As outlined in Kentucky’s Constitution, the General Assembly must gavel into session on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in January. We are required to conclude legislative business on April 15. We convened for day one of the 2024 Legislative Session on Tuesday, January 2, with incredible renditions of our national anthem and “My Old Kentucky Home” by the 100th Army Band, Fort Knox.
Legislative sessions in even-numbered years are budget sessions, consisting of 60 legislative days, unlike the shorter 30-day session in odd-numbered years. Short session years are intended to evaluate previously enacted policies and address any necessary legislative clean-up.
Sen. Chris McDaniel and Senate President David Givens review a document before the second day of the ’24 legislation session. (Photo by David Hargis/LRC)
The Kentucky Constitution vests the exclusive power and duty to tax and spend the public’s money to the General Assembly. Our state constitution requires balanced spending with available financial resources, which is good. While the federal government can borrow and incur trillions of dollars in debt, this is not an option for our state government. The total amount of taxpayer funding for the next two-year budget and road plan will be based on what was recently set by the Consensus Forecasting Group. According to this group of economic experts’ best estimates, total general fund revenues — which result from sales, income and other taxes — are approximately $31.6 billion over the 2025-2026 biennium with road fund revenues resulting from gas and motor vehicle taxes being roughly $3.7 billion. The state budget provides for state government operations and essential government services, and the road plans provide for investments in our roads, bridges, and highways.
As chairman of the Senate’s Appropriation and Revenue Committee and author of the Senate’s budget, my philosophy throughout this intensive process can be summed up in a single word: discipline. I and many others in the Senate have slowly turned the ship toward calmer financial and economic waters by advocating for sound policies and fiscal responsibility. When the state House of Representatives aligned with this vision in 2016, we finally began to restore fiscal responsibility by passing comprehensive tax reform, business-friendly policies, turning our rainy-day fund from depleted to dependable, improving the health of our public pension systems, providing record funding to public education and other essential government services, and contributing to record years of outside business investment into the Commonwealth.
The same discipline that has improved our state in recent years must be maintained if we hope to achieve long-term prosperity. Understanding that every penny of general fund revenue was made possible by an investment of time and energy of a Kentucky taxpayer makes easier to maintain budget discipline. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues and all stakeholders in this process. I will keep you updated throughout this critical process and will remain an advocate for our district.
On January 1, the second automatic reduction of our state income tax went into effect. House Bill (HB) 8 from the 2022 Legislative Session established the framework by which working Kentuckians’ income tax could be decreased responsibly. During the 2023 Legislative Session, the General Assembly passed HB 1 and codified the first two tax reductions after HB 8’s criteria were met. The January 1 income tax reduction lowers your income tax rate from 4.5 percent to 4 percent. By the end of 2024, HB 8 and the resulting individual income tax reductions will have resulted in approximately $1.8 billion left in the pockets of taxpayers and consumers, providing you more of your own money to spend as you wish.
My first bill introduced this session will address voter fatigue, increase voter participation, improve cost-efficiencies for local governments, and strengthen the stability and continuity of local, state, and federal governments. It proposes an amendment to our state constitution for Kentucky voters’ consideration on the 2024 election ballot to move statewide constitutional officer elections to even-numbered years.
Estimates are this would save local government $13.5 million annually in the years that would have otherwise had a primary and general election. This is a measure that has been introduced numerous times in the past and I hope it will garner the support needed to clear both legislative chambers this session.
Feel free to share your thoughts throughout the session. Find the status of legislation by calling 866-840-2835, legislative meeting information at 800-633-9650, or leaving a message for lawmakers at 800-372-7181. You can watch and follow legislative activity at KET/org/legislature and Legislature.ky.gov.
You can learn more about these bills and others by visiting www.legislature.ky.gov. Thank you for staying engaged in the legislative process.
Senator Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, represents the 23rd Senate District in Northern Kentucky, He is the Senate Appropriations and revenue chairman and serves as an ex-officio member of each budget review subcommittee.
