Transportation (Public Transit)

Amend KRS 96A.096 to include voluntary contributions by a Kentucky employer up to 0.05% of the Kentucky employer's total payroll in the Kentucky public transportation development fund; require the fund to be administered by the Transportation Cabinet; require the moneys received from the voluntary contributions to be used for providing public transit for workforce mobility needs; specify how the moneys in the fund for public transit are distributed; require annual reporting to the Transportation Cabinet from each public transit system that receives money from the fund; require annual reporting from the Transportation Cabinet to the Legislative Research Commission; create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to define "public transportation contribution," "Kentucky public transportation development fund," and "transit authority"; establish the public transportation contribution credit for taxes imposed in KRS 141.020 or 141.040 and 141.0401 for public transportation contributions provided by a Kentucky employer; limit the credit to 50% of the total amount of the public transportation contribution made for the taxable year by the employer; require annual reporting by the Department of Revenue on the credits claimed; amend KRS 141.0205 to order the credits; amend KRS 131.190 to allow the Department of Revenue to report on the credit; appropriate $30 million in general fund moneys in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 biennium to the Kentucky public transportation development fund; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 189 to define terms; establish the school bus stop safety camera fund to be administered by the Department for Local Government; provide that moneys in the fund shall be used to provide grants to local governments for the operation of bus stop cameras systems; allow local governments to install bus stop camera systems on public property at school bus stops within their jurisdiction; allow local governments to install bus stop camera systems on private property at school bus stops within their jurisdiction with the permission of the property owner; allow local governments to apply for grants through the fund; require local governments to consult with public school districts within their jurisdiction to determine appropriate placement for the cameras; require the local government that installed the cameras to retain the video images; require parents or guardians of all children assigned to the bus stop to be informed of the existence of a bus stop camera system, and allow parents or guardians to deny permission to film their children; require that if any parent objects to filming, the faces and personal identifying characteristics of all children assigned to the bus stop shall be blurred or redacted prior to the use or sharing of video images; specify the allowable uses of the video images and provide for retention timeframes; require school districts to notify all of the local governments in whose jurisdictions their schools are located of the location of each school bus stop in the district; EMERGENCY.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; allow the use of camera monitoring systems on school buses operated by a school district and allow the enforcement of a civil penalty for stop arm camera violations recorded by a camera monitoring system; establish the amount of the civil penalty; require that the revenue generated from a civil penalty be retained by the school district; allow a law enforcement agency to charge a fee of $25 from every civil penalty enforced by the law enforcement agency; require specific notice for a stop arm camera violation; establish defenses to a violation; establish procedures for a contest to a violation; allow for suspension of motor vehicle registration for failure to timely pay a penalty; require a school district or law enforcement agency to notify the Transportation Cabinet of the need to release a motor vehicle registration suspension within 1 business day of payment; amend KRS 189.370 to require traffic in the opposite direction of a school or church bus to stop for the bus on a highway that is not divided by an elevated barrier or unpaved median;amend KRS 189.990 to increase the maximum fines for failing to stop for a school or church bus that is receiving or discharging passengers.

Amend KRS 156.153 to permit schools to use non-school bus passenger vehicles designed for 10, instead of 9, or fewer passengers; limit statewide driver qualification, training, and drug testing requirements to drivers of non-school bus passenger vehicles along regular bus routes; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 186.763 to prohibit a school district from operating a fully autonomous vehicle as a school bus or for transporting students; prohibit the operation of a fully autonomous vehicle if that vehicle requires an operator with a commercial driver's license; amend KRS 281.764 to conform.