain top talent and address workforce needs throughout the Commonwealth. SJR 176 grants the legislature the ability to help develop a talent attraction funding program that would include a nationwide marketing campaign for attraction to Kentucky, as well as establishing a grant program for localized talent attraction efforts by local and regional economic development groups. GLI is excited about this crucial piece of legislation that will address workforce shortages across the Commonwealth and help make the region more competitive for economic development.

School Choice Amendment

Last week HB 2, sponsored by Rep. Savannah Miles, passed both chambers and heads to the Governor for his signature before it will go to the voters this fall.  HB 2 amends the constitution to allow the legislature to fund non-public schools and their admissions.