Call to Order and Roll Call
The 2nd meeting of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Protection of the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue was held on Thursday, August 24, 2017, at 2:30 PM, in Room 131 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Jill York, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Rick Girdler, Co-Chair; Representative Jill York, Co-Chair; Senators Perry B. Clark, Denise Harper Angel, Stan Humphries, and Alice Forgy Kerr; Representatives Ruth Ann Palumbo, Steve Riggs, Bart Rowland, Steven Rudy, Diane St. Onge, Tommy Turner, and Ken Upchurch.
Guests: Katie Smith, Executive Director, Office of Financial Services (OFS), Cabinet for Economic Development (CED); Sarah Butler, Director, Incentive Assistance Division, OFS, CED; Robert Aldridge, Assistant Director, Compliance Division, OFS, CED; Derrick Ramsey, Secretary, Labor Cabinet; Mike Nemes, Deputy Secretary, Labor Cabinet; Robert Swisher, Commissioner, Department of Workers' Claims, Labor Cabinet; and Ervin Dimeny, Commissioner, Department of Workplace Standards, Labor Cabinet.
LRC Staff: Seth Dawson, Greg Troutman, and Benjamin Thompson.
Overview of the Cabinet for Economic Development
Ms. Smith provided a brief update on the budget of the Cabinet for Economic Development (CED).
In response to a question from Representative Palumbo, Ms. Smith stated that CED ended operations in Chile around six to eight years ago.
In response to questions from Chair York, Ms. Smith stated that the three cash-balance pools, the High-Tech Investment Pool, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) Loan and Grant Pool, and the Economic Development Bond Pool were lumped together into one cash pool two budget cycles ago. The available balance for that joint pool is roughly $40 million. There is no specific breakdown for what funds are available for each of the three programs. CED has attempted to make the application for small business tax incentives as streamlined and simple as possible. For the small business tax incentive program, jobs have to have already been created. Each application is reviewed within a few days and applications are approved in KEDFA meetings, which take place the last Thursday of each month.
In response to a question from Representative St. Onge, Ms. Smith noted that there is no specific percentage of cash-pool money that goes to high-tech investments.
In response to a question from Chair York, Ms. Smith stated that participants in the Kentucky Business Investment program self-report on how much money has been invested and how many jobs have been created.
Overview of the Labor Cabinet and Update on Apprenticeship Program
Secretary Ramsey provided a brief overview on the budget of the Labor Cabinet, as well as an update on the status of the Commonwealth's apprenticeship program.
In response to a question from Chair York, Commissioner Swisher stated that LMS stands for Litigation Management System.
In response to questions from Senator Clark, Secretary Ramsey confirmed that Kentucky has the first nursing apprenticeship in the country. The Labor Cabinet has learned that apprentices coming from foster care aren't used to much structure and the goal is to try and get to them at younger ages to help them transition. Deputy Secretary Nemes stated that there is work being done to change regulations to allow apprentices to use Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) money. KEES money is only available for use in colleges.
In response to a question from Representative St. Onge, Deputy Secretary Nemes noted that apprentices often times go on to pursue four year degrees.
In response to a question from Chair York, Commissioner Dimeny stated that the Department of Workplace Standards is unable to meet the demand from companies for additional safety training and education.
There being no further business before the subcommittee, the meeting was adjourned at 4:15 PM.