Rep. Jason Petrie

Maddy summaryHJR 54 authorizes the release of existing state funds for the Kentucky Exposition Center Redevelopment - Phase II. It directly affects the Kentucky State Fair Board, which had previously been required to submit a comprehensive proposal for its properties by December 2024 under two 2024 Kentucky Acts. The resolution allows the Office of State Budget Director to release capital construction funds that were held pending the State Fair Board's submission and review of this proposal. The bill passed both legislative chambers and was signed by the Governor on March 19, 2025, enabling the next phase of the redevelopment project.

Declare that the General Assembly does not authorize the contingent appropriation moneys to establish an Innovations in Early Childhood Education Delivery Grant Program.

Amend KRS 224A.320 to require that eligible funding recipients for the Kentucky Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems (WWATERS) Program meet three or more of the eligibility criteria instead of one; require that a funding application for a capital construction project include cost and timeline estimates prepared and signed by a licensed professional engineer; allow the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority board to evaluate and score funding applications for proposed projects in phases; remove the funding evaluation criteria categories of current accounts payable turnover ratio and current days' sales in accounts receivable ratio; remove the requirement from the evaluation criteria that the applicant's receipt of a notice of violation of drinking water or other water quality standards occur in the past year; add to the funding evaluation criteria that the funding applicant previously received funding through the program for a prior phase of the proposed project.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 7A to define terms; establish the Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board of the Kentucky General Assembly to review, analyze, study, evaluate, provide legislative oversight, and make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding any aspect of the Kentucky Medicaid program; establish board membership, authority, and duties; amend KRS 7A.010, 7A.140, 7A.150, and 7A.180 to conform; EMERGENCY.

Maddy summaryHB 543 amends Kentucky's budget code to require state branches (agencies) to specify both the amount of matching funds requested and the anticipated federal funds they expect to receive during the fiscal biennium in their budget recommendations. It explicitly prohibits using these matching funds for federal block grants (as defined by federal law) unless the grant application complies with existing state and federal requirements. The bill clarifies that matching funds cannot be applied to block grants without adherence to relevant laws and standards, including those under KRS 45.353. This change ensures budget requests for federal program matching align with federal regulations and state oversight.

Maddy summaryHB 542 requires all government branches in Kentucky to include specific budget details when submitting recommendations to the General Assembly. It mandates that budget items must have dollar amounts attached (not just labeled as "necessary government expense") and, if funds from a specific account are assigned to budget units, requires yearly revenue estimates for the current and previous two fiscal bienniums. This procedural change directly affects state agencies and departments preparing budget submissions. The bill focuses on standardizing budget reporting format and detail, not on altering funding levels or policy outcomes.

Maddy summaryHB 545 authorizes payment of $208,000+ in previously approved claims against Kentucky that remained unpaid due to expired budget funds or missing procurement paperwork. The bill directs state funds to specific vendors and individuals, including companies like Murtco Inc. and legal entities like the University of Kentucky Research Foundation, for claims audited and approved under existing law but not paid for technical reasons. It creates a one-time appropriation to settle these outstanding obligations, declaring an emergency to expedite payments. This is a procedural funding measure, not a new policy, directly affecting the named claimants who have pending approved claims.

Amend KRS 158.645 to modify language on core capacities, specify the intent of K-5 education, and define terms; amend KRS 156.070 to give the state board the responsibility for adopting or rejecting the state academic standards, adopting or rejecting instructional materials collections, setting a timeline for adoption updates, and ensuring alignment of academics across the state; create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to require the Kentucky Department of Education to deconstruct the approved academic standards and provide free guides to districts with sample curricula; amend KRS 156.395 to define "instructional materials collections"; amend KRS 156.405 to change the State Textbook Commission into the State Instructional Materials Council, require the State Instructional Materials Council to recommend instructional materials collections to the state board for adoption; amend KRS 156.415 to conform; amend KRS 156.433 to require school districts to utilize instructional materials collections from list approved by the state board; amend KRS 156.474, 156.407, 156.410, 156.420, and 156.425 to conform; amend KRS 156.435 to require the State Instructional Materials Council and Kentucky Department of Education to publish the approved instructional materials collections list on its website; amend KRS 156.437, 156.438, 156.439, 156.440, 156.445, 156.460, 156.465, 156.470, and 156.476 to conform; amend KRS 158.6452 to modify membership of the School Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability Council, and require biennial report on membership and meetings by commissioner; amend KRS 158.6453 to require the School Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability Council recommend academic standards to the state board for adoption, specify adoption update timeline; require Education Professional Standards Board to require alignment with academic standards as condition of educator preparation program approval; amend KRS 7.410 to conform; amend KRS 157.360 to remove school-based decision making council ability to waive class size maximums in kindergarten through grade one; amend KRS 157.195 and 158.6450 to conform.

Amend KRS 158.200 to detail process by which local boards of education may permit pupils to attend moral instruction; permit individuals or groups offering moral instruction to submit a request to a board and set requirements to be included in request; require superintendents to submit individuals providing transportation or moral instruction for criminal history and CA/N background checks; provide that students attending moral instruction are counted in average daily attendance for SEEK funding; repeal KRS 158.210, 158.220, 158.230, 158.240, 158.250, and 158.260.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 65 to define terms; permit a local government to establish a housing development district by following specified procedure; allow a local government to exempt housing developments within the district from planning and zoning following a public hearing; permit other local taxing authorities to participate in the district; allow a local government to accept applications from developers to construct residential homes within the district; allow a local government to negotiate with a developer whose application it has accepted regarding rates associated with incentive payments to the developer; establish a means by which a developer shall be paid incentive payments by a local government; require area development districts to provide assistance to a local government in establishing a district; require the Cabinet for Economic Development to promote awareness of the district and incentive program and to provide a report to the LRC regarding utilization of the program.