Sen. Schickel Discusses Priorities

The legislature gaveled into session on Tuesday, January 2, for the first day of the 2024 Legislative Session. In doing so, I am entering my final session as your state senator for Boone County. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve you. Throughout the session, I will keep you updated on your legislature’s activities and my efforts to help Boone County.

I always think it is important to outline how your state government works. It may surprise you how often people mistake me for a member of our federal delegation. While I am humbled by the fact that some think I work alongside U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul in Washington D.C., I believe it is essential that people know that my work as a state senator in Frankfort is just as—if not more—necessary than the work in our nation’s capital.

Our founding fathers created a system of government that is of, by, and for the people. It was structured in a way to protect our inalienable rights. The founders did not want a federal government with unlimited power, nor did they want only representation that was distant and unfamiliar with citizens’ concerns at a local level. In the past, I have referenced Plato’s Republic and how our founders strived to implement the most virtuous forms of several types of government when forming the American republic. We have a mixed government, including separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches with a delegation of power from federal, state, county, and city governments. This separation of powers is present at each level.

Your state legislature is bicameral, including a state House of Representatives and Senate. Membership of both chambers includes citizen-legislators, meaning lawmaking is not their full-time job, as many are former law enforcement officers, business owners, attorneys, teachers, and much more.

The Kentucky General Assembly’s Legislative sessions in even-numbered years are budget sessions, consisting of 60 legislative days, unlike the shorter 30-day session in odd-numbered years. This year’s session is a budget season. My colleagues and I are tasked with allocating general fund and road fund revenues (your taxpayer dollars) to provide for essential services. This session’s only constitutional requirement of the legislature is to provide for the next two-year state budget and road plan.

The Kentucky Constitution vests the exclusive power and duty to tax and spend the public’s money to the General Assembly. Our state constitution requires balanced spending with available financial resources, which is good. While the federal government can borrow and incur trillions of dollars in debt, this is not an option for our state government. The precious tax dollars you entrust to your government must be spent with care and discipline, which is my intent as your state senator.

The total estimated taxpayer funding for the next two-year budget and road plan is significant. The total general fund revenues—which result from sales, income and other taxes—are approximately $31.6 billion over the 2025-2026 biennium, with road fund revenues resulting from gas and motor vehicle taxes are roughly $3.7 billion. The state budget provides for state government operations and essential government services, and the road plans provide for investments in our roads, bridges, and highways.

The state Senate will have the final crack at proposing a state budget and road plan. The process traditionally starts with the Governor offering recommendations, followed by the state House of Representatives filing and passing its budget proposal. Though we will monitor the House’s efforts and communicate our desires, the Senate’s fingerprint will not be applied to the state budget until a proposal is delivered to us. I will keep you updated throughout this critical process and will remain an advocate for our district.

In the past, I have strongly advocated for Boone County to support economic growth and protect small businesses—as I serve as chair of the critical Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee. I have also helped secure funding for the state road plan, such as support for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Turfway Park, and improvements to Burlington Pike, Frogtown Road, etc.

Beyond the state budget and road plan in the 2024 Legislative Session, my top priorities will include the following:

• Expanding more KEES funding to homeschool families: While I am not the primary sponsor of this bill this session, I will remain a strong advocate for the measure.
• Juvenile Justice Reform and Criminal Justice: I have filed Senate Bill 11, which would require notice to schools before filing a public offense petition against a child in some instances. We must better protect the public from criminal behaviors, no matter who the culprits are. I will continue encouraging my colleagues to avoid these soft-on-crime policies that have harmed innocent people and caused significant losses to small-business owners.
• Deliberate legislative process: The legislative process was not intended to be rushed. Our founders put in place a system of government designed to move slowly, not rapidly. I will continue to advocate that all bills receive adequate discussion and the constitutionally required amount of readings before being passed. For bills rushed through the process, I will oppose them even if the bill’s merits and content are good. Process matters, and we should not lose sight of that. Furthermore, I am advocating a return of pre-filing legislation so that the public can view and have more time for input ahead of a legislative session.
• Reopen the Road between the state Capitol and the Capitol Annex: I remain disappointed in this road closure. Our Capitol is beautiful and unique. It has been a shame that residents and tourists visiting our State Capitol have had this experience taken from them. I know many elderly residents in Boone County who have trouble with mobility who have driven to Frankfort and enjoyed viewing the Capitol and the excellent landscaping work on the campus from the comfort of their vehicles.

On January 1, the second automatic reduction of our state income tax went into effect. House Bill (HB) 8 from the 2022 Legislative Session established the framework by which working Kentuckians’ income tax could be decreased responsibly. During the 2023 Legislative Session, the General Assembly passed HB 1 and codified the first two tax reductions after HB 8’s criteria were met. The January 1 income tax reduction lowers your income tax rate from 4.5 percent to 4 percent. By the end of 2024, HB 8 and the resulting individual income tax reductions will have resulted in approximately $1.8 billion left in the pockets of taxpayers and consumers.