The Office of the State Budget Director Mary Lassiter released the August 2012 monthly tax receipts today. You can download a copy of her press release and charts HERE. The highlights are as follows:
- General Fund receipts were up 2.5% compared to August 2011. This basically cancels out the decline from July 2012 receipts leaving revenues flat through the first two months of this Fiscal Year. To meet the revenue projections for this Fiscal Year per the state budget, tax receipts need to grow 2.8% over the next 10 months.
- The more surprising news is that Road Fund revenues were down 2.9% in August 2012 compared to August 2011. This is the first month of declining Road Fund revenues in 25 months stretching back to June 2010. The main reason for the decline was that motor vehicle usage tax was down 13.5%. In order to meet Fiscal Year 2013 projections of a 3.9% increase, Road Fund revenues need to grow 3.9% over the remaining 10 months.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
2013 Legislative Calendar
The Legislative Research Commission released the 2013 Regular Session calendar today. A copy of the press release and a link to a copy of the calendar is below. Here are the highlights:
- The 2013 session will be an odd-year "short" 30-day session compared to the 60 day even-year sessions. These short sessions begin with a 4-day organizational session, where the House and Senate will elect new leadership, determine committee chairs, and assign members to committees. That is currently scheduled to take place January 8-11.
- The General Assembly will then recess until February 5 when they will reconvene and begin the work of considering bills and resolutions until March 11, when they are scheduled to break for the Governor to consider any vetoes. The schedule released today has them returning after the veto recess on March 25 & 26 for the final two days of the session to override any vetoes and finalizing their work. They have some flexibility in the calendar as they don't have to complete their work until March 30 per the constitution.
- Two dates we always circle are the last day for introduction of new bills, which is scheduled for February 15 in the Senate and Feb. 19 in the House.
- The 2013 session will be an odd-year "short" 30-day session compared to the 60 day even-year sessions. These short sessions begin with a 4-day organizational session, where the House and Senate will elect new leadership, determine committee chairs, and assign members to committees. That is currently scheduled to take place January 8-11.
- The General Assembly will then recess until February 5 when they will reconvene and begin the work of considering bills and resolutions until March 11, when they are scheduled to break for the Governor to consider any vetoes. The schedule released today has them returning after the veto recess on March 25 & 26 for the final two days of the session to override any vetoes and finalizing their work. They have some flexibility in the calendar as they don't have to complete their work until March 30 per the constitution.
- Two dates we always circle are the last day for introduction of new bills, which is scheduled for February 15 in the Senate and Feb. 19 in the House.
News Release
September 6, 2012
Calendar set for General Assembly's 2013 session
FRANKFORT – The 2013 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly is scheduled to begin on Jan. 8 and will last 30 legislative days.
As usual during an odd-numbered year, in which sessions are half as long as in even-numbered years, the session will have two parts. The first four days of the session – Jan. 8 to Jan. 11 – will focus on organizational work, such as electing legislative leaders, adopting rules of procedure and organizing committees. The introduction and consideration of legislation can also begin during this time.
The second part of the session begins on Feb. 5, with final adjournment scheduled for March 26.
Legislators will not meet in session on Feb. 18 in observance of Presidents' Day.
The veto recess – the period of time when lawmakers commonly return to their home districts to see which bills, if any, the governor vetoes – begins on March 12. Lawmakers will return to the Capitol on March 25 and 26 for the final two days of the session.
The 2013 session calendar can be viewed online at http://www.lrc.ky.gov/sch_vist/13RS_calendar.pdf
--END--
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Governor's Task Force on the Study of Kentucky's Alcoholic Beverage Control Laws to hold inaugural meeting
See press release below. Probably will have plenty to talk about including today's ruling by a Federal Judge striking down a law prohibiting the sale of wine in grocery stores.
Meeting Advisory Contact: Dick Brown
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – Aug. 14, 2012 – The Governor's Task Force on the Study of Alcoholic Beverage Control Laws in Kentucky will hold its first meeting Thursday Aug. 16, 2012, at 1 p.m. EDT in Room 110 of the Kentucky State Capitol.
Gov. Steve Beshear has appointed Public Protection Cabinet Secretary Bob Vance to chair the 22-member group which includes representatives of both the Kentucky Senate and House of Representatives as well as various industry groups.
The Task Force members and their affiliations are:
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Public Protection Cabinet
Steve Beshear, Governor
Robert D. Vance, Secretary
Governor's Task Force on the Study of Kentucky's Alcoholic Beverage Control
Laws to hold inaugural meeting
Gov. Steve Beshear has appointed Public Protection Cabinet Secretary Bob Vance to chair the 22-member group which includes representatives of both the Kentucky Senate and House of Representatives as well as various industry groups.
The Task Force members and their affiliations are:
§ Robert D. Vance, chair, Public Protection Cabinet
§ Larry R. Bond, Governor's Office
§ Sen. Tom Buford, Kentucky State Senate
§ Sen. Jimmy Higdon, Kentucky State Senate
§ Rep. Dennis Keene, Kentucky House of Representatives
§ Rep. Larry Clark, Kentucky House of Representatives
§ Tony Dehner, Commissioner Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC)
§ Danny Reed, Distilled Spirits Administrator, ABC
§ Stephanie Stumbo, Malt Beverage Administrator, ABC
§ Frank Harris, Mothers Against Drunk Driving
§ Roger Leasor, Kentucky Liquor Retail Coalition
§ Gay Dwyer, Kentucky Restaurant Association
§ Daniel R. Meyer, Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Kentucky, Inc.
§ Eric Gregory, Kentucky Distillers' Association
§ Lowell Land, Kentucky Vineyard Society
§ John Harris, Kentucky Beer Wholesalers' Association
§ Jennifer Doering, Kentucky Malt Beverage Council
§ Adam Watson, Licensed Microbrewers
§ Sheriff Jerry "Peanuts" Gaines of Warren County, Kentucky Association of Counties
§ Mayor Tom Bozarth of Midway, Kentucky League of Cities
§ James "Jitter" Allen, Licensed Large Brewers
§ Neil Wellinghurst, Kentucky Retail Federation
The Governor's Executive Order, as well as names and affiliations of each representative, can be found online at http://abc.ky.gov/Pages/taskforce.aspx. Questions about the Task Force can be emailed to abctaskforce@ky.gov.
###
Monday, August 6, 2012
New Health Policy Newsletter from Government Strategies
As a client of Government Strategies, you are aware of our KY Political News emails that we send out daily Monday-Friday. These emails give us an opportunity to provide you a flavor of the issues and politics that are impacting the general legislative and regulatory environment in Frankfort. This has been well received by our client base and we have been looking for ways to further improve on the service.
Its in that spirit that we are launching our new email the Kentucky Health Policy Newsletter. We are focusing this email on news articles specific to health policy, yet generally related to health insurance, health care, Medicaid, and other relevant topics. This will be delivered on a similar schedule to the KY Political News emails, daily Monday-Friday if content is available.
This is a new venture to delve in on a specific issue area, so we want your feedback. Also, we have provided this to a limited subset of clients that have specific interest in health policy issues. If there are others in your organization you want us to add to the list let us know.
Thanks
Its in that spirit that we are launching our new email the Kentucky Health Policy Newsletter. We are focusing this email on news articles specific to health policy, yet generally related to health insurance, health care, Medicaid, and other relevant topics. This will be delivered on a similar schedule to the KY Political News emails, daily Monday-Friday if content is available.
This is a new venture to delve in on a specific issue area, so we want your feedback. Also, we have provided this to a limited subset of clients that have specific interest in health policy issues. If there are others in your organization you want us to add to the list let us know.
Thanks
Friday, July 20, 2012
Subcommittee on Energy - Alternative Fuels
The Subcommittee on Energy met today in Frankfort and heard two presentation regarding alternative transportation fuels.
The first was made by two UK researchers who have a federal grant to utilize biomass to create butinol through on farm processing. Legislators were generally very skeptical of whether the combination of our small farms and the economic analysis would make this viable for Kentucky farmers. A copy of the presentation can be downloaded HERE.
The second presentation was made by Melissa Howell, Executive Director of the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition. Her presentation was an update of the various projects from ethanol to natural gas refilling stations and various others. The committee only had one specific question, which was the position of the Clean Fuels Coalition on how to fund the Transportation Budget, which relies heavily on motor fuels tax, as more electric vehicles hit the road. Ms. Howell basically said that they were a non-profit that pushed for clean fuels and didn't take a position on those type of issues. A copy of the presentation can be downloaded HERE.
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