Legislators discuss business landscape
Published 1:35 pm Thursday, November 21, 2024
State Rep. Robert Duvall speaks on a legislative panel moderated by former State Rep. Richie Sanders alongside fellow elected officials State Sens. Mike Wilson and Max Wise and State Representatives Kevin Jackson, Shawn McPherson and Michael Meredith to provide updates on their work this legislative session during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
(From right) State Representatives Michael Meredith, Shawn McPherson, Kevin Jackson and Robert Duvall and State Sens. Max Wise and Mike Wilson speak on a legislative panel moderated by former State Rep. Richie Sanders as they provide updates on their work this legislative session and answer questions during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
State Sen. Max Wise speaks on a legislative panel moderated by former State Rep. Richie Sanders alongside fellow elected officials Sen. Mike Wilson and State Representatives Robert Duvall, Kevin Jackson, Shawn McPherson and Michael Meredith to provide updates on their work this legislative session during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
State Sen. Mike Wilson speaks on a legislative panel moderated by former State Rep. Richie Sanders alongside fellow elected officials Sen. Max Wise and State Representatives Robert Duvall, Kevin Jackson, Shawn McPherson and Michael Meredith to provide updates on their work this legislative session during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Derek Olive speaks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the SOKY Ice Rink for its eighth season on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. The rink, which is located in the SOKY Marketplace Pavilion, will remain open until Jan. 26, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Audience members applaud as Carlos Sanchez, president of AT&T Kentucky, announces that the Barren River Area Development District (BRADD) is one of five communities nationwide to be selected for the AT&T Climate Resilient Communities Initiative (CRCI), which utilizes climate data to anticipate and mitigate potential future environmental hazards, and receive $42,000 to support the Disaster Science Operations Center at Western Kentucky that provides BRADD with weather instrumentation, weather radios, training exercises and other services, during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
State Rep. Michael Meredith speaks on a legislative panel moderated by former State Rep. Richie Sanders alongside fellow elected officials State Sens. Mike Wilson and Max Wise and State Representatives Robert Duvall, Kevin Jackson and Shawn McPherson to provide updates on their work this legislative session during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
State Rep. Shawn McPherson speaks on a legislative panel moderated by former State Rep. Richie Sanders alongside fellow elected officials State Sens. Mike Wilson and Max Wise and State Representatives Robert Duvall, Kevin Jackson and Michael Meredith to provide updates on their work this legislative session during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Carlos Sanchez (center), president of AT&T Kentucky, presents the Barren River Area Development District (BRADD) with a check for $42,000 to support the Disaster Science Operations Center at Western Kentucky that provides BRADD with weather instrumentation, weather radios, training exercises and other services, as BRADD is announced to be one of five communities nationwide to be selected for the AT&T Climate Resilient Communities Initiative (CRCI), which utilizes climate data to anticipate and mitigate potential future environmental hazards, during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
Carlos Sanchez, president of AT&T Kentucky, announces that the Barren River Area Development District (BRADD) is one of five communities nationwide to be selected for the AT&T Climate Resilient Communities Initiative (CRCI), which utilizes climate data to anticipate and mitigate potential future environmental hazards, and receive $42,000 to support the Disaster Science Operations Center at Western Kentucky that provides BRADD with weather instrumentation, weather radios, training exercises and other services, during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
State Rep. Kevin Jackson speaks on a legislative panel moderated by former State Rep. Richie Sanders alongside fellow elected officials State Sens. Mike Wilson and Max Wise and State Representatives Robert Duvall, Shawn McPherson and Michael Meredith to provide updates on their work this legislative session during the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Coffee Hour” breakfast event at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 2024. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
A panel of state representatives regionwide shared some legislative priorities and updates connected to southcentral Kentucky’s business landscape.
It was hosted by the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, held at the National Corvette Museum and sponsored by AT&T. South Central Bank Board Member Richie Sanders asked questions of Rep. Robert Duvall, Rep. Kevin Jackson, Rep. Shawn McPherson, Rep. Michael Meredith, State Sen. Mike Wilson and Sen. Max Wise.
Speaking as the co-chair of the 2024 Workforce, Attraction and Retention Task Force, Wise said “one of the first things we did” was have a book called “Men Without Work,” about men 25 to 54 years old who aren’t working, he said.
“A lot of it gets down to the white male population of that demographic age group, a host of reasons they’re not going to work,” he said. “Now, government, we can solve a lot of problems, but that should not be always the role of government, (where) everybody looks at us and says, ‘Fix it. Fix it.’ It also starts at the home. It also starts with broken homes. But it also starts with young people learning how to be accountable for their actions, but also the value of hard work.”
Wise said they also need to look at some transportation issues — among other ideas, “maybe reducing the age for a driver’s license to 15 years old. Some of these students should be able to get to work and be able to solve some of those issues.”
Asked about artificial intelligence, Duvall said the General Assembly is responsible for establishing guardrails.
“I like to use the phrase ‘the sandbox’ … We can do a lot of things, but we have to define that sandbox,” he said, adding that a study came out this last week on it following a past session on AI. “The most important thing is making sure that human beings are ultimately responsible. And we have to be very concerned about our privacy issues. We have to make sure that there’s disclosures for things such as chatbots, we have to make sure that we protect our society from these deep fake videos.”
Jackson spotlighted a need for kindergarten readiness.
The General Assembly has gotten funding for the first of two years for a computer-based pilot program known as the Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Project. Parents will spend 15 to 20 minutes a day with their child on the program to help them become kindergarten ready, he said.
It’ll select 400 5 and 6 year olds statewide that haven’t been accepted into kindergarten, 40% of them, low-income families; those without a computer or internet will have that provided for them, he said.
This is important for improving third-grade reading scores, he added.
Additionally, AT&T has contributed $42,000 to bolster climate resilience efforts within the Barren River Area Development District.
It’ll support Western Kentucky University’s Disaster Science Operations Center, “which will provide the BRADD community with weather instrumentation, weather radios, portable AC units, fans and training exercises to enhance preparedness and response capabilities in the face of extreme weather events,” according to an AT&T release.
