Monroe recently became the 12th Kentucky county to pass a local right-to-work law.

State Rep. Bart Rowland, R-Tompkinsville, told JPI News that the actions taken by counties "helps legislators realize that local communities want right-to-work and Kentuckians want right-to-work and that it's not just a Republican issue."

More than 100 votes have now been cast on local right-to-work issues in Kentucky with more than 90 percent of both Republican and Democratic fiscal court magistrates supporting the policy.

Rowland notes that a statewide right-to-work policy would give Kentucky private-sector workers the same freedom available to the commonwealth's public-school teachers.

“As a teacher, my wife can choose to be a member of KEA – one of the largest unions in Kentucky – but she’s not required to join KEA in order to keep her job.  That’s all we desire for all of Kentucky’s workers – a choice,” he told JPI News.

Monroe Judge-Executive Tommy Willett said passing the right-to-work ordinance will remove a barrier to economic growth in his county.

"What we have now is a restricted state as far as commerce is concerned," Willett told the news service. "We need to eliminate any restriction that prevents businesses and industries from coming locating in our county.  We need to stand to do what we believe is the right thing to do for our county and our state."

Keep updated here on Kentucky's local right-to-work campaign.