"I like to kind of think of it as the kick off to the legislative session," Kate Shanks, Sr. Vice President of Public Affairs with the Kentucky Chamber.
Shanks says Monday's event, with sessions ranging from emerging technology to introductions to new legislators, acts as a kind of unofficial start to the legislating season in January.
It's a little more than halfway through the day, and she says — if there's an emerging trend in the remarks — it's job growth.
"I think they're going to continue to stay on this trajectory of passing legislation that is good for economic growth in Kentucky and improving our competitiveness for that," she says.
Louisville Republican and House Majority Whip Jason Nemes was on hand. Quizzed on the GOP-dominated legislature's priorities in 2025, he first mentions affordable housing — though he envisions that term as including more than a focus on low-income initiatives.
"We certainly need people need to get housing for people who can't afford it just to get a roof over their head, no doubt about that. That's that's a non-negotiable one and we're doing decent at that... not well enough, but we're doing OK at that," he says.
But the place where Kentucky is "completely failing," Nemes explains, is in single-family homes, condos, or townhomes aimed at Kentuckians who "work their butts off. They're in a profession or they go to work every day. Good taxpayer, they make the commonwealth run. And they just can't get ahead by getting ownership."
The legislature won't be back in their seats until January 7.
