Interim Session Set to Begin
Legislators will return to Frankfort on June 1 as the Interim Session of the Kentucky General Assembly gets underway. A quick refresher on the Interim Session:
Committees meet jointly as House and Senate legislative committees combine to create the Interim Joint Committees.
These committees will meet monthly to discuss issues that will be considered during the next session and to receive updates on issues from the past session.
No votes are taken. The Interim is a time for taking testimony, studying issues, and forging compromises in advance of the next legislative session.
Schedule & Monitoring
The Legislative Research Commission published the Interim schedule for the remainder of the year and the full calendar can be found here. Access to the Capitol and Capitol Annex remains restricted, so the majority of these legislative meetings will be livestreamed on KET or the LRC's YouTube channel. We will be monitoring the meetings and providing updates on issues of interest.
Key Issues
The long-term impacts of COVID-19 will continue to dominate the policy discussion this summer. We expect legislative discussions around the impact on COVID to run the gambit from K-12 learning loss to the allocation of Kentucky's remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The focus of the 2022 Legislative Session will be the biennial budget for FY23 and FY24, but the redistricting of legislative seats based on the new census data will also play a major role in the tone of the 2022 Session. Due to the timing of the census data release and the reliance on that data to create the new legislative districts, the candidate filing deadline—usually the first week of January—could be impacted. We expect to learn more as that deadline nears.
COVID Lingers
Even with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions across the state, the Legislative Research Commission is likely to continue enforcing restricted access into the Capitol Annex. This means in-person access to legislative committees will be limited to legislators and those testifying in committees, and all legislator visits must be scheduled and approved ahead of time to gain access to the building.
The Government Strategies team will continue providing you updates on items of interest discussed by the Interim committees, relevant political news, and general updates as the legislative focus shifts to preparing for the 2022 Session. Even with limited access to the Capitol and Annex, we anticipate a surge of activity as legislative activity and lobbying returns to normal.
We Are On Twitter
In addition to our regular email updates, we are excited to announce our new Twitter account to help us with real-time news distribution, sharing updates and happenings from our clients, and keeping up with all-things Kentucky Legislature. Follow us at @GovStrategiesKY and stay tuned as we develop this new communication outlet.
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