The General Assembly began its 2026 regular session on Tuesday, Jan. 6. Lawmakers will spend the next several months debating issues affecting the commonwealth’s economy and small business climate.

Appearing on WVLK radio’s “Kruser & Crew,” State Director Tom Underwood said “there’s still a lot of uncertainty out there” among Kentucky’s small business owners.

“They’re still having a hard time finding qualified employees,” he said. “That’s really a big deal …

it ends up they’re burning out the staff that they have as an ongoing problem because you can’t grow if you don’t have the inputs.(…) And labor is definitely one of the most important inputs for any business.”

Underwood also told Dave “Kruser” Krusenclaus that one of NFIB’s top priorities this session is legislation that would simplify local tax collection.

“Right now, you’ve got hundreds of local government entities for payroll taxes and net profit and business license taxes,” he said. “They all have different forms and the vast majority of them have to be filed on paper with a paper check, put in the mail with a stamp and you hope it gets to where it’s supposed to go in time.”

Underwood said, “We’re supporting is a proposal that would put … (digital) forms on all local government websites that have these taxes so they can be filled out online. You can hit submit and you can do an … electronic payment and you’re done.”

Listen to the full interview below.