Legislative task forces on workforce attraction, artificial intelligence share recommendations ahead of 2025 session

At the end of the 2024 legislative session, the General Assembly created several task forces, supported by the business community, to research, study, and identify possible solutions to top issues facing the Commonwealth.

This week, the Workforce Attraction and Retention Task Force and the Artificial Intelligence Task Force released its recommendations. The Kentucky Housing Task Force announced its findings earlier this month.

The Workforce Attraction and Retention Task Force, co-chaired by Representative Robert Duvall and Senator Max Wise, identified talent attraction and retention challenges and outlined its recommendations to address Kentucky’s labor shortages. Its recommendations include:

• Consultation and Marketing: The Task Force recommends allocating $250,000 to hire consultants for policy development and marketing initiatives with results expected in future sessions.
• Education and Training: The report urges expanding technical skills programs for high school and middle school students.
• Licensing and Credentialing: The Task Force emphasizes removing barriers to licensing and credentialing historically untapped talent, such as refugees, and providing opportunities to attract foreign workers.
• Military Retiree Tax Incentives: The report encourages eliminating state income tax for military retirees to improve competitiveness.
• Untapped Talent: The report recommends creating employer incentives to expand job opportunities for individuals with disabilities, nonviolent offenders, and those recovering from substance use disorder.
• Driver’s Education and Licensing: The Task Force outlines the need to increase access to driver’s education for high school students and restore driver’s license services at the local government level.
• Public-Private Partnerships: The Task Force supports legislative changes to encourage public-private partnerships to address workforce challenges identified by the task force.

House Speaker David Osborne weighed in on the group’s recommendations and their work: “Since becoming the majority in 2016, we have eliminated barriers that prevented Kentucky companies from growing and others from locating here. We can measure the success of those efforts in the record number of jobs created and the billions invested in growing businesses in our communities. We understand how transformative a job can be to an individual and a family. Not only does it provide for their basic needs, but it gives us all a purpose and sense of pride in our abilities. Today we face the challenge of making sure there are men and women ready and able to take those jobs. I appreciate the leadership of Representative Duvall and Senator Wise as they have worked to identify some of the underlying, systemic challenges facing both those who want a job, and those who need workers.”

Artificial Intelligence Task Force

The Artificial Intelligence Task Force, co-chaired by Senator Amanda Mays Bledsoe and Representative Josh Bray, was directed to study the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on government operations and procurement, assess consumer protection needs across sectors, and provide recommendations for enhancing state operations and legislative initiatives to ensure AI-related consumer protections. Its recommendations include:

• Establishment of a State AI Governance Framework: The Task Force emphasizes a need for a comprehensive governance structure to oversee AI development and deployment within Kentucky. This framework would focus on data privacy, ethical standards, transparency, and accountability in AI applications across both public and private sectors.
• Promotion of AI Education and Workforce Development: The report advocates for educational systems to explore integrating AI into curriculums to help equip the workforce with key AI-related skills.
• Encouragement of Public-Private Partnerships: The Task Force recommends fostering collaborations between government entities and private businesses to drive AI innovation.
• Investment in AI Research and Development: The Task Force highlights the importance of supporting AI research through funding and resources. It also encourages the state to ensure utility providers provide adequate power generation and infrastructure to meet rising energy demands.
• Development of AI Regulatory Policies and Safeguarding Data: The report calls on the federal government to create clear regulatory policies that balance innovation with consumer protection. The report emphasizes the need to provide guidelines for AI deployment while safeguarding public interests such as consumer data, individual likeness, and proprietary and confidential information.

“It is critical that we address the fast-growing adoption of artificial intelligence in all sectors to ensure our Commonwealth is prepared for both the benefits and challenges it presents,” House Speaker David Osborne said. “This Task Force is the first step in a long-term commitment and I appreciate the job that Task Force members done under the leadership of Representative Bray and Senator Bledsoe.”

The full report can be found here: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/CommitteeDocuments/383/31018/11%2013%202024%20AI%20Task%20Force%20Findings%20and%20Recommendations%20Memo.pdf