YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections

Legislators meet with chamber members

December 07, 2011|By Laura Butler | lbutler@jessaminejournal.com

Photo by Laura Butler

Members of the Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce met with local state legislators Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, and Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, to talk shop over eggs, bacon and biscuits Saturday morning.

Damron and Buford spent about an hour fielding questions from audience members and offering their perspectives on what to expect from the upcoming 60-day legislative session, which will begin in January. About two dozen people filled the multipurpose room at the Jessamine Career and Technology Center for the event.

Damron said this time right before the session begins is merely the “quiet before the storm” as the legislators prepare to work with a list of proposed bills. He thinks redistricting the state will be the “600-pound gorilla in the room” when the session opens.

Both Damron and Buford said they would be advocating for Jessamine County to stay in the 6th Congressional District.

Buford said he doesn’t anticipate much chatter about tax reform but believes the idea of casino gambling could make its way to the surface of conversation with a push from Gov. Steve Beshear.

Chamber of commerce board member Brian Goettl presented a list of several items the chamber board agreed it would like to see addressed and possibly back with support. The list included requests from Jennifer Wyatt at the Jessamine County Health Department, who wants to see the legislators tackle restructuring the Medicaid match program with local health departments so health departments wouldn’t be losing 29 cents from every $1 they see; and support of statewide smoking legislation.

Damron said he didn’t see too many answers coming for Wyatt’s Medicaid concerns.

“Medicaid is always in trouble and underfunded,” Damron said. “The problems seem to just carry over from year to year, and everyone seems to kind of look the other way ... there don’t seem to be any simple answers. It’s bad, but it could be worse.”

Neither Buford nor Damron said they anticipated support for a statewide smoking ban, saying they felt most legislators want to let each county set its own regulations.

Goettl also said watching for funds for the Nicholasville bypass project and future I-75 connector were top priorities for the group.

Buford said he believed funding for the I-75 connector could come from looking into making it a toll road, but any decisions about the connector would be a few years down the road.

The local legislators also touched briefly on the possibility of bringing LexTran buses to Nicholasville near Brannon Crossing, and the lack of tax decreases.

Chamber members indicated they would like to hear from Damron and Buford again after the first of the year, after the session is in full swing.

“We’ll have a lot more to tell you in February,” Buford said.

|

|

|