Ghost Governments and Big Growth: Rep. Matt Lehman on Northern Kentucky’s Future

In this hosts Natalie MacDonald and Brian Koehl sit down with State Representative Matt Lehman (District 67, Campbell County) for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of Northern Kentucky and the realities of serving in the state legislature.

Lehman shares how his background as a healthcare entrepreneur shapes his pragmatic, problem-solving approach in Frankfort, where he’s focusing on economic development, workforce growth, infrastructure, and technology policy. The discussion dives into the complexities of Kentucky’s legislative process—highlighting how short sessions, competing priorities, and political dynamics often shape what actually gets accomplished.

A major portion of the conversation centers on Northern Kentucky’s rapid growth. Lehman outlines the opportunities and challenges tied to the region’s expanding economy, including housing shortages, transportation pressures, and the need for better coordination across multiple local governments. He also explains his push for greater transparency and accountability surrounding the Northern Kentucky Port Authority, including his proposed legislation (HB 761) aimed at modernizing its role and strengthening oversight—especially as it relates to large taxpayer-funded projects like the proposed biomedical center.

Throughout the conversation, Lehman emphasizes the importance of collaboration across party lines, thoughtful planning for growth, and ensuring that government decisions remain transparent and responsive to the people they impact.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Blue Dot, Northern Kentucky's premier political podcast, brought to you by the Kent County Democratic Executive Committee. Thanks for joining the Blue Dot Podcast. I'm Natalie McDonough. In every episode, we break down the issues that affect our communities, including local leadership, big infrastructure ideas, and what the future holds for the region. And today we have a state representative Matt Lehman, who represents the 67th district in Campbell County, to discuss a little bit of all of these issues. Yeah, hi everyone. Representative Lehman comes into public service with a unique background as a healthcare entrepreneur and medical research professional who co-founded a company focused on innovative opioid-free treatments for pancreatitis patients. Now, in his first term in the Kentucky House, he's bringing that same problem-solving mindset to Frankfurt. And he's also focusing on issues that directly impact Northern Kentucky from economic development and work for growth to infrastructure and accountability in major projects. Representative Lehman, thanks so much for joining us today. Glad to be here. I'm Natalie, Brian, looking forward to it. Yeah. Well, Representative Lehman, or may I call you Matt? You can call me Matt, please. Yeah. Matt, you've been an extremely active member of the legislature. So, you know, we have a lot to talk about uh with you, but I want to hand it over to you first. Uh just uh you can tell our listeners a little bit about who you are, a little bit of your background and your why, of why you decided to jump in um the Kentucky uh State House and try to help solve some of the issues that everyday Kentuckians face. Yeah, uh well, look, I'm native Northern Kentuckian. I I actually grew up in Kenton County on the way on the other side of the Licking River. But father and and husband have a lot of family and friends throughout the region. And, you know, I I care very, very deeply about Northern Kentucky and its growth and its success. And, you know, what what can we do to make this a place of opportunity, a place that people want to stay, people want to move back to, and new people want to move to and invest in. So it's uh, you know, trying to do my part to to help make that happen. Yeah, and you've certainly been busy. Um you know, just looking over all of the the different uh little pieces of legislation you've been involved in, um, everything you've been doing for your district. So we'll start at the state level. And for those who may not really follow Frank for very closely, can you tell us some of the key priorities you've been focused on in in the Kentucky legislature lately and in the last session? Yeah, sure. So yeah, just a step at so we we've you know we we finished our 2026 regular session in mid-April. So we we had a 60-day session. The biggest, biggest part of these even years are we we do a two-year budget in Kentucky, so we did get that done. So, you know, the the the budget priorities, but it's you you do what you can. But yeah, I I mean when you come into a role like this, I mean you you do quickly learn. I mean, there's a million things going on from education to healthcare to roads and infrastructure and economic development and tax policy. I mean, you can't be an expert on everything, you know. So I I do try to, you know, I you try to make friends and people you trust, colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, that, you know, help when, you know, we're voting on matters that maybe I'm not as up to speed on. That that's a really important skill set, I would say, in this job is to be able to learn from other people, listen, uh, you know, and trust, and and whose judgment you can trust. Um, I I do spend a lot, and part of it's also my committee assignments are in workforce, economic development, and workforce investment, small business and information technology. I mean, these are areas that I I like and enjoy. I think they're very important to the growth of Northern Kentucky. Absolutely, I I do think you you see some of my legislation does center around that. And again, that's a lot of my committee work as well. So it's uh, you know, it it like I said, uh what motivated me to get into this is I think Northern Kentucky is a real opportunity. We've had a good run the last few years. I I do think the growth is going to continue. And I think there's a whole lot of macro beyond just what we're doing at the state level and the county level and the local level, there's just a lot of macro trends when you look at places like Northern Kentucky. It is going to grow and is going to continue to grow, and maybe faster than any of us expect. You know, so from the Ohio River to proximity to Cincinnati, the 7175 corridor, you know, two major logistics hubs now at CBG Airport. I I think these things are we're gonna start looking more like places like Northern Virginia than we are Kentucky. And so I I talk about the not just me, there's a lot of people that talk about this, and growth can be uncomfortable sometimes, but there's a lot we can do to plan for it, to mitigate and make sure that growth is working for us, make sure that it turns into opportunities for people living here and doesn't become a burden. So that that's all that you know, I do a lot, but but those are sort of the guiding principles behind what I'm looking at every day. Yeah, it's gotta be hard to juggle that, especially in Northern Kentucky, and then we have the c collaboration all across the three counties as well. So when you talk about there's so many things in the legislature, you just you talk about education, healthcare. It's how do you got how do you prioritize that? I mean, as you for yourself, I guess, and and then as a as a as as a whole, I just you know, you see so many bills, a thousand bills. It's like how do you how do we like the average Joe's kind of keep this stuff straight? You know, uh that's an interesting question and there's you know, there's a hundred of us in the House of Representatives, and sometimes it's a bit it's hard to figure out as much as you say, oh, maybe the Speaker of the House or the House leadership knows, you know, sometimes there's a lot of it's kind of like swimming and there's lots of cross currents, and you it it's not always easy to figure out and predict. You know, I if you would have asked me in December what was the biggest priority we were going to be tackling, it was gonna be housing and housing cost and the housing shortages. And there was a ton of effort made. There were a number of bills, the Democrats had a platform, the Republicans had a bunch of bills, we had some bipartisan work, and very little got done in that regard. Yeah. So it it it's interesting sometimes, just the process, and like I said, it's it's not as you know cut and dry sometimes as you may hope or expect. There's a bit of, you know, just the it it's hard to predict that sometimes. Yeah. Probably behind the scenes, it's like watching sausage get made, right? Like, yeah, that's generous. Well, and I never when I you know first started doing the podcast, I'll be honest, I didn't know that much about politics in the Commonwealth. And one of the shocking things was just how short the legislative sessions are. So not only is there a lot to do, but it's 30 days every in every other year, it's 60 days, right? So I mean that is not a whole lot of time to get a whole lot done. I well, I'll put it yes and no. So I mean, we do work I mean, I'm in Frankfurt today. We we have, you know, we basically we take May off. That's the only, you know, I guess we get to go to the Derby and and go to graduation parties, but it we we are in what we call the interim session now. So we we're not allowed to pass laws, but we do a whole lot. I mean, I was at a two-hour transportation committee meeting today. We we reviewed the laws we did pass, we reviewed the laws that were passed in previous sessions and where they are in the update. We start talking about things that will be potentially legislation when we come back in January. So there there is a lot of work that gets done year-round. It's just, you know, our constitution, and okay, I mean, it's if you look at a lot of I mean, states are all over the place, but our constitution is written in a in a way that, you know, that's we are limited to making laws during those uh very specific sessions. So it does feel like we're trying to get a lot done. But you know, the the bills we're generally passing are usually things we've been talking about all year. So they it's not quite like it just comes out of nowhere. Okay, that's good. We there's always a surprise or two. Right, right. Yeah. Well, and then going back to Northern Kentucky and its growth, I I think one of the biggest conversations right now is the future of the Northern Kentucky Port Authority. Uh, and you've taken a leading role in pushing for transparency and reform as our region looks, how major investments are made. You introduced legislation, House Bill 761, to modernize Kentucky's River Port Authority laws. Uh, for our listeners who are unfamiliar with the Port Authority and and this uh initiative, can you talk a little bit about wh what it is and why it matters? Sure. And there's a lot to be said. So Yeah, in the weeds again, here we go. You know, I I I do want to mention so it's some interesting primary elections in northern Kentucky, mostly on the Republican side. I do think there has been a growing feeling in northern Kentucky. So we we we are unique. The two other large metro areas of this state, Louisville and Lexington, are consolidated county-city governments. There's pluses and minuses, all forms of government. The the simple truth that you know we have dozens and dozens of municipalities, three major counties, and then you can even think of you know Grant and Pendleton County and Bracken County kind of surrounding us as part of Northern Kentucky as well. So we we have lots of various municipalities and counties over history, and and for many, many good reasons. We we have far more of these intermunicipal and inter intra-county kind of, I would say, you know, sometimes super governments or you know, everything from the health Northern Kentucky Health Department to uh yeah, I mean, yeah, health department, sanitation district, or water district, um, you know, things like the Port Authority as well, that there this is not how most other areas or kind of metropolitan regions in Kentucky work. Like I said, there's a lot of good historic reasons. I think a lot of these organizations do it a lot of good. I do think there's some it and again, especially with this pressure of growth and increased traffic and and housing prices going up, I think there's a little bit of a frustration about who in northern Kentucky do you complain to when you don't like some, you know, when when traffic on I-75 is too heavy, you know, when you're in Lexington Fayette County, there is a single city council. You know where to go during public comment. You know, in northern Kentucky, you don't have that. And so I do think there's a bit of this bubbling concern or maybe even a little bit of populism that is resentful of how a lot of decisions are getting made in northern Kentucky. And I do talk a lot to, you know, the the powers that be, if you will, and and you know, from the Chamber of Commerce to other organizations, that I think we need we, you know, kind of as a lot of different groups in Northern Kentucky, need to start doing a little better job of making sure these types of governments are a little more transparent, more accountable, um, and a little more focused on what people actually want and and not sort of being driven by outside agenda. So anyway, that that's a bit of a preface to this. I, you know, my interest in the Northern Kentucky Port Authority. I mean, look, it started from it was two years ago, April of 2024, uh kind of a last-second addition to the budget that year. And I was not in office, but I I did see that come out. There was an announcement there was going to be a state allocation of $125 million for what was being termed the Commonwealth Bios Biomedical Center of Excellence. Um, and that's still the name of this project. There weren't a lot of details initially. I kind of quickly said, well, the idea behind this was to move the Chase Law School and the UK medical program, the medical school program that's currently in Highland Heights on NKU's main main campus to move it to Covington, downtown Covington, which I even at that time I found to be peculiar. Look, I I mean, I think you mentioned I I work in biotech and medical research. I've worked at various biotech incubators and biomedical centers around the world, from Germany to Japan to Louisville, Kentucky, California, New York, Maryland. I mean, I've seen, and I think what, let's say, frustrated me about this idea or policy was it it does not and still does not as a program. It doesn't leverage any private sector investment, philanthropic funding. It doesn't leverage federal grants. Most of these other places are kind of run by universities. You know, it it's I I'd like to have seen that $125 million leveraged into several hundred million dollars more of private sector, philanthropic, and even other, you know, federal government funding to really develop a growth opportunity for the region. And unfortunately, like I said, I my big criticism of that project has been it's really not much more than moving existing programs six miles away. You know, so that's why, and look, there should be a lot of opportunity for public debate and public discussion when you talk about doing projects like that. So, you know, that that's the project itself. Behind it is, and kind of comes back to what, you know, the this, I'm at this point, I just call it the ghost governments of northern Kentucky. I mean, this is a term originally coined by Adam Evelyn some 14 years ago. He was the auditor, Kentucky auditor, and he talked about, did a big report on these sort of super regional government types of or not special purpose government entities. And so this leads you to the Port Authority and the way this Commonwealth Biomedical Center of Excellence project has been led and executed, and I think there's a lot of flaws. So one, Kentucky Riverport Authorities, the statute in Kentucky currently is limited, limits these authorities to river navigation and related projects. There are nine other river port authorities in the state of Kentucky. So Owensboro, McCracken County, and Paducah, Louisville, um, yeah, I'm trying to out near Ashland and Greenup County. They run what you would understand as a river port with rail lines and terminals and how you get things on and off the river and transportation-related activities. There's a whole history, you can look it up online. Why we have a Northern Kentucky Port Authority. It started in the late 60s. They looked at various opportunities, especially on the Licking River, to develop a river port. It never came together for, again, any number of reasons. And it was basically dormant for decades. And it sort of got picked up about two years ago, maybe a little longer than that, by uh what's called BNKY, which used to be called Triad. Um, and this is sort of a it's a nonprofit economic development organization to support Northern Kentucky. They've done a lot of great work over the years, BNKY has. But this is not an elected organization. It's an appointed board of various people that mean well. And but again, there's no direct tie to the voters or people who are elected at BNKY. And they've kind of determined that they now manage the Northern Kentucky Port Authority. And the Port Authority has substantial powers from bonding capacity to eminent domain to not need to needing to follow local zoning and planning. I mean, again, the types of powers you would give a government organization. And anyway, that's a long way of saying is like I think when you start trying to make policy through these ghost governments, this I think the result you get is not great projects. Um, not that they're, you know, there's ill intentions necessarily behind it, but the process was flawed. And I still think it's flawed. So anyway, I House Bill 761, I did introduce legislation that would effectively legalize or authorize what the Northern Kentucky Port Authority is doing, which are general economic development projects around Northern Kentucky. I modeled that legislation after Ohio legislation, where so people in Northern Kentucky, we may look at the Cincinnati Port Authority. Well, they have very different statute statutory authority in Ohio. And also in Ohio, even though port authorities are allowed to do all sorts of things that aren't Riverport related, they also have pretty significant oversight requirements, transparency requirements. There's a lot of requirements about how the board gets appointed. So there's municipal representation, there's county representation. So that process matters. When you're doing big projects with lots of taxpayer money, you know, you really need to have the trust of the public, you know, and pick up the trust of the public along the way. And that is done through far more transparency. So that was what my attempt was with House Bill 761 was to kind of increase the statutory authority of our port authorities as real growth opportunities, but also make sure there was the accountability and oversight and transparency that such organizations would require to be successful. So you were saying that you were saying that they do have that kind of infrastructure and accountability in the Ohio port. Is that correct? Yeah, I mean, so that's yeah, exactly. The the boards are appointed by elected officials. Uh there's a really distinct tie to people who are elected by the voters and how they get represented on the board. Aaron Powell And how about the other? I think you said there were nine ports in Kentucky. Are they similar to NKY port or is it more similar to the other? So what's interesting it well, so all all of the other ports in Kentucky run river ports. They are completely focused on river-related activities, transportation. And so the way their boards, and so in statute, we do have procedures for how the boards are appointed for river port authorities. And depending on whether you're multi-county or a county-city port authority, there there is representation from the counties and the cities or the counties. To make a point, so the Northern Kentucky Port Authority, on the way that charter was written, that there are two appointees each from Boone, Kenton, and Campbell County. So there is a six-member board that are appointed by the judge executives of those three counties. But like I said, in practice, the issue has been the Port Authority has become a tool being used by BNKY, which is setting the policy. BNKY is not, does not have elected representation. So that that's where the difference is. That makes a lot of sense. That really clarifies a lot of questions. You may feel like that was a long-winded explanation with a lot of background info, but that was exactly what I was looking for because as I was researching a little bit prior to the podcast, I was really kind of struggling to understand what the abort authority originally was intended for, what it is in general, because a port authority to me was exactly what you said. You govern ports and manage ports, and this seemed to be beyond that. So that was a really good explanation, I think, of tying that all together, and especially how the governance in northern Kentucky is so much different than like in Louisville and Lexington. Again, it makes perfect sense, but you don't really even you don't always think about it in in in those terms. So the complexity is much greater. And uh Yeah, without that oversight, $125 million of taxpayer money just going to something without any kind of putting it before the people, even that doesn't make sense. So it sounds like a pretty common sense uh bill. Appreciate that. I would think so. And you know, it's interesting. I mean, well, look, it any legislation is hard. I mean, you've talked to people who've been here 20, 30 years. Sometimes it takes multiple cycles and multiple, you know, just to build consensus. I I did find it interesting. So the the kind of the biggest objection I had to that bill came from some of the other port authorities, the Riverport authorities of Kentucky. And their position was like, you know, we're doing fine. So a lot of them, especially Paducah, I mean, they I I don't remember the number, but they just got a very substantial federal grant to kind of modernize some of their port operations. They're planning to uh re-restart some of the uh there was the gaseous diffusion plant, so they do uh nuclear, nuclear material, uh I forget uranium enrichment in Paducah, and they they did, and now they're planning to restart that. So they had to upgrade a lot of their port, and so that you they didn't want to have anything to do with expanding outside of running river ports. They thought it kind of diluted the focus a bit. So we'll we'll see where those conversations go. Yeah, and you said the judge executive is the one who appoints the the board. And so I was wondering if even like the commissioners had a role in that. So I see now like where that board gets appointed. So that's really the only kind of tie that we have to any kind of accountability then. Yes, and I you know, I I don't know. I mean, in practice, I don't know if the judge's executive take some advice from the commissioners or not, but in statute, they are directly appointed by the judge's executive themselves. Aaron Powell So where do you see it all going in five years or so? Do you see this just this massive growth? Do you think there's going to be some accountability and reigning in and some of the things that we have to do? Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball. Like I said, I I I I would and and again I I talk to a lot of people about that. I do think we've seen in some of these recent elections, and again, I some people call it more populist. I mean, obviously some of those representatives call people run against long-term incumbents and recent, you know, recent cycles that have won a Republican primary, and there's the Liberty Caucus, or they're a little more populist, or the Freedom Caucus. I I I you know, I do think that it's tapping into that feeling of there's lots of stuff that happens in northern Kentucky. Lots of decisions are getting made, but it's not it's hard to know, like I said, uh who to talk to or who to complain to, you know. In in, you know, Cincinnati, you got a mate, big city, you have a mayor. I mean, Cincinnati is entirely within one county with a three-person commission. Like you you kind of know where to go and in other areas. Uh, you know, it's not always clear in northern Kentucky who's responsible for certain things. So I I I hope that we can, I'm hopeful we can find some ways to have more public accountability and transparency on these types of projects. We'll take a look at uh yeah, go ahead and no, I was just gonna say you did mention the uh primaries, and so I wanted to see if we could pick your brain about that just a little bit. That congratulations. You ran for that seat. And we have Melissa Strange who is, I think, a fantastic candidate. So I just thought thought thought we'd get your two cents to speak at you. You know, two I know I'm again I like I've already I said I don't have crystal bike. I predicted in January Thomas Massey was going to lose. People looked at me like I was crazy. Most of those people were Democrats. You know, like I I mean you can agree or disagree. I mean, I think there's things you can, you know, look, certain issues I I think I can appreciate what Thomas Massey stood on principle for, especially recently. You know, I I do think it's nice to see when you have legislate, I mean, let the legislative and the executive branch are different branches by design, even when you're in the same party. So I do think having independent voices is important. You know, but well, I mean, the truth is he was in office 14 years and you know, really did not do a lot for his constituents. And at some point, you know, I I I think I heard somebody on either another podcast or on the radio said it, you know, there there's been sort of the not fond of Thomas Massey Republicans in the fourth district for a long time. A lot of those people were in elected office. So if you talk to mayors and judges executives, and there it was very frustrating because you know he he was not a congressman that was like, hey, I'm gonna help you out on federal issues and try to get money back to your district. It that was just not how he worked. So that was there. Then you just had, you know, the the the super Trump and and uh wing and a lot of money. Yeah. Those two things came together, and and that's what happened, is my guess. Uh but interestingly, and I do think it was interesting, like you said, elections are without so the the head of kind of the Liberty wing of Northern Kentucky lost his primary. All of the Liberty candidates that are in office survived their primaries. And in fact, there was one more liber kind of Liberty candidate that beat an incumbent uh and and you know, Kim Banta, who represents the 63rd district in Keton and Boone County, so uh she lost a very, very narrow race. So, you know, the Liberty Caucus kind of picked up one seat in the state legislature. So well, I we wanted to pivot to a couple of the other things that uh you know you look at in in the uh this year's legislature. I mean, one of the things that sets you and other Democrats, you know, apart from the Republicans, that we feel, and we talk about a lot on the podcast, you know, set you apart from the supermajority is that, you know, we feel Democrats are focused on those kitchen table topics that really do mean the most to Kentuckians and especially those in your district. So, and you've sponsored and supported a ton of legislation. 39 bills in 2026 and uh 23 bills in 2025. You're a busy guy. Uh, and you also have a background in healthcare innovation. So, can you talk about some of the bills that you supported that are related to health care and family policy, uh, you know, food security, some of these really important issues. Sure. And yeah, I I think the one I'm proud, I mean, is I actually did you know, it's also interesting as you go through these. You sponsor some bills, some of them get folded into other bills, and you know, like it it it's it's always an interesting process. It it's not quite like the old cartoon said about how a bill becomes law. There's a whole lot more than that. Um I'm just up. Yeah, yeah. So what I'm proud of is was uh allowing schools to stock and administer glucagon. And you know, it for for kids that are having diabetic emergency. It's technically a prescription product, but uh the safety profile makes sense that someone who's qualified to administer glucagon uh should be able to do that. And again, sho shows you how long some of this stuff takes. It was actually a pre I I picked that up from uh it was actually Sherilyn Stevenson who was in the State House for a while before I came. I picked up, she had initially sponsored that, I think, three or four years ago. I continued to work on it. Finally, it actually got picked up, and that was part of an omnibus, a healthcare bill that was ultimately sponsored you know sponsored by Ken Mosier, so we got that as part of the bill and and passed finally this year. So it's great. It's it's uh yeah, I I mean and you know there's some other things you you try, but the truth is unless we had more numbers, it's hard to get some of the bigger ideas, but you know, the smaller ones. I I guess I something I'm very proud. I mean, there was a big Medicaid reform bill that was called House Bill Two this year. That was it was rough. I mean, we we're gonna see a lot of cuts to Medicaid. It is going to impact all of the hospitals and providers, uh, which is then gonna affect patient care in this state. I I I you know, I I acknowledge we we our state was put in a very difficult position by the big beautiful bill at the federal level last year. You know, we're losing literally billions and billions of dollars a year in federal funding to help our Medicaid program. You know, I I like I said I do want to acknowledge the the sponsor of that bill is Ken Fleming from Louisville. He did a lot of work. I voted no on it. I I disagree. I think the governor and and the Democratic caucus proposed some alternatives that would have been a little bit gentler and kinder on the population. But uh, you know, we did a lot of work, like even small things. So, you know, the initial draft of that bill would have had $20 copies for patients on Medicaid. Or I should say certain patients on Medicaid. And, you know, it's you talk to you actually just get into the real life and you talk to physicians who take Medicaid patients, they're never gonna get a $20 copay. I mean, it just is not happening. And so it becomes either the doctors just wave it and just don't ever try to collect it, or patients see that and they get scared and becomes a a a a barrier to getting effective care. We tried to get that removed, we got it down to a dollar. So it's a dollar copay now instead of a twenty-dollar copay. You know, so this is a lot of the stuff we went up working on to try to make some of this a little bit better. And like I said, I I I will give credit to, you know, even some of the Republican sponsors of those types of priority bills. They they do listen and they will take some of our feedback into account. We don't always get what we want, but uh, you know, like I said, that was one example. It it is just, you know, it it is hard. It's hard, you know, from my value system and what I think a lot of the Democratic caucus, our our value system is is very focused on making sure people can afford to live and have opportunities. And if you don't have a solid health care system and you're not healthy and you don't have access to to quality care, I mean it it's hard. I mean, just about anything else doesn't work. It impacts everything. That's right. Yeah, and and I also talk about, you know, it it it's funny. Like I said, I I have started my own businesses. I'm an entrepreneur, uh, I've been self-employed for a long time. And I, you know, sometimes I talk about this from a very pro-business perspective. I mean, one of the biggest barriers to people who want to start a company or go out and try something on their own is health insurance. And and how important it is. I mean, I don't think people sometimes my colleagues across the aisle who are the you know, so-called pro-business party, don't understand how cumbersome this is for small businesses. And if you're a young person, you want to go, like I said, you have a great idea, you want to start a company, or you want to be self-employed, it it a lot of people are resistant or scared to do that to lose health insurance. And and I I think having a better, again, baseline Medicaid system would actually encourage some of those more entrepreneurial activities as well. So great point. And it's it's good to hear you talk about how you are able to work with some of the colleagues across the aisle. I am I in one way I'm a firm believer in my heart that I want to think that everybody plays nice in the sandbox more than we think they do. But then when you see I know, but then when you see at the end of the session what kind of comes out and what the super majority has squashed, that you're like, well, I I guess there is, they don't play that nice in the sandbox. I don't know. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that. I mean, it's you know, there's a hundred of us, and some are nice, some aren't, some are smart, some aren't. I I you know, it's it's it's an interesting. It's a it's not like any other job, I can tell you that. Uh and yeah, yeah, look, and I will say, I mean, I uh you talk about that stuff. It was very frustrating. Uh, I mean, we we did have a very comprehensive housing bill, yeah, had a lot of bipartisan components. We were there the last night until very, very late trying to get it through. Republican leadership was absolutely determined. There was a provision in there to preempt local governments from regulating short-term rentals in Kentucky. So, in other words, it we the Frankfurt would have prevented Covington or Erlanger or Boone County or whatever from having local regulations around Airbnbs and other short-term rentals. And that was, it was, it was basically a poison pill for that bill. And it took down the whole bill. I mean, the reason we didn't get that housing bill passed is because they kept trying to shut that in. And there, I mean, even on the Republican side, there just was not enough support, and and they kept putting it back in there, and ultimately we all suffer. So I guess it it's not always a clean and easy process. But we're we got. Yeah. That's true. That's true. Well, we don't want to we don't want to keep you too long, man. I know you're a busy guy and got a lot going on. We did want to just ask uh about you know a couple of the committees. Uh I think I was I don't know if I was watching another podcast you're on or read something where you're talking about the Transportation Committee and you really you know that was one that you're really interested in. And then you mentioned at the top, you know, some of the other committees that you're in, some areas that you have a lot of interest in. Uh I how do those assignments happen? What are the committees you're in? I mean, what what are the ones that really excite you or you feel like you know you have a great membership and can really make an impact? Yeah, I think maybe in the general public, it's I don't think that the committee process is not always fully pre- that that is where a lot of the work happens. Right. I can tell you, if if the chair of a committee doesn't isn't gonna, you know, be behind your bill, it is going nowhere. You know, you gotta get out of committee before you even get to the floor for debate. And you know, most of these chairmen are they're good and they're respected, and then a lot of them are that because they've earned the respect of their colleagues. Um, so you tend not to see a lot of grandstanders and chairs of committees, uh, and they will want to work with the members before, you know, amending and bringing bills. And again, the the time is now. We so we just started today. That's what's I'm in Frankfurt. We had transportation, the interim strength committee on transportation today. It was about two hours. We went through all sorts of things. I love that. That's everything from our highways and railroads and airports and river ports and and you know, anything you can get to move around. Obviously, very important for our our economy, it's important for our safety, uh, just quality of life. Um, you know, and the other ones I said I'm so I'm transportation, I'm on economic development and workforce investment. So that's where we I thought was very good legislation. It was sponsored by Republican in every spec. And that would have put a framework around data centers. That if data centers were going to enter the state, they would have had to come to an agreement with the local energy company, with the power producer, that those data centers would have had would actually have had to fully pay for the expected cost up front. And and, you know, it again had a lot of bipartisan support, just couldn't get quite get across the line. So I do hope thoughtful data center regulations can come back next year and we can finally get that resolved. The other committee I do I like a lot of my committee, it's always interesting. The other one was the small business and information technology. And that was another bill that I I really thought was going to get done and couldn't quite we got it through the House, couldn't get it through the Senate. I I suspect uh Meta and Google and those people gave a talking to over in the Senate. Uh I was basically we would have put some serious restrictions around the types of algorithms used for social media for uh people under eighteen, uh for kids in Kentucky. And doing so in a way that that was very interesting. Doing so in a way we're not limiting free speech or freedom of expression, but just, you know, concentrating on the product design and how these social media companies have really exploited especially kids. They exploit adults too, but you know, I guess you say adults should know better. I'm not sure if we do, but yeah. And so, you know, that we we spend time there. Um I'm on one of the budget review subcommittees for also for economic development and tourism. So that's uh and and that's a big part of our budget process. We have these budget review subcommittees that go through little pieces and that kind of gets folded up to appropriations and revenue. And and the last one I'm on is state state government. Uh so that's things like you know, elections and pensions and state employees, and uh so yeah, it's uh it's always interesting. You never know. We that that one we actually got to we we had uh we had uh Governor DeSantis from Florida come up and present to our state government committee back to session. So he he's been pushing a national balanced budget amendment, and so he's been going state by state to try to get convince us that we need a constitutional convention to address that issue. And so that was that was an interesting discussion. I bet that was. Yeah. So many things. And we could do a whole podcast just on AI and data centers and the tech stuff, you know? Yeah. But well, thanks. Thank you so much for sharing your your time. But before we let you go, we do do a lightning round with all of our guests if you're up for that just five quick questions. Sure. Alrighty. Uh we'll start with an easy one. What is your what is your favorite junk food? Chili spaghetti or something styled chili. I don't know if that's junk food though. I mean, I make my own, which is better than any of them out there, but uh I I I think it's a well-balanced, healthy meal that some people call it junk food, I guess. Especially all the cheese on it. I don't think it's cheap. But when you put the onions on it and stuff, you know, you're fine. Yeah, right. It's got vegetables. Come on, we're good. I make mine too, and you make a big pot of it and then you freeze it, and then when you hurry, you just pull it out. Yeah, I like that one. All right. What is one thing people don't know about you? Do you have any hidden talents? I mean, well, maybe I'm I'm I'm a good cook. I bake, I make chili, I make lots of things. Uh I can barbecue and grill out. So I I I I I I can usually surprise people by how well I'm gonna be able to do that. Well that's a and chill. I admire that. That's something I aspire to. I can't seem to really get going on it, but I admire that. Good job. In fairness, Brian, your wife isn't a magnificent cook, so I think you know why just sit this, sit on the bench on this one. And she and she enjoys it. It's uh you know, kind of a form of relaxation, you know, and unwinding for her, and then and then I clean the kitchen like no other. So I think we got a pretty good gig going there. What works. This one might be a little bit harder. If you could go back in time and tell younger Matt not to follow one fashion trend, what would it be? I mean, I always tell me now what fashion trends I should. I mean, I I have no idea. You always look good. You always look put together. I I thank my wife. I mean, that's all I was told is I've been told by my friends and I like there was before I met my wife and after I met my wife, I met my wife in 1997. So there's before 97 and after 97. I was told I dress a lot better after that. But I'm not exactly sure what any of it is. Yeah. Sounds like maybe a little bit of everything. Yeah. So everything before 97. Ever anything I did before 97 was wrong. Let's let's go with that. Alrighty, then we'll throw you an easy one here. What is your favorite day of the week? Sunday. I do like that. Sunday. Starts quietly. And then just that I think I like the tension of Sunday evenings. It's like you're kind of disappointed that this weekend's winding down, but it's like, what are you gonna do that week? And I find that interesting. Yes, I get the I get the Sunday sweats. Like I'm like, oh, I gotta go to work tomorrow. Yeah. I'm retired. I don't I don't even know what day it is. It's all the same day. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Sweat? What's that? Never heard of it. Alrighty. And if if money were no object, what car would you own? Let's see. Money, well, and and how about environment? The environment wasn't a good idea. There were no negative ramifications whatsoever. I I would, and this is gonna sound I'd like an early 90s E-class Mercedes when they had they they had the diesel, these inline six diesel engines that one, they sounded like a tractor trailer. They lasted forever. I I I would I would love to have a rebuilt, really well maintained. And you know, they that's like actually what the old Pope Mobile was. So they're really big. They drive, you could drive over potholes, never feel them. It's like I like the power of a good German-made diesel engine. So your cargo. Before we found out they were all cheating and on the omissions and stuff. Yeah, right, exactly. Uh before that. Well, thank you for playing along anytime. Yeah. Yeah, Matt, thanks a lot for joining us. I mean, we really appreciate everything you're doing for Kentuckians down there in Frankfurt and uh, you know, just taking the time to share your perspective with our with our viewers and listeners. Thanks again. Yeah, well, thank you. This was a lot of fun. Hope to do it again. All right. Yeah, we would love to have you back. Bye bye. Well, thank you all for listening, and don't forget you can join the conversation at our Facebook and Instagram pages or at Blue Dotpodcast.com. And of course, if you like listening to our podcast, consider to donate to it. And you can do that by clicking the donate button at blue dotpodcast.com. Until next time, stay curious, keep the facts in focus, and never stop fighting for what matters. Peace out, everybody.