List includes 19 items to further NKy. growth
FT. MITCHELL, Ky. (Jan. 17, 2013) – The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and Northern Kentucky Labor Council have issued a joint letter to the Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus outlining an agenda of legislative priorities for the 2013 General Assembly session.
The list includes 19 legislative items recommended by the chamber and labor council, including the adoption of public-private partnerships to build a new Brent Spence Bridge, as well as the passage of an angel investment tax credit to attract small businesses, create jobs and build an entrepreneurial ecosystem for the commonwealth.
“The General Assembly will be tackling critical issues in the 2013 session, and we hope our Legislative Caucus will fight for common-sense legislation that improves our business climate and puts people back to work,” said Steve Stevens, Northern Kentucky Chamber president and CEO. “We’ve teamed up with the Northern Kentucky Labor Council because we recognize a simple truth: we succeed more often when we are united than when we are apart.”
The chamber and labor council have worked together over the past couple of months to identify areas of common ground with one defined goal: to produce jobs and grow the region’s economy.
“The labor council and chamber have to be problem-solvers for our members, and we encourage our legislators to show this same leadership with their colleagues to build a healthy economy for the region,” said Northern Kentucky Labor Council President Tim Donoghue.
The two organizations have sent letters outlining the shared priorities to each of the Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus.
The Northern Kentucky priorities include:
Economic development
♦ To prevent the loss of Kentucky jobs to other communities, modify eligibility in the Kentucky Reinvestment Act (KRA) to extend retention incentive offerings to include service and technology firms
♦ Modify the Kentucky Investment Fund Act (KIFA) to make individual angel investors eligible for the investment tax credit
Education
♦ Re-examine the SEEK formula and increase investment for education
♦ Maintain investments for quality early care and education programs that prepare children for school success
♦ Expand gaming in Kentucky and direct a portion of those funds to increase the level of funding in education
♦ Address postsecondary state funding shortfalls in Northern Kentucky
♦ Continue funding for the Kentucky Tuition Grant Program for private college scholarships
Energy and environment
♦ Encourage the continued use of coal in Kentucky and encourage the development of electric generating facilities that utilized clean-coal technology
Support private investments in a variety of energy sources, including nuclear power, and incentivize businesses that develop, export and utilize new technologies
Healthcare
♦ Direct funding at least at a level consistent with other areas of the Commonwealth for quality mental health and substance abuse services to help address the heroin epidemic facing our region
♦ Offer incentives to providers who offer wellness or preventive education and services to patients and develop regional cost savings initiatives
♦ Establish accountability measures to encourage health lifestyle choices
Human Resources, Labor & Employment
♦ Enact a simplified system of documentation procedures to clarify businesses’ responsibilities for managing and classifying employees to streamline compliance and enhance revenue collection
Tax and finance
♦ Identify revenue sources such as expanded gaming and review the cigarette tax
Transportation and infrastructure
♦Adopt public-private partnership legislation to be a tool in the toolbox of the state enabling the Brent Spence Bridge project to be delivered safer, quicker and at lowest cost to taxpayers
♦Provide 20 percent state matching funds for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor
♦Develop a strategy to increase air service to CVG that will bring new businesses and recreational travels to our airport
♦ Provide reliable funding solutions to address unfunded mandates and aging infrastructure repair/replacement and the associated construction of water, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure to reduce funding gaps and protect both the local economy and environment
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