Legislators moved several KLC initiatives on Wednesday with three receiving committee approval and the House of Representatives sending a fourth to the Senate.
The House passed House Bill 238 by a 93-3 vote. The measure, sponsored by Representative DJ Johnson (R-Owensboro), will help cities find the most knowledgeable and skilled people to serve on utility commissions.
The bill allows one person serving on a three-person commission to live outside the city’s boundaries, and up to two people on a five-person commission. Persons joining the commission would have to possess qualifications and expertise that benefit the utility, they would have to live in a county in which the utility operates, and they could not be employed by or have any interest in a supplier or competitor of the utility.
House Bill 238 now goes to the Senate for consideration.
The Senate State and Local Government Committee passed three KLC initiatives, sending them to the full Senate for a possible vote next week.
KLC Director of Public Affairs Bryanna L. Carroll testified with Senator Phillip Wheeler (R-Pikeville) on Senate Bill 88. The measure modernizes the list of required documents a city must submit to the Secretary of State’s Office due to a boundary change by allowing electronic submissions.
Carroll also joined Senator Wil Schroder (R-Wilder) to champion the passage of Senate Bill 171. The measure requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to promulgate administrative regulations specific to splash pads and spray parks, and it provides cities 
more investment options.
KLC Executive Director/CEO J.D. Chaney and Legislative Counsel Nancy Yelton testified with Senator Robby Mills (R-Henderson) on Senate Bill 105. The KLC initiative helps cities deal with abandoned, blighted and deteriorated properties by permitting a county circuit court to appoint a conservator to bring these types of buildings into compliance. The building would have to remain vacant for at least one year and meet several other qualifications, and the bill outlines several steps the conservator and local government must take.
