Late Tuesday night the General Assembly adjourned for the ten day veto period and is set to return on Monday, March 23 for the final two days of the 2015 session of the General Assembly.

The last two days will be very busy as several conference committees will try to complete their work. These conference committees include, SB 192 the heroin issue, HB 4 teacher retirement, HB 299 which may be the vehicle to fix to the declining road fund revenue, and HB 510 which appropriates the additional revenue Kentucky received from the Master Settlement Agreement.

The following bills have passed both chambers and have been sent to Governor Beshear:

HB 312: T. McKee, J. Short, M. King - AN ACT relating to stray equines and cattle.

This bill will reduce the hold time for stray equine from 90 days to 15 days. This bill will also require county judge/executives to contract with a licensed veterinarian, who will document the stray equine's breed, color, sex, marks, brands, scars, and other distinguishing features, perform a microchip scan, and identify the existence of lip tattoos, freeze brands, or microchips and require the county judge/executive to record the veterinarian's findings, the name and residence of the taker-up, and the location of the stray equine, maintain documentation in electronic and paper format, post notification on the county of jurisdiction's website and require the county judge/executive to post one photograph of the stray equine's front view and one photograph of the stray equine's side view and requires the county judge/executive to send a copy of the documentation of stray equine to the Office of the State Veterinarian. It will also require the hold time for stray equines to begin after all documentation has been properly filed and posted by the county judge/executive and taker-up.  In addition this bill will require the owner/claimant of the stray equine to reimburse the county judge/executive for the cost of the veterinarian assessment.

KFB Policy

“We support reducing the hold period for stray horses from the current 90 days down to 14 days.”

 

SB 92: J. Bowen - AN ACT relating to timber harvesting. This bill will require loggers or operators who have received bad actor designations to provide prior notice to the division before engaging in any timber harvesting operations until they have paid all civil penalties and performed all required site remediation and require the cabinet to issue an emergency order requiring any third-time bad actor to cease all timber harvesting operations until all required site remediation has been performed and all civil penalties have been paid or a repayment plan has been established and maintained.

KFB Policy:

“We support the Forestry Best Management Practice Board in amending the Forest Conservation Act to strengthen the bad actor provisions.”

 

SB 186: J. Carroll – AN ACT relating to oil and gas production and reclamation.

This bill would require notice and method of notice of high-volume horizontal fracturing, require baseline water quality testing and exemption from requirements.  This bill would also create the Kentucky Abandoned Storage Tank Reclamation Program and define when a tank is deemed abandoned and eligible for the program and specify the purpose of the program and create the Kentucky abandoned storage tank reclamation fund.  This bill will also authorize the cabinet to recover costs for removal and remediation of an abandoned storage tank from owners or responsible parties.

KFB Policy:

“The oil and gas industry should be held to the same standard regarding landowners as the coal industry, in that all oil and gas activities including roadways and pipelines should be permitted, bonded, and placed under the Energy and Environment Cabinet requiring quarterly inspections and enforcement for violations including civil penalties.”

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.