Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has signed into law the House Bill 309, a bill that will provide a framework and a new legislation for the development and financing of new projects through public-private partnership (PPP) models. 

The PPP legislation seeks to provide an alternative method of procurement, construction, or financing of capital projects and services by state and local governments through the establishment of a regulatory framework that the state and local governments will follow when contracting with a private entity.

Local governments will also be able to use P3s and there would be added oversight with the creation of the 11-member Kentucky Local Government Public-Private Partnership Board, which would evaluate and approve P3 agreements that have a value worth 30 percent or more of the local government’s general revenues. The state Auditor’s office would also have authority to periodically review local P3 agreements.

HB 309 calls for the secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet to develop administrative regulations to determine when a PPP should be used for a specific project. The PPP law, among others, establishes that:

• competitive negotiation methods must be used to procure P3s
• any unsolicited proposals must be publicly disclosed
• PPP projects above $25 million must be approved by the General Assembly
• local PPP deals must be executed by the local government’s legislature