News release: It’s a new day in My Old Kentucky Home
For Immediate Release:
Friday, January 7, 2017
Contact: Jim Waters @ 859.444-5630 (office) 270.320.4376 (cell)
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — Legislators today in a historic Saturday session replaced the “Closed for Business” signs that had kept opportunity out of the Bluegrass State with an unmistakable statement that the commonwealth is now “Open for Business” by passing legislation making Kentucky the nation’s 27th right-to-work state.
“Just like we saw in Thursday’s passage by the Kentucky House of Representatives, lawmakers’ courageous determination to do the right thing was on full display today with the state Senate’s final passage of House Bill 1 by a 25-12 margin,” Bluegrass Institute president Jim Waters said.
“We’re thankful for our supporters who have partnered with us for more than a decade as we made both the economic and liberty cases for right-to-work protections for hardworking Kentuckians. Without them, this day doesn’t happen,” Waters said.
The Legislature today also repealed prevailing-wage mandates on public projects and enacted paycheck protection for workers, allowing workers to choose whether to have union dues withheld from their paychecks. Currently workers must choose to opt out of having an employer withhold their dues. Legislative pension transparency also became a reality today.
“Right-to-work is good for Kentucky and good for America,” Waters said. “Incomes are up and opportunities abound in right-to-work states; but most importantly, this policy defends individual liberties of hardworking Kentuckians by giving them the right to decide how to spend their own hard-earned money.”
HB 1 was undergirded by the fact that many Kentucky counties which have passed local right-to-work ordinances during the past couple of years.
Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon says the county – the nation’s first to pass a right-to-work ordinance – has attracted more than $1 billion capital investment since passing its local ordinance in December 2014.“With that kind of growth in one Kentucky county, just imagine what could happen across this entire commonwealth with free-market policies.” Waters said. “We’ve got counties and entire regions throughout the Bluegrass State facing Depression-like economic conditions, but it’s a new day in my old Kentucky home.”
For more information, please contact Jim Waters at jwaters@freedomkentucky.com, 859.444.5630 ext. 102 (office) or 270.320.4376 (cell).