Kentucky Bills

passed · Kentucky · House Apr 1, 2026

HR 126: A RESOLUTION urging the federal government to provide states with increased flexibility to design and test innovative approaches that reduce barriers to employment and promote economic self-sufficiency among individuals and families receiving public assistance.

Urge the Congress of the United States and the relevant federal agencies to expand opportunities for states to seek flexibility, waivers, or demonstration authority under federal public assistance programs for the purpose of reducing barriers to work and supporting earned income advancement.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

passed · Kentucky · House Apr 1, 2026

HB 686: AN ACT relating to the Kentucky Positive Youth Development Commission.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 210 to define terms; establish the Kentucky Positive Youth Development Commission; establish the positive youth development trust fund; amend KRS 200.503, 200.505, and 200.509 to require the State Interagency Council for Services and Supports to Children and Transition-Age Youth to direct regional interagency councils to coordinate with the Kentucky Positive Youth Development Commission to establish workgroups to perform community needs assessments, research opportunities for positive youth development programming, and apply for grants to fund and implement positive youth development programming; amend KRS 200.505 to add the state suicide prevention coordinator and Attorney General, or their designees, to the Interagency Council for Services and Support to Children and Transition-Age Youth.

signed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 1, 2026

SB 199: AN ACT relating to pesticide labeling.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 217 to establish that any pesticide registered with the Department of Agriculture, with an EPA approved label for use pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act is deemed sufficient warning for the purposes of an action concerning duty to warn; amend KRS 217.544 to conform.

passed · Kentucky · House Apr 1, 2026

HB 227: AN ACT relating to addictive online platforms.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 367 to establish requirements to protect minors from AI companion platforms and social media platforms using addictive features and predatory data collection; define terms; require AI companion platforms and social media platforms to refine their age verification for users; prohibit AI companion platforms or social media platforms from maintaining accounts for children without verifiable parental consent; create a private right of action for violations by AI companion platforms or social media platforms; authorize the Attorney General to enforce violations.

Topics ✓ Technology

passed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 1, 2026

SB 125: AN ACT relating to juvenile justice.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 200 to define terms; establish procedures for a child charged with a public offense to determine if the child is a high acuity youth; establish procedures for securing a treatment plan and dispute resolution through a review process and the court if the parties cannot agree to a plan; require a 24-hour protocol for health facilities, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and the courts to direct care; establish reimbursement rates for inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care of a child by psychiatric hospitals and pediatric teaching hospitals; establish procedures for discharge and transfer of the child from an inpatient admission under specific circumstances; amend KRS 15A.305 to include a mental health facility operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice as an identified facility for the detention and treatment of children; direct the operation of 2 female-only facilities with authority to increase as population increases; direct reimbursement rates for local governments lodging juveniles to be set by administrative regulation; amend KRS 600.020 to remove and add defined terms; amend KRS 610.265 to remove beginning date that is past; amend KRS 610.340 to enable release of information in specific circumstances; amend various sections of KRS to conform; authorize the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to construct a high acuity youth mental health facility, subject to funding; direct the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to provide clinical services; direct the Department of Juvenile Justice to continue to implement the plan to return to a regional model of detention.

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice

signed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 1, 2026

SB 10: AN ACT proposing to amend Section 77 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to limiting the Governor's ability to grant pardons and commute sentences.

Propose to amend Section 77 of the Constitution of Kentucky to prohibit the Governor's ability to grant pardons or commute sentences beginning 60 days prior to a gubernatorial election and ending at that gubernatorial inauguration; amend Section 240 of the Constitution of Kentucky to conform; provide ballot language; submit to voters for ratification or rejection.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

passed · Kentucky · Senate Apr 1, 2026

SB 22: AN ACT relating to the dual credit scholarship program.

Amend KRS 164.786 to define "eligible high school apprentice" and "eligible registered teacher apprenticeship program"; include eligible registered teacher apprenticeship programs in the dual credit scholarship program; establish student and school district eligibility and participation requirements in the eligible registered teacher apprenticeship scholarship program.

Topics ✓ Education

passed · Kentucky · House Mar 31, 2026

HB 759: AN ACT relating to teacher certification.

Amend KRS 161.048 to modify and reestablish alternative teacher certification options as alternative routes; establish the eligibility requirements of alternative routes; delete Option 2 certification; establish a route for current professional certificate holders to expand certification and the eligibility requirements; require the Education Professional Standards Board to maintain and publish a list of academic majors, academic minors, and graduate degree academic content areas and the corresponding areas for which they shall satisfy certification requirements; make current professional certificate holders eligible to expand certification through any alternative route; require holders of professional certificates under specific routes complete training requirements to be eligible for the first renewal of the certificate; provide that the Education Professional Standards Board may require a passing score on a professional skills assessment; amend KRS 161.032 and 164.757 to conform; repeal KRS 161.049.

Topics ✓ Education

passed · Kentucky · House Mar 31, 2026

HB 593: AN ACT relating to data centers.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 96 relating to municipal utilities and KRS Chapter 278 relating to Public Service Commission-regulated utilities to: define terms; only allow for the provision of electric service to a data center through a contract that conforms to the requirements of the Act; require that within 90 days of the effective date of the Act, the electric service provider issue or file a tariff setting forth the process for a data center customer to apply for service; require the payment of a nonrefundable service application fee; require the preparation of studies to determine the manner in which the electric service provider can safely and efficiently serve the data center in a way that does not have negative service or rate impacts to their non-data center customers; establish the minimum contract requirements between the electric service provider and the data center customer; provide that requirements of the Act that are conflict with the Tennessee Valley Authority's requirements for the distribution of electricity that it supplies shall not apply; prohibit the charging or allocating of any costs associated with serving or constructing new infrastructure to serve a data center to any other customers served by natural gas, water, or wastewater utilities; amend KRS 154.20-229 to require that a qualified data center project that has been preliminarily approved for a certificate of exemption under KRS 139.499 include in its memorandum of agreement with the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority a certification that the data center project complies or will comply with all applicable local requirements and the applicable requirements of the Act.

signed · Kentucky · House Mar 27, 2026

HB 657: AN ACT relating to professional licensing background checks.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 319, 319A, 334A, 335.010 to 335.160, and 335.500 to 335.599, relating to psychologists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists and audiologists, social workers, and professional counselors, to require a national and state background check for applicants seeking an initial license, reinstatement of a license, or authorization to practice in another state in accordance with a compact; provide that the results of a national and state criminal background check shall not be distributed by the board except to any applicant upon request or as evidence in a legal proceeding; provide that the fee charged by the Department of Kentucky State Police shall be an amount no greater than the actual cost of processing the request and conducting the background check; require the boards to review criminal background checks for every Kentucky licensee seeking to practice in another state before the board makes a determination on whether the person is eligible to apply for compact privileges; provide that boards shall not require a criminal background check solely for the purpose of renewing a license; and require boards to promulgate administrative regulations to implement this Act.

passed · Kentucky · House Mar 27, 2026

HB 141: AN ACT relating to Type 1 diabetes.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to require the Kentucky Department of Education to develop Type 1 diabetes informational materials for parents and guardians of students; require each local board of education and public charter school board of directors to annually provide the informational materials to the parent or guardian of students in preschool through twelfth grade.

signed · Kentucky · Senate Mar 27, 2026

SB 5: AN ACT relating to Kentucky-grown agricultural product procurement and declaring an emergency.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define "agricultural product" and "Kentucky-grown agricultural product"; allow a local school board or local school district participating in any of the United States Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Programs to purchase Kentucky-grown agricultural products in accordance with federal law.

Bill results