Vehicle owners could receive a tax break under Senate resolution
House approves unemployment insurance reform bill
FRANKFORT— A bill aimed at changing the length of unemployment insurance benefits and the job search requirements for recipients cleared the Kentucky House of Representatives on Thursday.
After several hours of debate, House Bill 4 was approved by a 57-37 vote.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Russell Webber, R-Shepherdsville, said the bill is not intended to solve all of the unemployment and workforce participation issues facing the Commonwealth, but it is an “important first step.”
“Right now, 47% of the working age population in Kentucky is not working, so we have 53% of our working age population that is actively working,” Russell said. “… We cannot be known as a state without workers or a state that is short on workers.”
Under HB 4, the duration of unemployment insurance benefits will be based upon the state average unemployment rate. One provision of the bill says if the state average unemployment rate is less than 4.5%, benefits may last for up to 12 weeks. Under current statute, unemployment insurance benefits may last up to 26 weeks.
The bill would also require recipients to engage in at least five verifiable work search activities a week with at least three of those activities being applying for a job, interviewing for employment or job shadowing.
Another provision of HB 4 would give recipients an additional five weeks of eligibility if he or she is enrolled in an approved job training or certification program.
“This is a great opportunity, and it helps Kentuckians,” Webber said.
Webber also assured his colleagues that this bill would not hurt seasonal workers or those impacted by the Western Kentucky tornadoes.
Several lawmakers, however, expressed fears that HB 4 would hurt rural communities.
Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, said he believes HB 4 would be “devastating” to the people in his district, where jobs are hard to find and many people commute up to two hours away from home in order to work.
Blanton attempted to pass a floor amendment that would change several things about Webber’s original bill, such as keeping the maximum length of benefits at 26 weeks; however the amendment failed.
“You see, people drawing unemployment insurance are people who want to work and have been working, but now we’re going to go after them?” Blanton said. “… I would think if we want to solve our workforce participation problem, we would go after that 53,000 that’s not working rather than those 18,000 that are out of work but are willing to work.”
Rep. Norma Kirk-McCormick, R-Inez, agreed with Blanton, saying the bill is “super bad” for her district.
Rep. Al Gentry, D-Louisville, also agreed that the bill would hurt rural communities. Gentry made a motion to postpone voting on HB 4, but his motion failed.
Several other lawmakers joined their colleagues in speaking against HB 4. Minority Floor Leader Joni L. Jenkins, D-Shively, said she worries about the burden the bill would place on the state unemployment office, which is currently understaffed.
Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, however, said he believes HB 4 is a “step in the right direction.”
“If you want to bring jobs to Eastern Kentucky, we have to improve our workforce participation rate,” Bray said.
Rep. Phillip Pratt, R-Georgetown, a small business owner, joined in supporting HB 4. Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, also spoke in support of HB 4, calling it a “good bill.”
HB 4 will now go before the Senate for consideration.
Vehicle owners could receive a tax break under Senate resolution
FRANKFORT— Vehicle owners in Kentucky could receive up to $70 million in tax relief under a measure that won unanimous support on the Senate floor Friday.
Senate Joint Resolution 99 would direct state officials to assess taxes on vehicles using valuations from 2021 for the next two years. It also calls on the state Department of Revenue to issue refunds for taxes that have already been paid based on current year assessments.
The resolution’s primary sponsor, Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, said the proposal would help Kentuckians cope with the once-in-a-lifetime jump in vehicle values that occurred during the pandemic.
“This would bring tax relief to Kentucky vehicle owners, to our job creators in the automobile industry as well as to people who own fleets of vehicles,” he said.
Douglas said Kentucky taxpayers are facing financial challenges and it’s incumbent on the legislature to require changes.
“Typically, vehicle values go down from year to year,” he said. “But the director of state valuation said …that overall in 2022 these valuations have increased. And compared to previous years, it is up approximately 40 percent.”
Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, also spoke on behalf of the bill.
“You know, probably every member of this chamber has received phone calls from back home in their district about this situation,” he said.
Sen. Robin L. Webb, D-Grayson, called it a bipartisan effort.
“This issue is so important that the House and the Senate have both addressed it at the same time. It was one of the first things that we did, and you can see that by the bill numbers and the importance of that,” she said.
The measure passed with a 34-0 vote Friday.
This is just another burden on people who have worked or may be facing a layoff or job completion or company going out business while wealthy lawmakers who are supposed to be representing their people want to be heard even if it’s creating bills or laws like this These politicians get elected and forget what they are elected for or why the people elected them.
That’s how the republicans roll