Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern
FRANKFORT — In Wednesday’s final hours, Kentucky lawmakers passed the state’s two-year budget bills, voted to name a section of highway in Boone County after the late Charlie Kirk and moved dozens of bills, while leaving some controversial legislation on the table.
Both chambers adjourned right before midnight. Lawmakers will return to the Capitol on April 14 and 15. During the break, Gov. Andy Beshear can veto bills; lawmakers have the ability to override his vetoes when they return for the last two days of the 2026 legislative session.
Nothing can be declared truly dead until adjournment sine die because lawmakers can pass bills later this month on the session’s final two days. They would not have the ability to override a Beshear veto on bills passed then.
Bills not passed in time to be veto-proof
With that caveat, controversial bills that appear to be dead include:
- Fluoride in water: Public health organizations condemned House Bill 103, which would make water fluoridation optional. They said it would harm overall dental health. The House passed the measure but it never got a hearing on the Senate side.
- Conscience exemptions for health care providers: Senate Bill 72, criticised by the LGBTQ+ community, would allow health care providers to refuse to provide services that “violates his, her or its conscience.”
- Cigar bars: House Bill 194 would have carved out an exemption in local smoke-free laws for businesses to operate as cigar bars if they meet certain requirements. Health organizations also slammed this bill, saying it would compromise public health and undermine local smoke-free ordinances that protect workers and the public.
- Local control over drivers licensing. A high priority for Senate leadership, Senate Bill 7 would allow local officials such as sheriffs and county clerks to renew driver’s licenses in counties without regional offices. The transportation budget, meanwhile, added funding for three new regional driver licensing offices.
- Donovan Scholars tuition waiver: House Bill 497, requiring students eligible for tuition waivers to also apply for federal financial aid, died in the Senate. Opponents warned it would have discouraged older Kentuckians from taking advantage of free tuition authorized by the legislature in 1976 to promote lifelong learning.
Bills in Beshear’s hands
A slew of bills await Beshear’s veto or signature. They include:
- Medicaid copays: House Bill 2 adds copays of $5 for health care services and $1 for prescription drugs beginning Oct. 1, 2028.
- A new chapter for KSU: Senate Bill 185 passed the House Wednesday, and the Senate agreed with a new version created in a House committee. It gives a new polytechnic mission to Kentucky State University.
- Required expulsions: Students who intentionally assault school employees will be expelled for a year under Senate Bill 101 unless their actions were a result of a disability. Advocates for children criticized the measure, saying it could set Kentucky kids back further educationally.
- Louisville, Lexington public schools: Senate Bill 4 creates new rules for districts that have a population of more than 300,000, which is only the state’s two largest cities. In Jefferson County it reduces school board seats from seven to five (the same as the rest of the state) and requires all board members to run again this year in new districts mandated by the legislature. It disqualifies Fayette County school board chairman Tyler Murphy from serving on the board because he is employed by another school district. Senate Bill 1 is a revival of a 2022 law that the Kentucky Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional just before the legislative session. It shifts power from the Jefferson County Public Schools board to its superintendent. Beshear vetoed the previous law.
- Voting and elections: House Bill 139 raises individual campaign contribution limits to $3,500, could make Kentucky’s nonpartisan judicial elections more partisan and opens the door to requiring county clerks to verify voters’ citizenship based on a federal data base.
- Foreign-trained doctors: Under Senate Bill 137, foreign-trained doctors can get provisional licenses without repeating residency and practice in Kentucky under a practice’s sponsorship. The measure is meant to help curb Kentucky’s worsening physician shortages.
- Alternatives to detention: Senate Bill 122 allows judges to consider a Kentuckian’s status as a parent or caregiver when sentencing and allows those people to have access to detention alternatives, including substance abuse treatment.
- Grooming criminalized: Under House Bill 4 adults who groom a minor for sex can be criminally charged. The bill proposes a Class A misdemeanor charge for grooming, unless the minor is younger than 12 years old, in which case it is a Class D felony, according to the bill. For perpetrators in trusted positions, grooming a minor is a Class D felony unless the minor is younger than 12, in which case it is a Class C felony.
- Kindergarten readiness: Senate Bill 191 would award $2,000 to Kentuckians who successfully prepare their children for kindergarten.
- Sexual assault nurse examiners: House Bill 134 directs the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to hire a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner coordinator in an effort to increase access to highly trained nurses who administer rape kits. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network helpline is 800-656-4673.
- Public Service Commission: Senate Bill 8 expands the board membership of the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
- Raising sports gambling age to 21: House Bill 904 would raise the legal age to 21 to gamble on sports and ban some “prop” bets on Kentucky college athletes.
In limbo but still have a chance
Several bills didn’t make it through the entire process before the veto period. The language in these bills could also be added as amendments to other bills closer to the legislative finish line, which often happens late in the session.
Bills falling in this category include:
- State dog breed: Senate Bill 37 would name the Treeing Walker Coonhound as Kentucky’s official dog breed. An amendment would also name all shelter pets as the official state pet. Another amendment would designate the eastern spotted skunk as the official nongame mammal of Kentucky and make the eastern hellbender as the state’s official amphibian. The amendments need to be approved before being added into the bill.
- Photo ID for public records: House Bill 567 requiring requesters of public records to provide a photo ID to prove Kentucky residency never came up for a vote in the Senate but still could.
- AI in mental health therapy: House Bill 455 proposes barring the use of artificial intelligence for direct therapy or making independent therapeutic decisions including creating therapy plans. It passed the House in February but did not get a hearing in the Senate.
- Animal control officers would help spot child abuse: House Bill 246 would offer trainings for animal control officers to recognize the signs of child abuse. It unanimously passed the House in early March but didn’t get a hearing in the Senate.
Awaiting voters in November
- Limit on gubernatorial pardons: Senate Bill 10 would send voters a constitutional amendment that would limit the pardon and commutation powers of Kentucky governors around an election.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
