Gov. Ernie Fletcher set the tone for the 2006 Kentucky General Assembly Jan. 9 with his state of the commonwealth address. At the top of the list of concerns were medical malpractice, teacher salaries, and union right to work legislation among other issues.
For Owen County’s two representatives in Frankfort, a different issue takes the forefront.
Owen County needs natural gas.
“Getting a natural gas line is the number one priority,” Rep. Royce Adams, D-Grant County, said.
“With the demise of the tobacco industry, Owen County is in desperate need for industry,” he said.
But that industry won’t come to Owen County if it remains the only county in the state without a line, Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Scott County, said.
“Companies don’t want to move to a county that doesn’t have a natural gas line.”
Otherwise, he said, the area is prime for industry, nestled in the middle of the so-called golden triangle with a good workforce available and a “beautiful industrial park sitting empty.”
He added that Actaris, which ironically produces natural gas meters, is itching to grow, but is limited without the line.
Both legislators agreed the money may be hard to come by, but are hoping to garner between $1-3 million of the $5-6 million total for the project from the state budget.
The rest of the money would come from grants, federal monies and low-interest loans. But in order to get those loans at a reasonable rate, there has to be enough money up front, Adams said.
“If the loans are too high it will make the gas so expensive no one will use it,” he said.
Just how much money is available will start to clear up now that Fletcher presented his budget Tuesday night, Adams said.
Thayer expects more consensus over the budget than two years ago when the general assembly retired without approving one and had to reconvene.
This is not to say this year will be without its share of hot-button topics before wrapping up the first week of April, such as legislation to allow workers at unionized company to refrain from paying dues — an issue that drew boos from the balcony during Fletcher’s address.
“We are going to disagree on issues. People should not expect legislators to agree all the time,” he said.
A potentially controversial bill Thayer is sponsoring could reform medical malpractice in the state. He and others are seeking to create a constitutional amendment that would guard against the threat of frivolous lawsuits, he said.
Without it, Kentucky is losing qualified neurosurgeons and OB-GYNs to states with more protection such as Indiana.
He is also sponsoring a bill that would establish a trust fund for families who have a member currently activated in the National Guard, as well as a bill to toughen penalties on sex offenders who commit crimes against juveniles.
Adams is sponsoring a bill to take sales tax off horse feed and supplies, arguing that horses are the only agricultural animal taxed.
“It’s a matter of fairness and equality,” he said.
With the wane of tobacco in the state, the horse industry is the undisputed king of Kentucky’s agricultural economy, he said, and measures need to be taken to support that.
Another issue that will affect Owen County will be the allotment of funds to widen and straighten Ky. 22 from Owenton south to Grant County. Neither legislator expects to see the kind of money needed to complete the project soon, although both hope to garner money to start on the design phase and determine feasibility.
“It’s still a long way off,” Thayer said.

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