It was an honor to meet Boone County native, Brigadier General Stephen R. Hogan, the newly appointed Adjutant General for the Department for Military Affairs by Governor Matt Bevin.
He is the son of the legendary Boone Countian Paul Hogan, who is best known for his many years of service to our community as an educator. All Boone Countians should be proud of General Hogan in his accomplishments.
Four bills – tackling everything from what construction workers are paid to build public schools to how much Kentucky bourbon visitors can drink on distillery tours – made it through that time-honored process. The bills, on issues that have been debated for years in the Capitol, will now go to the state House of Representatives for further consideration.
The legislation relating to school construction is known as Senate Bill 9. It would exempt school and university construction projects of $250,000 or more from the state’s prevailing wage law, which generally sets higher wage rates for public works projects.
I believe prevailing wage needlessly drives up the construction costs for schools. Legislative researchers estimated a 7.9 percent cost saving for public school district projects if SB 9 becomes law. The proponents of SB 9 also said there is precedence for such a law because school district were exempt from prevailing wage laws from 1982 to 1996.
Senate Bill 11, which I sponsored, updates our liquor laws so that our bourbon industry, brewery industry, and wineries can continue their spectacular growth in Kentucky.
The Legislature gaveled back into session Tuesday, after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. Our most important task of the 60-day session still lies ahead – passing a new $20-$21 billion budget to carry Kentucky through the next two years. First, Governor Matt Bevin will present his budget recommendations during a combined State of the Commonwealth and Budget Address January 26.
The recommendations are converted to legislation and are first introduced in the House in the form of a spending plan for the state. When the budget bills are passed by a majority of the members of the House, they are sent to the Senate where they follow the same procedures.
You can stay up-to-date on the budget negotiations and legislative actions of interest to you throughout the session by logging onto the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) website or by calling the LRC toll-free bill status line at 866-840-2835 or on Twitter @SenatorSchickel.
For committee meeting schedules, please call the LRC toll-free meeting information line at 800-633-9650. To comment on a bill, please call the toll-free legislative message line at 800-372-7181.
I still like the old-fashioned US Mail system. You can write to me anytime at my legislative office at 702 Capitol Avenue, Room 209, Frankfort, KY 40601.
Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, represents Boone County. He welcomes your concerns or comments toll free at 800-372-7181 or online here .