As the heavily-anticipated Kentucky General Assembly 60-day session draws near, now is the time when a number of the Commonwealth’s priorities come plainly into focus.
Such happened during Monday’s Pennyrile Area Development District Luncheon & Legislative Update at Pennyrile Forest State Park, as District 3 Senator Whitney Westerfield and District 8 Representative Walker Thomas laid out their road maps for 2024.
Speaking for Caldwell, Christian and Muhlenberg counties, Westerfield said he has plans to introduce a handful of bills on Day 1 of his final appearance in Frankfort, but there are two that particularly have his attention.
The first: a focus on consumer privacy protection laws — something Kentucky “doesn’t have on the books.”
The second: a direct approach to protecting life, by offering more financial resources for mothers.
This bill, he said, stems from he and his wife, Amanda, and their experiences hearing stories at Alpha Care Pregnancy Center. Of women feeling and facing condemnation, guilt, shame, despair, confusion, or all of the above about the toss-ups between motherhood and abortion.
But rather than focus on the arguments surrounding abortion vs. anti-abortion language, Westerfield said it was time to bring child care into focus.
Speaking for Caldwell and parts of Trigg and Christian counties, Thomas said he will look to carry a cybersecurity bill alongside Murray State University officials out of committee and onto the floor — one that addresses the incentivizing of the career path.
With digital safety among the nation’s top concerns moving into 2024, and beyond, Thomas noted that of the 70,000 such jobs open around the country, Kentucky possesses more than 4,000 of the openings — with demand growing daily.
Filed last year, Thomas said he hopes to also move a bill requiring rubber strips to wrap metal wheels — in hopes of further protecting pavement and other roadways from heavy equipment and ill-fitted wagons.
Furthermore, he’s going to once again file for the tax exemption of military pensions — something he’s done for seven consecutive years.
Alongside Westerfield and Thomas were Representatives Wade Williams (District 4, Hopkins), Chris Freeland (District 6, Lyon) and Rebecca Raymer (District 15, Muhlenberg).
FULL AUDIO:
The Pennyrile Water Management Council also has 15 water and sewer projects of major priority heading into 2024.
Ranked in order for water, this includes:
— A $3 million emergency water supply project for Marion;
— A $2.6 million Phase 1 water treatment plant expansion clearwell for Livingston County;
— A $750,000 interconnect for Kuttawa and Lyon County along KY 295;
— A $7.65 million GAC filter addition for Central City and Muhlenberg County;
— A $1.56 million water system and AMR project for Nebo and Hopkins County;
— A $2.4 million waterline from Carter Road to Grant Avenue and Hugh Hunter in Oak Grove;
— A $3.2 million water system improvement in Trenton;
— A $21.5 million water treatment plant expansion in Livingston County;
— A $957,000 rehabilitation for the Cadiz IGA Water Tank;
— A $600,000 inventory for the lead service line in Princeton;
— A $22.5 million Phase 5 water system improvement for HWEA;
— A $22.2 million Paradise Industrial Park waterline extension in Muhlenberg County;
— A $19.5 million sedimentation train/GAC in Todd County;
— A $500,000 interconnect project once again along HWY 295 in Lyon County;
— And a new $370,000 interconnect for Caldwell County to Fredonia.
Ranked in order for sewer, this includes:
— A $1.3 million lagoon rehabilitation in Smithland;
— A $6.6 million lift station improvement for Phase 5 in Madisonville;
— A $1.6 million wastewater treatment plant improvement in Trenton;
— A $13.3 million grit chamber and sludge holding improvement in Princeton;
— A $34.7 million treatment plant improvement in Greenville;
— A $1.7 million sewer system rehabilitation in Cadiz;
— A $1.3 million Phase 5 rehabilitation in Kuttawa;
— A $19.4 million new wastewater treatment plant in Marion;
— A $48.3 million Phase 8 expansion to the Hammond-Wood treatment plant for HWEA;
— A $20 million treatment plant expansion in Guthrie;
— A $2.9 million Bremen gravity sewer system in Central City;
— A $2.7 million sewer system rehabilitation in Mortons Gap;
— More than $360,000 of lift station improvements in Fredonia;
— More than $12 million for the Oak Grove wastewater plant expansion under HWEA;
— And $2 million in sewer debt reduction for Ledbetter.
Focus also remains on a bevy of transportation projects heading into 2024:
— Completion of US 641 from Eddyville to Marion;
— Completion of widening upgrades to US 79 from Todd to Logan County;
— Completion of I-69 from the Ohio River Crossing through Henderson County;
— Funding the upgrades necessary for the Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway for the I-169 designation;
— Funding the upgrades necessary for the West Kentucky Parkway between the I-69 Hopkins County interchange to the I-165 interchange in Ohio County.
