Op-ed: Legislature Delivers for Kentucky Businesses

The adhering to is an op-ed piece authored by Kentucky Chamber President and CEO Ashli Watts

Coming out of a two-yr pandemic, going through intense workforce shortages, and working towards financial restoration, the Kentucky Chamber realized we had to have a daring strategy heading into the 2022 Typical Assembly. This bundled driving down the money tax amount, addressing our low workforce participation, investing in infrastructure, supporting our signature industries, and safeguarding employers’ rights. Now that we have shut the door on a active, action-packed legislative session, it is distinct the General Assembly prioritized pro-advancement guidelines and shipped for Kentucky corporations.

Topping the listing of successes was the passage of House Bill 8, a tax reform offer which includes a multi-12 months program to eradicate Kentucky’s particular person earnings tax. Very last year, the Chamber partnered with the Tax Basis to publish a report that described pragmatic, dependable possibilities for enhancing Kentucky’s tax code and generating us much more competitive. Around the previous 12 months I traveled the state and listened to businesses communicate about the need to have to minimize profits taxes to far more successfully contend for employees and financial chance. We viewed as Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, and other competitor states dropped their earnings tax prices. We analyzed Census knowledge that confirmed reduced- and no-cash flow tax states outgrew us on inhabitants, GDP development, position development, and workforce participation. The Normal Assembly met the second and put us on a path to definitely compete and reduce taxes for our citizens.

A further big theme of the session was tackling our workforce issues, and for these a complicated problem, we understood it would just take a multi-faceted method. A main action was to modernize our outdated unemployment insurance process. Home Invoice 4 encourages Kentuckians to rejoin the workforce more speedily by shortening the number of weeks of rewards when the overall economy is solid and careers are plentiful, increasing operate look for things to do, encouraging and incentivizing reskilling and retraining, creating a workshare application for companies, and altering tax calculations for entrepreneurs. This monthly bill will go a prolonged way in supporting swift reemployment and making certain the sustainability of our UI technique.

As a mother of two little children, I know an additional key barrier to workforce is the price and absence of top quality youngster care.  The Chamber championed Dwelling Invoice 499, the Staff Boy or girl Care Guidance Partnership, which makes an ground breaking, employer-led solution to kid care expense guidance. We search forward to looking at this software start up coming 12 months, generating a a great deal-necessary profit for working families.

The Chamber has lengthy advocated for enhanced infrastructure funding and commends the Basic Assembly for environment aside $250 million for transportation mega initiatives, like the Brent Spence Bridge in Northern Kentucky. This funding will be essential as we search for competitive money from the federal infrastructure package handed final 12 months.

Rounding out the a lot of pro-small business successes from this session, we observed a freeze in unemployment insurance plan taxes and replenishment of the UI have confidence in fund, conserving employers considerable money, enhanced opportunities for our bourbon sector to mature, and passage of a dependable two-calendar year budget that prioritized training, such as funding all-day kindergarten. 

And results was not only noticed in the charges that saw passage, but also in halting legislation that would have proved damaging to business. We commend the legislature for holding the line on bills that would have weakened employer legal rights connected to vaccination, lifted taxes on organizations, and other proposals that would have decreased our competitiveness, hindered enterprise growth, and moved us in the erroneous direction. 

Hunting again above this session, it is crystal clear the legislature had a target on developing our economic system, improving our tax code, and figuring out methods to our workforce crisis. For the reason that of this, the 2022 Normal Assembly was effortlessly one of the most prosperous for Kentucky companies in latest historical past and will shift Kentucky ahead. The Kentucky Chamber applauds the legislature and seems forward to functioning alongside one another to see the Commonwealth get to our true economic possible.