Rep. Jason Petrie

Maddy summaryHB 13 is a technical correction to Kentucky law governing how individual income tax refunds are handled for married couples. It clarifies that refunds for spouses filing separate returns must be split based on each spouse's share of their combined adjusted gross income, while refunds for joint returns remain treated as a single amount subject to full transfer to claimant agencies. The bill does not change existing tax policy or create new obligations; it only adjusts the language of KRS 131.575 to ensure consistent application of current refund rules. This affects Kentucky taxpayers filing separate or joint returns who receive tax refunds.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 176 to define terms relating to Local Assistance Road Program funding; require the Transportation Cabinet to establish procedures whereby cities and counties can submit projects for consideration in the Local Assistance Road Program; limit projects to those that are rehabilitative in nature and do not expand capacity or the design of the original road; limit state funding for any individual project to $500,000; require the cabinet to assign a score to each project evaluating the project's impact on safety, congestion, asset management, and cost; set deadlines for local government submission of projects and cabinet submission of projects with evaluative scores; establish a graduated local funding match requirement based on the county population ranking developed by the Cabinet for Economic Development under KRS 154.21-015; require the cabinet to report quarterly to the Legislative Research Commission on the activity relating to projects awarded grants; specify required elements of the report.

Amend KRS 205.5372 to prohibit the Department for Medicaid Services from making any change to the Medicaid program without authorization from the General Assembly to do so; amend KRS 205.460 and 205.520 to conform; amend KRS 205.5371 to authorize the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to submit a community engagement waiver for able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries without dependents; create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to establish the Kentucky Medicaid rebate sequestration fund as a restricted fund within the Finance and Administration Cabinet; require all money received by the Department for Medicaid Services as rebates from pharmaceutical drug manufacturers to be deposited into the Kentucky Medicaid rebate sequestration fund; amend KRS 205.240 to conform; amend KRS 205.525 to require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to submit a copy of any waiver renewal application to the Legislative Research Commission concurrent with submission of the application to a federal agency; repeal, reenact, and amend KRS 205.6328 to establish reporting requirements for the Department for Medicaid Services and Medicaid managed care organizations; create new sections of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Department for Medicaid Services to retain beneficiaries' data for at least seven years after the beneficiary is disenrolled from the Medicaid program; require the Department for Medicaid Services and Medicaid managed care organizations to cover up to 100 units of psychoeducational services per Medicaid beneficiary per year; create a new section of KRS Chapter 194A to require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to notify the Legislative Research Commission of any anticipated barriers to implementing Medicaid-related legislation; direct the Department for Medicaid Services to reinstate all prior authorization requirements for behavioral health services that were in place on January 1, 2020; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to procure new Medicaid managed care contracts with an effective date of no later than January 1, 2027; direct Medicaid managed care organizations to collaborate on the development of a behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment services scorecard; require behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment services scorecard to be accessible by the public on each Medicaid managed care organization's website no later than December 31, 2025; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 139 to create a violation when an official notice published by the secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet or the commissioner of the Department of Revenue improperly instructs that taxpayers should continue to collect and remit sales and use tax on currency or bullion currency, allow the taxpayer to file an action for refund in Circuit Court, and entitle the taxpayer to interest, injunctive relief, attorney's fees and costs, and liquidated damages of $1,000 for each day that the violation occurred; RETROACTIVE; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 186.450 to allow persons who are at least 15 years of age to apply for a motor vehicle instruction permit; establish that an instruction permit is valid for four years; amend KRS 186.410, 186.452 and 159.051 to conform; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 154.14-020, relating to the GRANT Program, to redefine "eligible grant applicant," "eligible project," "eligible use," "GRANT program," "GRANT program fund," "regional project," and define "qualifying federal entity"; amend KRS 154.14-030 to make technical changes; amend KRS 154.14-040 to modify the dates of the Cabinet for Economic Development's review of grant applications and provide that obligation of funds shall be no more than 12 months with a possible six month extension; amend KRS 154.14-050 to make technical changes and allow community support evidence to come from the grant applicant or a majority of applicants for a regional project; amend KRS 154.14-060 to make technical changes and authorize the cabinet to transfer up to 10 percent of the funds remaining in the two categories of funds with notice to the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue or applicable standing; amend KRS 154.14-070 to make technical changes; repeal KRS 154.14-010 and 154.14-080; EMERGENCY.

Declare that the contingent appropriation of capital construction funds to improve and advance the existing Kentucky Community and Technical College System remains under condiseration by the General Assembly.

Maddy summaryHJR 31 is a procedural joint resolution confirming that the General Assembly remains under consideration of a contingent appropriation tied to the Department of Agriculture’s program-specific funding. It directly affects the Department of Agriculture, as it relates to a requirement under 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 223, sec. 64 for the department to submit a funding proposal by December 1, 2024. The resolution (now Act Ch. 48) states the contingent appropriation is still under review by the General Assembly, without allocating funds or changing existing requirements. This is a formal procedural step, not a policy change.

Authorize the Office of State Budget Director to release capital construction funds for the Design Health Services Center project at Kentucky State University; require the university to submit a comprehensive business plan on or before November 1, 2025.

Amend KRS 164.773, relating to the Student Teacher Stipend Program, to specify that an eligible student is a Kentucky resident as determined by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (authority) and is student teaching at a Kentucky public school or certified nonpublic school; specify that the authority shall disburse stipend funds to eligible students directly or through the participating institution; allow the authority to establish criteria for an eligible student who is student teaching outside of Kentucky but is otherwise eligible.