Ahead of what’s shaping up to be a busy budget session for Kentucky’s General Assembly, lawmakers representing parts of far western Kentucky discussed their legislative priorities at a Tuesday luncheon hosted by the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce.
One of the Paducah Chamber’s top priorities is supporting the reindustrialization of the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site, where the McCracken County business advocacy group looks to continue the area’s momentum on the nuclear energy front.
Earlier this year, General Matter signed a lease agreement to use part of the Department of Energy-owned site in West Paducah to build the nation’s first commercial uranium enrichment plant – and plans to invest $1.5 billion to build the facility in far western Kentucky. Another company, Global Laser Enrichment, is seeking to open the world’s first commercial laser uranium enrichment plant in McCracken County near the PGDP site.
The DOE-owned property in far western Kentucky is also one of four sites the federal agency is evaluating to potentially house an artificial intelligence data center. Paducah Chamber President and CEO Sandra Wilson said DOE leaders will be in McCracken County this week to tour the PGDP site.
Republican State Sen. Danny Carroll of Paducah said many in the state expect far western Kentucky to lead the way on the nuclear energy front.
“It's a whole new economy that we're about to get into throughout this state, and it's pretty exciting. We just got to make sure that we all benefit,” Carroll said.
The Paducah Chamber is also asking for state funding to assist with efforts to obtain a federal grant to build a new riverport for the expansion of the McCracken County seat’s current one, near the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers.
This new riverport would be built near Paducah’s Triple Rail Site, about two miles away from the DOE property. Wilson said any state funding received would be used to meet local match requirements for federal grants awarded to the project.
The chamber is also advocating for state dollars to be included in the next biennial budget to build a new judicial justice center in McCracken County, as well as funds to improve historic landmarks like the shuttered Columbia theater a local group has been attempting to renovate for several years and Brooks Stadium, where an Ohio Valley League baseball team plays during the summer. They’re also pushing for state funds to help Paducah Cooperative Ministry build a new shelter for homeless people.
Republican State Rep. Steven Rudy of Paducah serves as the House’s majority floor leader. He said the GOP-dominated legislature will budget to trigger a half-percentage point drop in Kentucky’s income tax in 2028. This past fiscal year, the state was just shy of meeting the conditions necessary to trigger an income tax reduction.
Rudy said, while biennial budget sessions bring opportunities to fund projects and improvements across the commonwealth, lawmakers are also tasked with planning for Kentucky’s fiscal future.
“We plan to invest, pay down debt and save just like you do with your budgets and your businesses,” Rudy said. “That is what we will be focused on: investing in infrastructure and other necessary things to move Kentucky forward generationally, and not necessarily just creating new government programs. We don't feel [like] adding to long term problems. We've got a razor focus on what is actually the function of state government.”
Rudy said, when considering what taxpayer dollars should be spent on, he first looks at projects whose reaches expand beyond one city or area.
“As we look at crafting the statewide spending plan for the next two years, [the] first priority is to make sure, if we have that extra money to make that investment, that we look at things that benefit the whole [state],” Rudy said.
In addition to plans on introducing bills related to nuclear energy advancement, Carroll said he’s also drafting a bill to provide incentive-based funding for child care centers and low-income families caring for children at home. Incentives would be awarded to these centers and families based on their children’s kindergarten readiness, which Carroll said could encourage more child care providers to enter the field. The state senator is suggesting this plan as an alternative to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s goal of providing pre-K for all of Kentucky’s 4-year-olds.
Kentucky’s 60-day legislative budget session begins on Jan. 6.
