BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – Area senators gathered in Bowling Green Wednesday, talking with local leaders on infrastructure and economic growth before holding a press conference at the Embassy Suites.
In attendance was Sen. Mike Wilson, Sen. Robby Mills, Sen. Max Wise, Sen. David Givens and Senate President Rob Stivers. They discussed how the area is growing both economically and in regard to infrastructure, and ways they’d like to see that growth continue.
It’s hard to discuss any kind of economic or infrastructure growth without talking about taxes.
Stivers, representing the 25th district, said with Warren County continuing its exponential uphill economic swing, personal income tax will go down, but it will ultimately help citizens.
“We have to have twice as much income over what we are going to cut before we can make the cut, so we’ll never be in a position of operating in the red,” said Stivers. “We have put guardrails in place so that that won’t happen. But what you’re going to see, and what we think we have seen, is yes, personal income goes down, the personal income tax goes down, but that gives you as an individual the choice of how to spend your money.”
Senators also discussed helping smaller towns foster economic growth, and some of the greater obstacles local governments may need to overcome in doing so. Givens, who represents the ninth district and is currently serving as Senate President Pro Tempore, stressed the importance of cohesiveness both politically and as a community.
“When you have economic development, you have a university, you have a mayor, and you have a judge, all saying we’re in this together, we have a shared vision, and we’re all pulling in the same direction, that’s huge for a community,” Givens said. “So, I think that the two keys are going to be infrastructure and shared cohesive leadership. I think this community can do that.”
Givens also added it’s important to continue to work with the evolving times, calling on the recent awarding of $10 million to Western Kentucky University to allow them to incorporate more technology into their curriculum.
“We’re going to see what I call creative destruction, and that’s painful early on when economies have to transition,” said Givens. “But the nature of creative destruction is you don’t purposely tear down something that’s working, but you open up opportunities for new things that can displace that. By nature, that’s what this AI economy is going to end up doing at some point.”
A similar press conference was scheduled for December of 2021, but was unfortunately cancelled after tornadoes that ripped through Western Kentucky. Wilson, who represents the 32nd district and is the current Senate Majority Caucus Whip, credited the area’s already cemented growth for its quick recovery.
“That provided a way for us to continue to grow during that time where we were also trying to rebuild our infrastructure and those kinds of things,” said Wilson. “So I think that we had made plans in advance for our community to grow with that, and if we hadn’t had that, I think we would be still way behind the eight ball.”
Wilson added a problem he sees affecting infrastructure state-wide is a lack of energy, saying the senate majority leadership is for all forms of energy including coal, wind, solar and even nuclear.
Senators also discussed the several funding awards that have been given across South Central Kentucky, including:
- $191 million total funding for WKU from HB 6 over the biennium
- $158 million for a six-mile extension of I-69 and new interchanges in summer 2022 with funds allocated during the 2022 road plan
- $123 million for planning, designing, obtaining rights-of-way, utility work, and construction of various projects in the county
- $50 million allocated for constructing the Western Kentucky Law Enforcement Training Academy in Madisonville
- $50 million to the Hardin-Warren County Loan Pool, with $20 million for the KY Transpark project
- $20 million to the Barren River Area Development District to develop and implement a substance use disorder services pilot program
- $18.53 million to widen US HWY 31 W from Warren -Simpson County line to Buchanon Park
- $8.8 million for the Three Spings Road extension, including a bridge over the Natcher Parkway
- $8.8 million for LifeWorks program support
- $8.5 million for a 21,000-square foot addition to SKyPAC
- $6.97 million to widen US HWY 31W from Park Avenue to Fairview Avenue
- $6.9 million to improve connectivity to the Transpark (County Road 1060)
- $602,000 to the Warren County Fiscal Court for the beautification of the Interstate 65 corridor
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