Greater Louisville Inc. Urging Members to Contact Legislators on Key Issues

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GLI is asking its members to contact legislators as the 2015 Session nears its end. It wants action on the “Beer Bill”, LIFT, and giving school superintendents more power. From GLI:

Support Sen. Raque Adams’ amendment to HB 168 

House Bill 168, as passed by the Kentucky House, is a forced divestiture of a good corporate citizen, sending a terrible signal to other out-of-state companies who might be interested in investing in Kentucky. Please support Sen. Raque Adams’ amendment which would protect current jobs and promote fairness, equality, and property rights in Kentucky’s beer distribution system.

  • It protects Anheuser-Busch employees in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. GLI’s top priority from the beginning has been to protect the nearly 200 Kentuckians who work for A-B in Louisville and Owensboro.
  • It sends a signal that Kentucky isn’t hostile to good corporate citizens. For nearly 40 years Anheuser-Busch has grown jobs, paid its taxes, and offered some of the most competitive wages in the industry in the state. This compromise allows A-B to continue to invest in Kentucky.
  • It treats all brewers equally. This new approach gives every brewer from Anheuser-Busch to any small Kentucky craft brewer the opportunity to hold up to 2 distribution licenses. Craft brewers wouldn’t be forced to self-distribute, but it would become an option. Thirty-seven other states have some form of craft self-distribution, and Kentucky should join their ranks.
  • It protects property rights for a Kentucky company. The original version of House Bill 168 attempts to forcibly strip Anheuser-Busch and Rhinegeist’s  property from them. Under this compromise, property rights are honored.
GLI's Kent Oyler
GLI’s Kent Oyler

Support LIFT & Let the Voters Decide

Local Investments for Transformation (LIFT) Kentucky (House Bill 1) is being held up in the Senate despite broad bipartisan support. As you know, Greater Louisville Inc. has endorsed LIFT and so have 47 prominent business, civic, and government groups across the Commonwealth. The people deserve the right to decide whether or not they want to fund important infrastructure and economic development projects at the local level. 37 other states allow the local option. Kentucky should at least let the voters decide. Please weigh in with your state senator to let them know you support LIFT.

Ensure the Future of Kentucky’s Children 

School leadership is critical to ensuring a quality workforce for tomorrow’s job creators. We need to allow superintendents, who are our school districts’ CEOs, to stop schools in decline before they hit rock bottom.

SB 132 would allow a superintendent to intervene in a school that is in steep decline or in the bottom 25% of all schools and to provide the proactive, forceful response needed for a turnaround. It provides superintendents the power to seek out and hire experienced school leaders who know what it takes to improve and will motivate and inspire school staff to implement their vision.