Lawmakers discuss 2023 legislative session
The 2023 legislative session will be a 30-day short session on a non-budget year
LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- We are less than a month away until Kentucky lawmakers gavel in for the 2023 legislative session. There are a number of key issues lawmakers say they hope to tackle.
The 2023 legislative session will be a 30-day short session on a non-budget year. That means lawmakers will have to be quick to get their priorities through and they have big plans this session.
“We’re as ready as we can be,” says Representative George Brown, Jr of Lexington. “We’ve got to be concerned about women’s right to choose. We’re certainly concerned about that and bring those issues forward.”
Brown says he is focusing on getting his “Crown Act” passed, while the the Democratic caucus will be focused on several key issues, including abortion rights and gun safety.
In 2022, lawmakers passed an income tax cut automatically reducing the income tax rate to 4.5% beginning in January.
Republican lawmakers want to see a gradual reduction and hope to push a resolution to continue that.
“You look just about anywhere on the Kentucky-Tennessee state line, and you’ll see exploding growth on the Tennessee side and scant growth on the Kentucky side. There’s a reason for that. We need to compete better with Tennessee, which is our biggest bordering state. And I think we can compete better with the other states that we border if we can eliminate that income tax,” says Republican senator Whitney Westerfield. “It means we need to broaden our tax base, it might mean an increase in the sales tax. But I think we need to be very careful and sensitive to low income earners to make sure that any sales tax increase still avoids the necessities of life so that we’re not hurting people at the low end of that income spectrum.”
“What we have to understand is doing away with property tax and the state income tax, doesn’t do away with there not being a tax burden on somewhere else,” says Brown, Jr.
Another huge issue is medical marijuana. Earlier this year, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order allowing residents with certain medical conditions access to medical marijuana. But are lawmakers ready to make it legal at the state level?
“I think we need to be careful with that but medicinal marijuana has been proven and it makes sense that it helps people who have chronic pain to be able to use marijuana,” says Brown, Jr.
Some Republican lawmakers say the governor’s executive order is unconstitutional. Senator Westerfield says he’s in favor of medical marijuana, as long as the process to legalize it is done correctly.
“I hope that we consider it. I made some waves earlier this year during session when i announced that i support representative Nemes’ bill. I expect him to file it again. I’ll continue to support that bill as long as it looks the same,” says Westerfield. “I don’t know that it has the votes to move forward in our caucus and in the state senate, I hope that it does but I have no idea.”
Westerfield also plans to file about that helps protect Kentuckians’ consumer digital privacy. He says the state is one of many that has no protection of consumers in the digital space.
The legislature isn’t expected to reopen the budget, but lawmakers say it could happen if they decide more money is needed to help Eastern Kentucky following the historic July flooding.
The 2023 legislative session begins January 3rd.
