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HB 713 Kentucky House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT relating to workplace violence against health care professionals.

Summary
Amend various sections of KRS 216.701 to 216.709 to define terms; require health facilities to display a notice in a prominent location advising of possible consequences of threatening or aggressive behavior toward health care workers; require health facilities to notify health care workers of changes to policies, procedures, or the workplace safety plan based on a health facility's required annual review; require that any health facility procedure for incidents of workplace violence shall require certain notifications for the victim.
Issues: ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareBill mandates safety protections for healthcare workers against violence, requiring facility notices and updated policies to safeguard medical professionals, aligning with healthcare workforce protection.95% confidence ✓ Labor & EmploymentSupports Labor & EmploymentRequires health facilities to implement safety protocols, display notices about consequences of violence, and update workers on policies - directly enhancing workplace safety protections for healthcare professionals.90% confidence
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 24, 2026 Last action Mar 16, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Current/Final · 5 edits
MODERATE
The bill updates definitions for workplace violence and health care workers to ensure clarity and consistency. It modifies the compliance verification process, allowing facilities accredited by recognized organizations to be deemed compliant without a full cabinet audit, while retaining the cabinet's authority to audit facilities that fail to meet safety standards. The notice required to be displayed at facilities has been slightly reworded to emphasize that threatening behavior could result in felony convictions.
Scope change
The scope of applicability remains focused on health facilities and health care workers, but the criteria for determining compliance have been expanded to include facilities accredited by nationally recognized organizations.
DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'health care worker' to explicitly include those under contract with a health facility.

Reordered the numbering of definitions for 'health facility', 'workplace', and related terms to align with standard legislative formatting.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the compliance verification method: facilities accredited by nationally recognized organizations are now automatically deemed compliant, whereas previously they were subject to specific audit requirements.

Revised the required notice text to explicitly state that threatening behavior could lead to felony convictions.

TIMELINE

Adjusted the effective date for the annual audit requirement to January 1, 2025.

Floor votes · House Mar 9, 2026

How they voted

103–0
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 105
Mar 9, 2026
D Democratic21
21 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican84
82 Yea 2
97% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
10
Key actions
2
Committee
5
Mar 16, 2026
Committee
to Health Services (S)
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (S)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 98-0 with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 3, 2026
Committee
to Health Services (H)
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (H)
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Introduced
introduced in House
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.