Kentucky Bills

signed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 8, 2026

SB 157: AN ACT relating to total net income limits on loans secured by a mortgage.

Amend KRS 286.8-125 to exempt loans for which the total points and fees do not exceed the threshold set forth in 12 C.F.R. sec. 1026.43(e)(3) from total net income limits; make technical amendments; direct that the Act applies to contracts entered into on or after the effective date of the Act.

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 8, 2026

HB 781: AN ACT relating to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training state plan.

Amend KRS 205.2003 to require the cabinet develop and implement a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, education and training plan amendment to promote improved employment outcomes and workforce participation related to healthy workforce habits through public-private partnerships.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

signed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 8, 2026

SB 57: AN ACT relating to nuclear energy development.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to establish the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program; define terms; require the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority (authority) to annually submit recommendations to the General Assembly for awarding grant funding to eligible applicants for up to 1/3 of the actual costs incurred in applying for and procuring an early site permit, construction permit, or combined operating license from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not to exceed $25,000,000; establish eligibility requirements and scoring criteria for applications; require the authority to make eligibility determinations and objectively score grant applications; require that applicants procure a surety bond or other similar security to guarantee the repayment of the grant amounts in the event of forfeiture for eligibility; provide for forfeiture and repayment of grant funding if certain permitting, licensure, or commencement of construction timelines are not met; establish the Kentucky nuclear reactor site readiness pilot program fund; create a new section of KRS Chapter 278 to allow a regulated utility to apply to the Public Service Commission for the recovery of costs not covered in its existing rates incurred in applying for and procuring an early site permit, construction permit, or combined operating license from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission; prohibit the recovery of costs for any amounts that have been offset by grant funding from the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program; amend KRS 164.2802 to require 12 hours of nuclear-related training for new and existing at-large voting members of the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority; allow the director or the chair of the authority to waive the training requirement for any member who can demonstrate adequate knowledge of nuclear-related issues; require that the authority include its evaluations, scores, and funding recommendations for the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program with its annual report to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission; amend KRS 164.2803 to allow fusion-related nuclear energy projects to be eligible for grant funding from the Nuclear Energy Development Grant Program.

Topics ✓ Energy

signed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 8, 2026

SB 17: AN ACT relating to the protection of children.

Amend KRS 620.500 to add the Kentucky CASA Network to the definition of "association"; amend KRS 620.505 to decrease the minimum number of local CASA board members from 15 to 12; remove the provision that local CASA programs are required to comply with National CASA Association Standards for programs make technical corrections; remove "cabinet" and replace with "the Department for Community Based Services" relating to employees who are prohibited from becoming volunteers or employees of the court-appointed special advocate program; amend KRS 620.537 to make technical corrections; amend KRS 620.055 to conform.

signed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 8, 2026

SB 73: AN ACT relating to animal agriculture.

Amend KRS 217.015 to add tallow-based cosmetic products to the definition of "home-based processor"; amend KRS 217.136 to allow home-based processors to produce tallow-based cosmetic products in accordance with the registration and regulation requirements set forth by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 7, 2026

HB 600: AN ACT relating to the collection of delinquent tax bills.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 68 to authorize a county to utilize a consolidated procedure in the collection of delinquent tax bills; amend KRS 134.504 to require the allowance of a consolidated procedure for the collection of delinquent taxes in the terms of a contract between the Department of Revenue and a county attorney; amend the fees a county attorney may receive in the process of litigation for the collection of a certificate of delinquency; amend KRS 91.481, 91.484, 91.487, 91.488, 91.4882, 91.4883, 91.4884, 91.4885, 91.494, 91.501, 91.504, 91.507, 91.511, 91.514, 91.517, 91.521, 91.527, 91.550, and 92.810 to make technical corrections.

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 7, 2026

HB 642: AN ACT relating to the Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System.

Amend KRS 161.520 to remove the requirement for dependent children over the age of 18 to have their mental or physical condition approved by a majority of a medical review committee to receive survivor benefits; amend KRS 161.605 to raise the minimum amount a retired reemployed member may earn per day from $170 to $200, remove the provision for returning to work 1 month earlier if the member forfeits 1 month of their retirement benefit, reinstate the pension waiver program and prohibit members returning to work under its provisions from returning to work as administrators, and make technical changes; amend KRS 161.608 to clarify that the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) will acknowledge a member's earliest participation date in another state administered retirement system to determine benefit tier; amend KRS 161.620 to allow a member who is a parent to apply for and manage payments to a disabled child without necessity of a court order or other legal authority; amend KRS 161.635 and 161.636 to allow TRS to offer index fund investment options to university and nonuniversity members, to annuitize the investment return on the supplemental benefit applied to the index funds not to exceed 6.1% if there is no COLA in a given year or 4.6% if there is a COLA in the given year, allow TRS to promulgate administrative regulations to establish procedures for disbursements from the supplemental benefit component, and establish that neither the TRS board or staff shall be liable for any losses or claims due to a member's election of an index fund and state that members have the sole responsibility for their investment decisions.

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 7, 2026

HB 611: AN ACT relating to domestic relations.

Amend KRS 209A.122 to require the Administrative Office of the Courts to provide information regarding whether parties to a petition for an order of protection were represented by a legal counsel; to require the Department of Kentucky State Police to provide all statistical information from all JC-3 forms and all fields on a JC-3 form, relating to domestic violence or abuse or dating violence or abuse; remove the number of orders of protection in LINK; amend KRS 15A.190 to require JC-3 forms to be electronic.

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 7, 2026

HB 48: AN ACT relating to physical therapy.

Amend various sections of KRS Chapter 327, relating to the practice and regulation of physical therapy, to state legislative findings; require a practitioner or employer to report a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant who has been convicted of a misdemeanor; require potential board members to not have been under any disciplinary action in the past 5 years; permit the Board of Physical Therapy to purchase professional liability insurance; authorize the board to convene committees and task forces to review and advise the board on pertinent issues; authorize the board to promulgate administrative regulations to establish fee amounts, issue advisory opinions and declaratory rulings related to this chapter, and issue a license to a physical therapist assistant applicant; prohibit physical therapists and physical therapist assistants from engaging in sexual contact with any active patient of record or parent or legal guardian of an active patient of record; require the board to develop guidelines to follow upon receipt of an allegation of sexual misconduct by a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant; allow the board to receive periodic education on issues affecting the practice of physical therapy and public protection; allow the board to determine which disciplinary records may be expunged; authorize the board to establish the amounts, limits, or ranges for any fines imposed; repeal and reenact KRS 327.010 to define terms; repeal and reenact KRS 327.080 to deposit to the credit of a revolving fund for the use of the board; require all expenses of the board to be paid from the revolving fund.

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 7, 2026

HB 333: AN ACT relating to housing.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 100 to define terms; make affordable housing developed by a religious developer a permitted use and require only a ministerial review by a planning unit for compliance with the section; include requirements that an affordable housing development must meet including that it be on property owned by a religious institution prior to January 1, 2026, exclusively contains affordable housing, be less than 24 units and be located only on a parcel in certain zones, and to have obtained all other permits; require a religious institution that does not continue to qualify to seek approval from a planning unit; allow the Kentucky Housing Corporation to advise religious developers regarding affordable housing developments; allow homeless shelters operated by a religious institution to be permitted uses in commercial or business zones.

Topics ✓ Housing

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 7, 2026

HB 307: AN ACT relating to proactive postsecondary admission.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; establish a proactive postsecondary admissions program to be managed by the Council on Postsecondary Education; require each public postsecondary education institution in Kentucky to establish the minimum academic qualification for prospective admission to the institution and implement the common online application approved by the council by July 1, 2027; require the Kentucky Department of Education and each certified nonpublic school to submit a compiled list with designated information of all high school students who most recently completed their junior year to the council and the Kentucky Center for Statistics on or before September 1 of each year; require the KHEAA to submit the KEES award amounts of public and certified nonpublic high school students to the council on or before September 1 of each year; direct the council to send a personalized prospective admissions letter notifying each eligible high school student of each public postsecondary education institution in Kentucky where the recipient qualifies for prospective admissions, provides instructions for the recipient to apply for full admission, and of the student's KEES scholarship amount; provide that the personalized letter shall not constitute a guarantee of admission; retain the right for public postsecondary education institutions to perform a comprehensive reviews of all admissions applications internally; create a new section of KRS Chapter 151 to direct the Kentucky Center for Statistics to collaborate with the Kentucky Department of Education and the Council on Postsecondary Education to publish annual data on academic and workforce outcomes; amend KRS 164.020 to direct the Council on Postsecondary Education to establish a common online application and maintain a website for students to apply to Kentucky public postsecondary institutions through the common online application.

Topics ✓ Education

signed · Kentucky · House Apr 7, 2026

HB 392: AN ACT relating to local public agency transactions.

Amend KRS 45A.345, relating to local procurement, to define "best value" and redefine "evaluated bid price" as "economic efficiency"; amend KRS 45A.365 to require invitations for bids to state that awards be made on the best value rather than the lowest evaluated bid price; delete requirement for the inclusion of a reciprocal preference for resident bidders; require awards to the best value bid rather than the bid that is lowest evaluated bid price remove reference to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.370 to allow purchases through competitive negotiation using the best value bid rather than the lowest evaluated bid; remove references to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.375, relating to competitive negotiation to allow awards to be made upon the best value rather than lowest evaluated bid, and remove reference to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.385, relating to small purchase procedures, to increase the small purchase maximum amount to $60,000 from $40,000; index the maximum amount by $10,000 every 5 years beginning in 2030; require the Finance and Administration Cabinet to publicize the current amount; amend KRS 45A.420, relating to cooperative purchasing, to allow local public agencies to make agreements using an established discount, quote, formula, or other pricing method as established by the Commonwealth when an agreement does not establish a fixed unit price; amend KRS 82.083, relating to the disposition of property owned by a city, to amend the definition of "independent appraisal" as it relates to personal property for which there is no applicable nationally published valuation standard, to include a generally accepted method to determine a good-faith estimate; amend KRS 82.084 to add law enforcement vehicles and equipment to the exclusions from KRS 45A.345 to 45A.460 and 424.260; amend KRS 424.260 to increase the limit for making advertisements for purchases to $60,000 from $40,000; index the small purchase maximum amount by $10,000 every 5 years beginning in 2030; amend KRS 157.420 and 157.440 to conform; repeal KRS 65.027, relating to reciprocal preference to resident bidders.

Bill results