By Hannah Carver
NKyTribune reporter
The special legislative session called by Governor Matt Bevin to address the state’s pension issue was on the minds of many Kentuckians recently — including Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Brent Cooper’s.
“Right now, we’re concerned about the pension situation and the credit rating for the state. That has real-world implications and costs. That has to be figured out. It has to be addressed,” Cooper said last Tuesday, before the session was over. “Whatever happens in the special session will have implications for the General Assembly in January.”
Of course, Cooper is already thinking beyond the failed special session, advocating for what he hopes to see pass in the 2019 General Assembly, which begins January 8.
“If you look over the last two to three years, the policies that the legislators have done have made us more competitive and improved the economy,” Cooper said.
Examples listed by Cooper included Kenton County schools saving $550,000, just on one project, because Kentucky got rid of its prevailing wage requirement. Northern Kentucky is also currently seeing its lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, and the region has the highest worker participation rate in the state.
Cooper hopes to see these trends continue with more policies that improve both statewide and regional economic development.
“Our mission has been driving our advocacy,” Cooper said. “We promote business growth and an improved economy.”
Looking at gas tax
Going forward, the workforce is the overriding issue that, according to Cooper, will make or break that economic growth. Transportation, education, and healthcare are all factors that play into that growing workforce.
“On the transportation side, we’re looking at ways that we can get more revenue and invest that revenue wisely,” Cooper said.
Part of that increased revenue could come from House Bill 609 if passed. Among its objectives is a 10-cent per gallon tax increase on gasoline.
“A 10-cent increase would cost the average driver about $60 a year, but if we do nothing, according to one study that came out in the last 6 months, the current road situation for the state is costing us about $1,000 a year in increased maintenance on our vehicles,” Cooper said. “We’re paying it one way or another. We’d rather spend it proactively.”
So how does this tie into building up Northern Kentucky’s workforce?
Better infrastructure will help people get from point A to point B in a more efficient manner, meaning employees get to work on time and then get home in time to be with their families.
On the education front, the Chamber will be advocating for more resources, according to Cooper.
“We’re for increased investments at all levels,” Cooper said.
Launching GROW NKY (NKyTribune photo)
Growing Regional Outcomes through Workforce (GROW NKY) is an excellent example of the Chamber’s commitment to education and workforce development. Through short-term and long-term goals, GROW NKY will focus on five key pillars: Kindergarten readiness, college & career readiness, adult career readiness & lifelong learning, talent retention & attraction, and employer policies & practices.
The Chamber is also pushing for restoring the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funds, as well as other Flexible Focus Funds, to levels that provide more equitable funding among school districts.
Cooper also brought up the importance of accessible childcare resources.
“That’s a short-term workforce issue because if you don’t have someone to watch your kids, you can’t work, and it’s a long-term issue because if a kid doesn’t get quality childcare, they’re not going to come in ready for kindergarten.”
The Chamber is pushing for the General Assembly to increase reimbursement rates for childcare providers and make low-income, working families eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
On the healthcare side, the Chamber will be advocating for policies that both reduce the cost of insurance for citizens and businesses, and that improve the health of the collective workforce. These ideas will also receive extra focus in January, which the Chamber has designated as “Health & Wellness Month.”
Smokers shouldn’t be a protected class
As part of improving collective health, the Chamber is in favor of repealing smokers as a protected class of citizens in Kentucky. Smoking-related health care costs in the Commonwealth total $1.92 billion each year, and a smoker can cost an employer $6,000 more a year than a non-smoker.
Nevertheless, Kentucky law currently forbids employers turning away applicants because they smoke. Ohio employers do not have this restriction, which according to the Chamber, leads to a disadvantage for Kentucky.
The Chamber is also in favor of legislation that would address medical malpractice reforms because they feel it would effectively reduce health care costs to consumers, as well as enhance the region’s ability to attract and retain licensed medical professionals.
Addressing the addiction crisis is also on the Chamber’s agenda.
“The state doesn’t have the money to do what needs to be done without tax reform, though,” Cooper said. “We’d like to see continued tax reforms that continue to improve the competitiveness of the state, very similar to what they did last time with broadening the base — increasing sales tax and decreasing corporate income tax. We think that’s a winning strategy for the state that makes us more competitive.”
“We cannot grow the way we need to without talent attraction and retention. We just can’t. We can’t fill the jobs we want or need with just the students we’re producing. We’ve got to attract from outside the region, and globally. The impact that the national stage has on that will land on us eventually,” Cooper said.
In the coming months — and in addition to looking more at solutions to better health in the region — the NKyTribune and Chamber will also take a closer look at diversity and international trade, which is February’s focus, as well as March’s focus of talent attraction and retention.
“If you look over the last two to three years, the policies that the legislators have done have made us more competitive and improved the economy,” Cooper said. In other news, War is Peace, Up is Down and Chickens are Beagles. The truth: less jobs created per month since right to work than before, the sewer pension bill cost more than status quo pension programs, Kim Jong Bevin’s Medicaid vandalism costs more and deprived tens of thousands of access to medical care. The NKY Chamber has worked against the interests of Kentuckians for years. This story indicates they’re not changing course.
What are you talking about Bill? You have no working knowledge on pensions or right to work law. We just passed the right to work law lol, look at the hiring history of every other stay that has signed right to work; a huge influx of jobs in all of them. Come this spring/summer there will be more jobs moving to KY than we know what to do with. The unions are dying. Historically union membership has been on a continual and consistent downward spiral for decade after decade due to the fact federal and state laws and protections easily cover the working class against employers abusing them. Unions were only applicable back in the industrial days when people were forced to work 15 hour+ days with no benefits, little to no pay, no protections, and no safety. Nowadays there are more benefits for people than you can name, employers are increasing their wages to employees 10%+ a year to retain them in most industries, three weeks + of vacation starting, etc. etc. Why on God’s green earth should someone be FORCED to pay union dues??? if the unions are so great, and beneficial and prospering why wouldn’t people elect to at their own free will to pay dues to be a part of them? It’s just like socialism and communism, their ideas so “great” that they have to be enforced… ultimately at gun point.
Take a look at pension overruns in any other state or city. The entire country is full of failing and underfunded pensions. The cities and states that cut them first will be on top economically and for the well being of all in the long run. And the Chamber is a joke nowadays, it’s full of non-profits and social justice warriors, they really don’t care about the business community and doing anything to fight for them, all they care about is extra dues from non-profits because the real business people and working 7 days a week. Non profit people create their own schedules and hang out all day at the chamber and their events. Please educate yourself before making ignorant comments on the interweb.
Mr. Cooper’s comments do not provide a complete picture of Kentucky’s economy. The big question is–“Will the new jobs at Amazon and other provide enough income for the average worker to purchase a house and send his/her children to college?” One should read the KY Center for Economic Policy’s August 2018 report. It can be accessed here.
https://kypolicy.org/the-state-of-working-kentucky-2018/
The state still lacks an adequate number of jobs, with certain regions and populations especially lacking in job opportunities. Too many of the jobs we have are of low quality, and much-needed wage growth is still largely missing in Kentucky.
In respect to tax reform; there has not been any!!! There has only been the attempt at tax shifting from income taxes to sales and property taxes.
In the past year the GOP legislature has enacted tax policies cutting corporate taxes to below levels of the 1950s. Kentucky needs a tax system where everyone pays their fair share in order to provide for the services of a “civilized” society. With the cutting of income taxes on corporations and upper income earners local governments are forced to rely on raising property taxes and the state considers sales and consumption taxes.
Kentucky and NKY KY needs to take a serious look at really supporting public schools from pre-school and K-12 as well as higher education. Public support for higher education has shifted from the state to the student.
Again, their is a pension crisis. However, re-submission of the existing “sewer bill” will not help attract the best and brightest to Kentucky’s classrooms.
We need real vision and perhaps some sacrifice from those who live and work in NKY and Kentucky to make Kentucky a national and world competitor and not just a place that competes with Mississippi and Arkansas.
The poverty rate has remain nearly unchanged for the past 75 years in this country. College education is not a right. The Utopian vision you speak of is not possible through literally whatever channels you try to achieve it. People can’t afford housing because developers are over-regulated and taxed via permits by state and federal governments. 40% of the cost of an average house is from regulation (look it up). The government is causing all of the problems. We need more free markets, and freedom so those with lower incomes have a chance of jumping into the middle class. At the end of the day increasing taxes in any income bracket kills jobs and population. California has ever increasing taxes to try to subsidize low income people, and now literally hundreds of thousands of people are leaving the state for colorado and texas where taxes are much lower and there’s less regulation. (mostly wealthy, mobile people). You can’t tax your way into fixing problems. Give the free market open reins and let everything fix itself naturally and organically.
Eliminating the prevailing wage may have worked for business, but it impoverished Kentucky’s working families. That $550 K saved on one project came out of the incomes of working Kentuckians. And what did businesses and the top income earners contribute to this so called improved economy? Nothing~!! In fact, they got their taxes lowered so that they could pad the salaries of a bunch of greedy CEO’s or fatten the dividend checks of their largest investors. Take your ‘improved economy’ and shove it!!
Prevailing wage is pointless, and a small fraction of the workforce ever receives it. Wages right now (mainly in the lower classes) are rising very, very quickly right now in most industries. Employers are in an all out war to attract and keep employees and their companies. I know a handful of companies that have increased their payroll 15-20% every year for the past three years because they can’t keep anyone, they keep jumping ship for other higher salaries. This is all due to a booming economy and free-market mechanisms. And, amazon raising their starting pay to $15/hr (double the federal minimum) with make all other salaries match that or higher especially in our area.