Bill would shift several Louisville Metro governance powers, change ethics appointments and redistricting rules

Representative Chris Lewis presented House Bill 607, saying the legislation ‘‘is the culmination of more than a year’s work’’ and that it applies only to Louisville Metro, the Commonwealth’s only consolidated local government. The bill restructures appointment authority for the Louisville Metro Ethics Commission, splits appointments between the mayor and metro council caucuses, imposes party-diversity limits and requires commissioners to have been registered with their appointing party for at least four years.

Lewis told the committee the bill would move the office of internal audit from the mayor’s office to metro council and transfer appointment authority for the auditor to the council, while protecting the current sitting auditor. "The metro council is the legislative body responsible for oversight of city agencies," Lewis said, arguing the auditor should be accountable to the legislative body that oversees those agencies.

The bill also allows caucuses and metro council at large to retain independent legal counsel for legislative advice and review, and requires that if the ethics commission hires legal counsel it must go through procurement at the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office. Lewis said the change was suggested by the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office and stressed the measures were intended to "establish proper institutional processes," not to target any individual in the current administration.

On redistricting, Lewis said HB 607 would codify a long-standing 2.5% population deviation standard for Louisville Metro council districts, prohibit precinct splits unless necessary to meet that deviation and bar drawing maps that place two sitting metro council members in the same district without their mutual consent or that remove a sitting member from their district. "During the last redistricting, there were 181 precincts split," Lewis said, arguing the practice created expense for the county clerk and voter confusion.

Several members pressed Lewis on details. Representative Stalker asked about a page-8 provision instructing the council clerk to accept legislation that complies with form requirements; Lewis said the language came from the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office to avoid council rules blocking members from using independent counsel. Another member questioned why the bill removes the binding word "shall" from a provision about respecting neighborhood and community boundaries; Lewis said he was open to restoring language but that the 2.5% requirement influenced drafting decisions.

Members also discussed a provision allowing metro council to review and override regulations from the Board of Health or the Solid Waste Management District Board within 45 days of issuance. Lewis cited a 2020 episode in which Board of Health rules on swimming pools led to closures and required council action to overturn; he described the change as a streamlining of an existing oversight function. Other members said such policy choices should be subject to local community conversations and cautioned against state interference in routine metro council responsibilities.

After extended questioning and debate, the committee adopted a committee substitute to HB 607 and voted to report the bill, as amended, with a favorable recommendation to the House floor. The committee did not record any further amendments during its session. The measure now moves to the full House for further consideration.

The meeting closed with a reminder of a concurrent House and Senate committee meeting the next day at 11 a.m. to consider the community development block grant application.