Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Lawmakers outline potential considerations for 2025 legislative session

FILE - The Kentucky Capitol is seen, Jan. 14, 2020, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
Timothy D. Easley/AP
/
FR43398 AP
FILE - The Kentucky Capitol is seen, Jan. 14, 2020, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

Policymakers recently shared their predictions for future legislative sessions.

Senator Robin Webb said disaster relief and prevention will be a major talking point of the upcoming 2025 session. Webb added the Kinship Care Act will continue to be legislated. The act would allow caregivers to receive compensation for raising children who are not their own.

Representative Patrick Flannery said focusing on the income tax code is another approach that could improve the state’s economy.

“I think working is a good thing, and let's find a way that we can encourage more people to work overtime, and not be taxed for overtime wages. I think that could actually help fill in with a lot of our shortages,” said Flannery.

Flannery and Senator Steve West predicted the state’s energy crisis will be addressed. Both lawmakers said an improved energy policy will attract investors and businesses to the state.

West said the energy crisis is already impacting the Kentucky economy.

“The state is already having to turn away people. Companies that want to locate here, especially in the TVA region, because we cannot produce enough power,” said West.

West added education is a problem in the Commonwealth that needs to be addressed, and said the state is allocating an additional $1 billion to the already $16 billion dedicated to education funding.

Representative Richard White said Kentucky’s housing shortage is an issue legislators must tackle. Officials said the cost of building a home in the state can exceed the cost of purchasing one by upwards of $30,000.