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Special Region – Bullitt, Hardin, LaRue and Meade

James T. Iacocca Brig. Gen., U.S. Army (Retired) President / CEO Knox Regional Development Alliance

Legislative Priority One: Eliminate income tax on military retirement.

In the fight for talent, Kentucky employers regularly seek out military veterans and military retirees to meet their workforce needs. Kentucky prides itself on being a military-friendly state, yet it continues to tax military retirement income when so many other states do not. That matters when retirees consider where they want to call home following their military service. We recognize that Kentucky is moving toward the elimination of income tax entirely, however, in this time of tremendous economic growth, it would serve the commonwealth well to put forth legislation that eliminates the tax on military retirement income.

Legislative Priority Two: Eliminate the vehicle tax military service members have to pay on vehicles they purchased before they moved to Kentucky.

When active duty service members purchase a vehicle in Kentucky, they don’t have to pay Kentucky sales tax. However, when they register a vehicle that they purchased in a different state that has a lower vehicle sales tax rate than Kentucky, the service member has to pay the difference. It seems counterintuitive to place this additional financial burden on our military. It is not tax revenue that Kentucky would have otherwise realized had the vehicle been purchased in the commonwealth and it is an unanticipated costly expense for service members.

Legislative Priority Three: Fund a feasibility study to expand capacity of the Elizabethtown Regional Airport /Addington Field.

KRDA, in partnership with the Elizabethtown Airport Board, the Elizabethtown/ Hardin County Industrial Foundation and the City of Elizabethtown, supports the expansion of the Elizabethtown Regional Airport (EKX). The Elizabethtown/Fort Knox MSA, which is experiencing unprecedented economic growth with the new BlueOval SK Battery Park, NUCOR Steel, Kruger Packaging and numerous other manufacturers. Growth at Baptist Health Hardin, as well as new and expanding missions at Fort Knox, would also benefit from expanded capacity at EKX. An expanded runway would directly support Fort Knox deployment operations. Funding of a feasibility study is needed to move forward with EKX expansion.

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If you or organization would like to update your top three Legislative Priorities, please go to this link or scan the QR Code below to complete the online form. This document will be updated online as feedback is submitted. We hope to complete a similar process ahead of the 2024 Kentucky Legislative Session.

If you have any questions, please contact Daniel London, daniel@ltadd.org, or Krista Levee, krista@ltadd.org.