Legislative Updates

On Monday, April 15, the Kentucky General Assembly adjourned sine die, ending the 2024 60-day Legislative Session. With the passage of the Commonwealth’s two-year budget serving as the legislature’s top priority, tax policy updates, CPA educational modifications, and business legislation were enacted into law. Following Governor Andy Beshear’s re-election to a second term in November, an initial Executive Branch budget proposal was revealed in late December. Although the Governor can provide recommendations for funding the Executive Branch, the General Assembly has sole power over the state’s appropriations process. Kentucky operates on a two-year, biennial budget for all parts of its government. The 60-day Sessions are designed specifically to address the biennial budget and revenue matters.

The KyCPA publishes an annual outline of legislative priorities. For 2024, the issues are: Guiding principles of sound tax policy Accounting pipeline Tax simplification Some federal priorities, including: Fiscal state of the nation Federatl tax extension "safe harbor" Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting

KyCPA members from across the Commonwealth attended CPA Day at the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort on January 31, 2024. Key policymakers in state government provided updates on the Legislative Session including Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, House Majority Caucus Chair Suzanne Miles, Department of Revenue Commissioner Tom Miller, and Executive Director of State Audits Matt Frey with Auditor of Public Accounts Allison Ball’s office.

As the New Year approaches, the CPA profession continues to serve a substantial leadership role in business, tax, and advisory services across the Commonwealth. The 2024 Legislative Session will focus on Kentucky’s next biennial budget with accompanied tax reform discussions. At a national level CPAs continue to discuss multiple pathways to the education, licensure, and experience needed to address the declining number of students entering the profession while balancing the ability of CPAs to practice across state lines. As federal issues like beneficial ownership information reporting and PCAOB oversight intensify, the profession will need to meet a variety of challenges.

2023 was another eventful year for the Kentucky General Assembly during the spring Legislative Session, with the passing of various policy reforms. Although state tax issues are typically not addressed during short 30-day Sessions, policymakers made significant modifications to Kentuckys tax code with major impacts on the states business community. From the onset of critical policy decisions, KyCPAs advocacy team remains present and active in the state Capitol. Currently, there are no Kentucky CPAs serving in elected positions either in Frankfort or Washington. Therefore, the Society serves as an objective resource by utilizing the collective expertise and professional guidance of Kentucky CPA practitioners. However, how do state policy reforms connect back to the KyCPA Political Action Committee (KyCPA-PAC)? It would be best to understand what the KyCPA-PAC is, what it does and how it plays an important role in the Kentucky policy process.

Thursday, March 30, marked the end of the 30-day Legislative Session of the Kentucky General Assembly with the passage of significant policy reforms, technical corrections, and a new pass-through entity tax. With supermajorities in both Chambers of the General Assembly, Republicans passed overrides on multiple Gubernatorial vetoes. However, differences were not limited to party affiliation alone. Kentucky House of Representatives and Senate Republicans differed on various proposals, including sports wagering, medical cannabis, illegal gaming machines, education policies, and the phase out of the distilled spirits property tax. Political party differences aside, many bipartisan legislators and the Governor agreed upon many significant reforms in addition to an unemployment insurance cleanup, technical tax fixes, and a reduction of the individual income tax rate from 4.5 percent to 4 percent, effective January 1, 2024. Read on for a full review

On Wednesday, February 8, KyCPA held its annual CPA Day at the Capitol with approximately 30 CPA members traveling from across the Commonwealth to participate in the event.

The upcoming 2023 Legislative Session will begin on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, kicking off the 30-day “short” Session that is scheduled to end on March 30, 2023. Kentucky legislators will convene in the first week of January, take a break, and then reconvene at the beginning of February to finish the Session.

For this issue of KyCPA’s 2022 Journal, P. Anthony Allen provide a recap of KyCPA’s 2022 policy wins and explain how your investments through membership and via contributions to the Political Action Committee (PAC) impact the laws, rules, and regulations that affect Kentucky CPAs.

Thursday, April 14, 2022, marked the end of the 60-day Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly with the passage of significant legislative reforms, tax modernization, and the next two-year budget for the Commonwealth. With supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, Republicans passed overrides on multiple Gubernatorial vetoes; however, differences were not limited to party affiliation alone. House and Senate Republicans compromised on various budget proposals, tax reform, and re-districting bills. Political differences aside, the General Assembly and the Governor agreed upon non-controversial measures, including tornado aid, unemployment insurance relief, and CPA scholarship opportunities.