Kentucky Chamber President & CEO Dave Adkisson spoke to members of the Northern Kentucky Chamber on Wednesday, outlining the Kentucky business community’s goals for the 2017 session of the Kentucky General Assembly.
Adkisson discussed the Kentucky Chamber’s 2017 Legislative Agenda, which places special emphasis on the need for pension transparency and tax reform.
The visit to Erlanger is part of an 18-city tour across the state aimed at familiarizing members of local chambers of commerce with the priorities of the Kentucky Chamber.
“A new majority in the state House presents an opportunity for success for many pro-business pieces of legislation that, even with broad support, have never been able to get enough traction to secure final passage,” said Adkisson. “The Kentucky Chamber is hopeful that under the leadership of Rep. Jeff Hoover and his colleagues, Kentucky will finally be able to benefit from some commonsense, job-creating policies that focus on economic growth.”
The 13 issues that the Chamber will place significant emphasis on during the legislative session are:
- Protecting Kentucky’s academic standards
- Enabling charter schools
- Workforce investment accountability
- Enabling smoke-free workplaces
- Pension transparency and reform
- Tax reform
- Repealing prevailing wage
- Reforming the criminal justice system
- Enact Right-to-Work
- Improve the workers’ compensation system
- Enacting legal liability reform
- Investing in a 21st Century infrastructure
- Protecting low cost energy
“We’re in a pretty deep hole in terms of the state’s public pension problem,” said Adkisson. “Some progress was made in the last legislative session, but to make the entire system sustainable, we must focus more on other issues such as transparency.”
He also said the need for tax reform and the state’s workforce issues will play significant roles in the 2017 legislative session, saying “we’re still several months away from the session, and a lot of meetings are happening in the interim period that will determine the tone during the non-budget session.”
“Clearly, our agenda is a full one, and we know that additional issues will emerge as the session progresses,” said Adkisson. “As always, we look forward to the opportunity to represent the interests of Kentucky’s employers as we work together to build a stronger future for our Commonwealth.”
Adkisson and other Chamber leaders will be touring the state through December. To download a PDF of the Kentucky Chamber’s 2017 Legislative Priorities, visit kychamber.com/2017priorities.
Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
