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Connection Capitol January 2020 Capitol Connection West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Grassroots Dinner to feature leader of National Electric Co-op Association West Kentucky Matheson joined NRECA in July 2016 following RECC is excited to distinguished careers in both the public and private announce that Jim sectors. Prior to joining NRECA, he served as prin- Matheson, chief ex- cipal, public policy practice for the international law ecutive officer of the firm Squire Patton Boggs based in Washington, National Rural Elec- D.C. tric Cooperative As- From 2001 to 2015, Matheson was elected to sociation, will be the serve as a U.S. Representative from Utah for sev- keynote speaker for en terms. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, he was its annual Grass- known as a legislator who was able to work with roots Dinner on colleagues on both sides of the aisle. He was chief Thursday, Feb. 13, Jim Matheson, CEO of the Na- deputy whip for the House Democratic Caucus and at 6:30 p.m. in the tional Rural Electric coopera- served as co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition. tive Association, will be the Community Room. Matheson also was a member of the House Ener- keynote speaker for the 2020 “We are very hon- gy and Commerce Committee, as well as the Fi- Grassroots Dinner. ored to bring a lead- nancial Services, Transportation and Infrastruc- er of this stature to Western Kentucky,” said West ture, and Science Committees. Kentucky RECC President & CEO David Smart. Prior to entering government service, he worked in “Jim brings a wealth of political experience and is the energy industry for several years. proving to be very effective in moving forward leg- islation important to co-ops. His presence here Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, Matheson shows the respect you have earned with your will- earned a bachelor’s degree in government from ing support of the co-op’s political concerns.” Harvard University and an MBA in finance and ac- counting from UCLA. His wife, Amy, is a pedia- The National Rural Electric Cooperative As- trician, and they have two sons, William sociation (NRECA) is the national service and Harris. organization that represents more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer- All Grassroots Committee members are owned electric cooperatives, which pro- invited to attend. Invitations will go in the vide service to 42 million people in 47 mail on Jan. 24. states. Say NO to sales tax on your power bill I need your help to keep your elec- tric bill as affordable as possible. As the Kentucky General Assembly convenes for its budget session this month, I urge you to tell your legislators not to add any sales tax on residential power bills. Connecting with your specific lawmakers is made easy on our new grassroots website, Ru- ralPowerKY.com. Simply fill in your address and the website will have an email ready to send to your senator and representative. www.RuralPowerKY.com Under current law, residential electric bills are ex- it is important that they still hear from you and un- empt from the state’s 6% sales tax. However, as derstand that you care about this. the General Assembly continues to consider new The way co-ops judge every expenditure is wheth- sources of revenue, potentially removing more ex- er it helps us serve our consumer-members. A tax emptions from the sales tax, co-ops are urging leg- on every residential power bill would not help us islators to protect the exemption on residential serve our members. By keeping costs as low as electric bills. possible, co-ops not only help household budgets, Since we launched this campaign in October, we but also economic development in communities are thankful that some lawmakers have affirmed across rural Kentucky. they would not consider this proposal. Even if you Chris Perry, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives want to thank your legislators for opposing this tax, President & CEO Congress passes RURAL Act On Dec. 19, 2019 Congress passed the which redefined government grants to co-ops as in- RURAL Act, protecting more than 900 come rather than capital. That change made it diffi- electric cooperatives throughout the cult for many co-ops to abide by the 15% limit on non nation from the risk of losing their tax-exempt status -member income to keep their tax-exempt status. when they accept government grants for disaster re- The RURAL Act once again exempts grants from be- lief, broadband service and other programs that ben- ing counted as income and is retroactive to the 2018 efit co-op members. tax year. The Senate’s vote to approve the legislation came Without the fix, some co-ops would have had to start two days after the House approved it as part of a paying taxes this spring after receiving grants in 2018 sweeping tax and spending package. President or 2019 to repair storm damage, bring high-speed Trump has signed it into law. internet to rural communities or invest in renewable energy and energy-efficiency programs. Many co-op The RURAL Act was NRECA’s top legislative priority leaders feared they would have to raise rates for for the year because of the profound threat to the members to pay the new taxes. business model of not-for-profit co-ops. Tens of thou- sands of co-op leaders, employees and members The legislation attracted more than 300 co- across the country rallied to advocate passage of the sponsors in the 435-member House and nearly two- bill. thirds of the senators. The effort was led in the House by Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Adrian “This package preserves the fundamental nature of Smith, R-Neb., and in the Senate by Rob Portman, R the electric cooperative business model and will save -Ohio, and Tina Smith, D-Minn. electric co-ops tens of millions of dollars each year,” said CEO Jim Matheson. “Moreover, it protects co-op NRECA lobbyist Paul Gutierrez credited the victory to members from unfair increases in their electric rates a collaborative campaign strategy that included co- and provides certainty to co-ops that leverage federal ops’ grassroots efforts to alert their senators and rep- and state grants for economic development, storm resentatives to the issue. recovery and rural broadband deployment.” “This was an amazing NRECA team and member- Lawmakers passed the popular bipartisan legislation ship effort, including co-op members at the end of the in the final hours of the 2019 session as part of a line,” he said. “We had great legislative champions in larger tax and spending bill that funds the govern- the House and Senate, and they worked tirelessly to ment through September 2020. get this included in the final tax package.” - Author: Erin Kelly, NRECA; published: Dec. 20, 2019 The bill’s passage fixes a problem created in 2017 when Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Dear Grassroots Supporters, This success would not have been possible without the tireless commitment and support of co-op members like you. Your powerful voices and real-world impact stories cut through the clutter inside the beltway and forced lawmakers to action. These tremendous accomplishments highlight what is possible when the co-op network works together toward solutions—all of which ultimately work toward the goal of keeping electricity affordable and reliable for member-consumers. Thank you for your steadfast support and collaboration as we worked together to address these chal- lenges. I look forward to building on this success together. Jim Matheson, NRECA Contact Your Legislators U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell Phone: 202-224-2541 Contact www.mcconnell.senate.gov U.S. Sen. Rand Paul Phone: 202-224-4343 Contact: www.paul.senate.gov U.S. House District 1 — Rep. James Comer Phone: Phone: (202) 225-3115 Email: https://comer.house.gov/contact/email Kentucky Senate District 1—Sen. Stan Humphries Phone: 502-564-8100 ext. 870 Email: [email protected] Calloway County , Graves County District 2—Sen. Danny Carroll Phone: 502-564-8100 ext. 712 Email: [email protected] Carlisle County, Marshall County Kentucky House District 1—Rep. Steve Rudy Phone: 502-564-8100 ext. 637 Email: [email protected] Carlisle County District 2—Rep. Richard Heath Phone: 502-564-8100 ext. 638 Email: [email protected] Graves County District 5—Rep. Larry Elkins Phone: 502-564-8100 ext. 607 Email: [email protected] Calloway County District 6—Rep. Chris Freeland Phone: 502-564-8100 ext. 611 Email: [email protected] Marshall County .
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