Today marks the twenty-seventh legislative day of the 2016 session of the Kentucky General Assembly.  The General Assembly will not convene Monday, February 15, 2016 in observance of Presidents Day.

As we approach the halfway point of this session, next Friday, February 19 is the last day for bill requests. March 1 is the last day for new House bills and March 3 is the last day for new Senate bills to be introduced.

We have continued our dialogue this week with the Energy and Environment Cabinet in an attempt to get a final bill draft that would establish a water resource management program.        

The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee continue to work on the state budget. We have met with members of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee to discuss our funding priorities.  On Tuesday, the Senate heard testimony from the State Budget Director and his staff regarding Governor Bevin’s budget proposal. 

Below is an update of a couple of bills on interest:

HB112: M. Denham, S. Lee, M. Meredith, R. Meyer, T. Mills, D. Osborne, S. Overly, S. Santoro, W. Stone, 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 and make the exemption effective August 1, 2016. This bill passed the House Agriculture and Small Business on Wednesday, however since this bill contains a fiscal note (FN) it was reassigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee. 

KFB Policy

“Kentucky horse farms should receive the same sales tax exemption that all other Kentucky farms receive.” 

HCR29: L. Combs, S. Riggs

This resolution would establish a Timber Theft and Trespass Reduction Task Force and provide that the purpose of the task force is to study issues regarding timber theft and trespass and to develop consensus recommendations to address those issues; name the membership of the task force; require the task force to meet three times before submitting its final report; require its final report to be submitted to the Legislative Research Commission by November 30, 2016.  This resolution has passed the House of Representatives and and now goes to the Senate for their consideration.

REMINDER

This year we are combining our Legislative Drive-In Day with our annual Food Check-Out Day activities on March 2, 2016. This will allow those of you visiting with your legislator(s) the opportunity to present them with a basket of Kentucky grown agricultural products to celebrate the safest most affordable food in the world.

The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the auditorium of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, located at 200 Mero Street, Frankfort, Kentucky. We encourage you to contact your senator and representative in advance to let them know you will be in Frankfort that day and to set up a meeting with them to discuss issues affecting agriculture and to present them with a Food Check-Out Day basket.

REMINDER

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

We encourage those county Farm Bureau’s with special elections to conduct a Measure-the-Candidate Forum. It is critically important to know what the candidate’s views are regarding our State Priority Issues and our policy.

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 2016 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.