A Who’s Who of Kentucky legislature reported to NKY about how region benefitted from funding

By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter

In a show of unity and strength a Who’s Who of Kentucky legislators converged on Northern Kentucky’s Kenton County Government Center to let people know they funneled some of the state’s tax money to local projects.

“We like to consider ourselves a region here in Northern Kentucky, that’s why we have senators from Campbell, and Boone, as well as Kenton here today to celebrate,” said John Middleton, circuit court clerk for Kenton County. “The celebration is because we finally have a great return on investment.”

Middleton said that is due in a large part to Senator Chris McDaniel and the budget committee, who represented Northern Kentucky’s needs in Frankfort.

“This year we took bold steps to ensure that resources are directed toward healthy working families and protecting our most vulnerable populations,” said Julie Raque Adams, Kentucky State Senator from Louisville who is the Majority Caucus Chairperson, “because at the end of the day, this is all about giving families the support they need in order to succeed.”

She too singled out the outstanding leadership of Senator McDaniel, saying that as chair of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee, he was the driving force behind so much of the progress that was accomplished. She said his dedication to Northern Kentucky and to critical programs has been unwavering, and he has made sure that the money makes a real difference for the families in Northern Kentucky.

“There really is a Ying and Yang in the general assembly about that rural/urban divide,” she said, “He does an incredible job of bridging that gap between the rural, and suburban and urban. To have an appropriations and revenue chair who knows how to thread that needle – I truly believe he is magic.”

McDaniel recognized several of his fellow senators, noting that John Schickel will be retiring this year and Gex (Jay) Williams is back to being a leader in the senate, and Shelley Frommeyer is a newcomer. He also mentioned that Damon Thayer will be retiring, and said he will miss both the retiring senators.

“A lot of time you have inert materials that are really great in and of themselves, but they need a very small catalyst to make the reaction actually occur; to make things happen,” McDaniel said. “In the General Assembly this last time, we were able to be that final catalyst that financially turned (our leaders) loose to do what their important organizations are meant to do for the community.”

He pointed to the city of Erlanger, which received money for Stevenson Road, and Covington Partners, Ion Center for Violence Prevention, the Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky, and Holly Hill, which all have benefitted.

“This is all from long-term discipline; there were excesses that were able to be transferred over to bridges,” McDaniel explained. “And from last session, probably the biggest investment we’ve been able to make, which is a lifetime investment, not just for the Northern Kentucky area, but for the nation as a whole, which involves delivering the Brent Spence bridge without tolls.”

The list of the funding awards are:

• $807 million to Kenton county for planning, designing, rights-of-way obtainment, utility work, and construction of various projects, including further progress on the Brent Spence Bridge megaproject,

• $30 million to the Sanitation District #1 of Northern Kentucky and the city of Erlanger for the Stevenson Road project,

• $125 million to the Kenton County Fiscal Court for the Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence,

• $20 million to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for Hangar Row,

• $27 million to Victims Advocacy Programs Operational Costs,

• $17 million to various Victims Advocacy Programs,

• $12 million to Life Learning Center for Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Program,

• $10 million to the city of Covington for infrastructure at the Covington Central Riverfront site,

• $6.5 million to Holly Hill Child and Family solutions,

• $6 million to Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky,

• $6 million to Kenton County Fiscal Court for SparkHaus,

• $5 million to Kenton County Fiscal Court for Brownfield Site Readiness,

• $2.5 million to Covington Life Science Center,

• $1 million to Covington Partners for wrap around services, and

• $500,000 to the city of Taylor Mill for Sewer Expansion Study on Locust Pike.

“There is a human impact behind every single dollar we allocate and we do our best to make sure they are allocated as efficiently as possible to see what we can accomplish when we focus not just on getting something done, but in getting the right things done in the most efficient way to serve the most people possible,” McDaniel explained.

He introduced John Schickel, saying government is for the effective administration of justice between individuals, to make sure rights are not violated by another person or another organization that is inappropriate. He stated that there is no greater advocate for the appropriate, limited, but efficient, administration of justice than John Schickel, and called him a mentor.

“I have three things to talk about–infrastructure, infrastructure. and infrastructure,” Schickel started out. “Infrastructure is so very important. Not only in this budget, but in the 16 years I have been in the state senate areas of high growth that pays the bills for Kentucky, the business generates the taxes, the priority on infrastructure has been in those areas.”

He thanked McDaniel and others for their leadership to help make that happen. He gave a shout out to the bourbon industry for being transformational for the tourist industry. In Europe, he said, now the people are asking about Kentucky bourbon in addition to Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the Kentucky Derby.

Gex (Jay) Williams was next up.

“John is like a comet,” he said of Schickel. “When he was jailer, he was the only jailer in the state who turned a profit on his jail. He came back around, like a comet, and he is now the conscience of the Senate. He is the one who gets up there and reminds us who we are and who we are representing, and if there is something bigger than just us that we’re all working for, and somebody bigger than just us who’s got a plan for us.”

He went on to say that “We are the heart of logistics in the United States, that is what we do, we move everybody’s products from point A to B whether it be by air, land or sea.”

Williams is not as concerned that the east coast port strike will affect the area, although he did say it would depend on how long it lasts.

“We might have more come in by air,” he said. “We’re the international hub for DHL, we have UPS, so I expect we might see some more international traffic. We are a very resilient and diversified area. We have a road coming across from Texas, I-69 comes up, so we have a lot of freight coming through, and that might insulate us a little.”

Robert Stivers, Kentucky Senate President, remembered back to 1978, with the oil embargo, that resulted in a toll road in Eastern Kentucky, even though it drove up gas prices.

“It’s hard to tell (about the port strike) but it could have a positive impact, these things sometimes have a double edged sword,” Stivers said, “because you might be starting to see more things moved by cargo plane at the airport, if they can’t move things on the coast by boat.”

Stivers joked that he was old enough to remember when Jay Williams was here before. He said he wanted to talk about policy and process, and some people might be thinking the government is spending a lot of money.

“And we are,” he said. “But why. The ability to have a process, and discipline, is important.”

He said having a process is vital to the government. He said when you have a budget reserve trust fund, it is like having a savings account for your house, because you know that your house will need a new roof or new refrigerator. Years ago,he said, Kentucky’s reserve trust fund was zero, but smart, disciplined policies and processes have fixed that.

“Maybe the most important thing that people haven’t talked about today, is that we’re also giving everybody a pay raise because in the last six years we have taken the state income tax rate from 6 percent, to 5, to 4 ½, to 4, and this next year we, the policy makers, will take the step to reduce the state income tax to 3 ½ percent,” he said, to a round of applause. “We understand the value of policy and process and growth areas in the state, and this group has been the leaders. This is how we grow.”

The post A Who’s Who of Kentucky legislature reported to NKY about how region benefitted from funding appeared first on NKyTribune .