Rep. Owens chairs December’s Jefferson Co. Delegation meeting.

2009 – What We Accomplished

Throughout the 2009 session, your Jefferson County delegation worked together to see that Louisville’s priorities were included in the budget.

The state road plan included close to a half a billion dollars of projects for Jefferson County, including $231 million of GARVEE bonds. The Jefferson County funding also includes $36 million of federal stimulus dollars and $35 million of state bonds.

The construction you drive through every day – and I know it’s trying at times – includes $34 million in resurfacing projects along I-264 and I-265.

We also procured funding to widen I-64 from the Gene Snyder toward Shelbyville and for the Crittendon Drive extension at the Louisville Airport for the UPS Worldport expansion.

During the 2009 Special Session, legislation was enacted to create a funding mechanism for mega-transportation projects such as the bridges in Louisville.

The legislation allows a Kentucky-Indiana bi-state funding authority to be created to pursue funding for the Louisville Bridges project.

Investing in Louisville Metro

We also focused on several economic development projects in our community.

The Waterfront Development Corporation will receive $8.4 million.

Also over the next two years –

· The Kentucky Center for the Arts will receive $8.9 million for a major maintenance renovation.

· The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center will see $2 million to upgrade their HVAC systems.

· The Music Theater of Louisville will have $9,000 for an outdoor drama grant.

Ten million in bond funds will go to construct the Hazelwood Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded/Developmentally Disabled to relocate patients from Central State.

We were able to come together and prioritize Louisville’s needs and work to bring this funding and these projects to our community.

Education - University of Louisville, JCTC big winners

Education is one of my and the Jefferson County Delegation’s legislative priorities. I believe that future economic development depends on a smart workforce and a strong educational system.

The University of Louisville will receive more than $373 million over the next two years and KCTCS – which our Jefferson Community and Technical College is part of – will receive almost $215 million from general funds.

In addition, U of L was given authority to bond more than $800 million in projects. Jefferson Community and Technical College also received $12 million to construct a Carrollton Campus and $10.5 million to purchase the former Holiday Inn site.

U of L received $16.7 million for the Bucks for Brains program and an additional $7.5 million for that fund to support translational research. Translational research is research that solves real world problems and has the potential to provide an economic benefit to Kentucky through commercialization.

We saw that Metropolitan College program - where participants attend the University of Louisville or the Jefferson Community and Technical College - received almost $4 million over the next two years.

I am very proud of our efforts to support Jefferson County’s higher education system.