Senate President Robert Stivers was presented the Kentucky Chamber MVP Award on Dec. 11 by several members of the Kentucky Chamber Board at the Chamber’s headquarters.
Stivers was among a select group of legislators who “went to bat” for Kentucky business during the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly by displaying conspicuous actions to strengthen business, improve competitiveness and ensure growth.
Recipients of the Kentucky Chamber MVP Award show strong leadership for the business community by sponsoring or carrying Chamber priority legislation to final passage, showing leadership on passage of critical legislation to improve Kentucky, or by taking hard votes in defense of business.
Stivers was a leader in supporting pro-business bills and defeating harmful legislation for employers. His leadership resulted in legislation that reduced the personal income tax (House Bill 1) and increased flexibility in the formula for future reductions (House Bill 775). Stivers was also a sponsor of Senate Bill 1, a measure creating the Kentucky Film Office within the Cabinet for Economic Development and establishing the Kentucky Film Leadership Council.
“President Stivers has been instrumental in advancing policies that promote economic growth and protect Kentucky’s business climate,” said Kentucky Chamber President and CEO Ashli Watts. “From leading efforts to reduce the income tax to supporting new tools for economic development like the Kentucky Film Office, his leadership continues to drive long-term competitiveness for the Commonwealth.”
The 2025 General Assembly advanced many top priorities of the Kentucky business community, and the pro-growth policies that passed saved Kentucky businesses an estimated $1.084 billion, or $629 for each employer in the Commonwealth.
While monitoring the progress of bills that create a better business climate and advance the Commonwealth, the Chamber tracks how each legislator votes on these bills. The Chamber’s MVP Award recipients displayed more than just a business-friendly voting record, but also went out of their way, and at times across party lines, to support or oppose an issue critical to the business climate in Kentucky.
Learn more about business issues during the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly in the Kentucky Chamber’s “Results for Business” publication.
