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HCR 22

Encouraging Oregon counties to adopt a natural resource plan and coordinate with federal and state agencies.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Court Boice and 10 co-sponsors

Declares nuclear power a clean, dispatchable baseload option for Kentucky, urging growth (including SMRs) and signaling policy support to planners and industry. No new regulations.

In committee upon adjournment.
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Bill Summary · HCR 22

Summary — HCR 22 (Acts Ch. 137)

Title: Commends Bryson "Cupid" Bernard… ; substantive text: A concurrent resolution declaring that nuclear power generation is a clean and dispatchable means of providing baseload electricity to the residents and businesses of the Commonwealth.

Purpose and intent

HCR 22 is a concurrent resolution in which the Kentucky General Assembly finds and declares that nuclear power is a clean, dispatchable source of baseload electricity that would improve the resilience and reliability of the Commonwealth’s electric grid. The resolution encourages adding nuclear generation to Kentucky’s energy portfolio—including interest in new technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs)—and notes spent-fuel reprocessing as a means to reduce high‑level waste volume.

Key provisions / findings

  • Declares nuclear power generation is a “clean and dispatchable” source of baseload electricity for Kentucky residents and businesses.
  • States that adding nuclear power would make Kentucky’s electric grid more resilient and reliable.
  • Asserts timely development is important because fossil fuel–fired baseload resources are retiring and being replaced by intermittent resources that cannot fully provide baseload power.
  • Highlights:
    • historical context: Kentucky’s prior moratorium on nuclear construction and its repeal (Senate Bill 11, 2017);
    • formation of a Nuclear Energy Development Working Group (SJR 79, 2023);
    • establishment of the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority (Senate Bill 198, 2024);
    • potential role for small modular reactors and the potential benefits of spent fuel reprocessing.
  • Emphasizes safety and regulatory rigor of the nuclear industry and plant designs’ resilience to natural and man-made hazards.

Effected parties / likely impacts

  • This concurrent resolution is declaratory and non‑regulatory—it does not create new legal obligations, appropriations, or regulatory authority.
  • Practical effects are primarily policy and signaling:
    • state energy planners, utilities, and potential investors may view it as legislative support for nuclear development (including SMRs);
    • the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority and related agencies may use the resolution to guide outreach, planning, and coordination;
    • communities considered for siting and supply‑chain/employment interests could be indirectly affected through future project development driven by this policy position.
  • Does not itself change permitting, licensing, or funding processes (those remain under federal and state regulatory frameworks).

Procedural / timeline highlights

  • Filed: November 14, 2024 (introduced in House).
  • Key floor and committee actions in Feb–Mar 2025; House adoption with Committee Substitute (vote recorded 85–12 on 3/04/2025).
  • Senate concurrence and subsequent actions: recorded favorable votes (Senate concurred 37–0 on 4/29/2025).
  • Enrolled and signed by presiding officers; signed by the Governor and enacted as Acts Chapter 137 (Governor’s signature recorded March 31, 2025).
  • Administrative completion: taken by Clerk of the House and presented to the Secretary of State on May 5, 2025.

Sponsors / authors

Author: Representative Edward Clere. Sponsors, co‑authors and cosponsors include Senators Ed Charbonneau, Michael Crider, Shelli Yoder, Vaneta Becker, La Keisha Jackson, and Representatives Brad Barrett, Lori Goss‑Reaves, Victoria Garcia Wilburn, Robin Shackleford, Julie McGuire, Cindy Ledbetter, Martin Carbaugh, Tehmi Chassion, among others.

Note: As a concurrent resolution, HCR 22 expresses the General Assembly’s findings and encouragement but does not itself enact regulatory or funding changes.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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