Rep. Shawn McPherson

Amend KRS 156.557 to increase the time period between mandatory summative evaluations for tenured certified school staff from once every three years to once every five years; provide that additional summative evaluations may be performed at the discretion of the individual's immediate supervisor but shall not be imposed as a uniform requirement across the system; amend KRS 158.060 to provide teachers access to their employment contract upon request; amend KRS 156.095 to require the Department of Education to create and local school districts to implement a four year recurring professional development training schedule that includes all required professional development trainings; provide that all certified school employees shall complete designated trainings within 12 months of initial hire and at least once every four years thereafter; consolidate state-required certified school personnel trainings; create new sections of KRS Chapter 158 to relocate language currently contained in KRS 158.060 related to the display of designated hotline information and the publication of and school lessons on evidence-based suicide prevention awareness information; amend KRS 158.070 to remove language regarding professional development trainings consolidated elsewhere; amend KRS 160.346 to prohibit the Department of Education from requiring comprehensive school improvement plans and comprehensive district improvement plans not expressly required by federal law; amend KRS 156.492, 157.360, and 158.4416 to conform; amend KRS 161.031 to remove the mandate for an induction program for new teachers; require a report identifying school districts that do not implement an induction program for new teachers; require the Department of Education to conduct a review of the reporting requirements imposed upon public schools and public school districts; eliminate all reporting requirements not expressly required by state statute or federal law; submit a report on the remaining reporting requirements; provide that the Act may be cited as the Red Tape Reduction Act.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; prohibit a public postsecondary education institution from providing differential treatment or benefits on the basis of an individual's religion, race, sex, color, or national origin; from influencing the composition of the student body or scholarship recipients on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, or national origin; from implementing a student housing assignment plan on the basis of religion, race, color, or national origin with designated exceptions; from expending any resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the promotion of discriminatory topics, or bias incident investigations; from soliciting statements on an applicant's experience with or views on religion, race, sex, color, or national origin; from requiring a course dedicated to discriminatory concepts; or disseminating or profiting from any research, work product, or material that promotes or justifies discriminatory concepts; prohibit a public postsecondary education institution from requiring any individual to endorse or condemn a specific ideology or viewpoint; prohibit the Council on Postsecondary Education from providing differential treatment or benefits on the basis of an individual's religion, race, sex, color, or national origin or from expending any resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion or discriminatory topics; establish exclusions for legal compliance; require each governing board of a public postsecondary education institution to ensure compliance with specific sections of this Act no later than June 30, 2025; authorize the Attorney General to bring an action for a writ of mandamus to compel the council or a public postsecondary education institution to comply; create a cause of action to permit a qualified individual to file a civil action against council or a public postsecondary education institution for injunctive relief and limited damages arising from a violation of certain sections of this Act; waive sovereign and governmental immunity for the limited purpose of bringing this claim; prohibit retaliation; require each public postsecondary education institution to submit and publish a certified annual report on governmentally mandated discrimination to the Legislative Research Commission by October 1 each year; provide that a public postsecondary education institution or the council cannot claim a federal, state, judicial, contractual, or accreditation mandate as a defense to a civil action filed under this Act unless the policy, practice, or procedure upon which the complaint is founded is listed and clearly and accurately described in the public institution's annual report filed in accordance with this Act; require each public postsecondary education institution to provide the Personnel Cabinet and State Treasurer the name, job title, duty station, and salary or wages of each employee each month beginning January 1, 2025, and to post its itemized annual budget; amend KRS 164.020 to prohibit the Council on Postsecondary Education from approving a degree, certificate, or diploma program that includes discriminatory concepts or diversity, equity, and inclusion iniatives; amend KRS 164.011, 164.131, 164.321, and 164.821 to conform; direct the Council on Postsecondary Education to consider certain enumerated conditions when considering the elimination of an existing program; direct each public postsecondary education institution and the Council on Postsecondary Education to discontinue designated programs and follow designated procedures when implementing this Act; provide specific instructions for public postsecondary education institutions and the Council on Postsecondary Education to follow in implementing this Act; direct public postsecondary education institutions and the council to submit a report on implementation of this Act.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 344 to define terms; prohibit discrimination against mental health care professionals, mental health care institutions, and ordained ministry for providing protected counseling services; prohibit discrimination against individuals for offering information, training, and referrals for protected counseling services; prohibit discrimination against parents and guardians who consent to their child receiving protected counseling services; prohibit reporting of a mental health care professional or mental health care institution to a hiring or licensing authority solely on the basis that it provides protected counseling services; prohibit a hiring or licensing authority from investigating a mental health care professional or mental health care institution solely on the basis that it provides protected counseling services; establish a civil cause of action for a person injured by a violation; provide that the Act may be cited as the Mental Health Counseling Protection Act; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 186A.100, 186A.105, and 186A.110 to amend the processes for motor vehicle dealers' applications for and use of temporary tags for motor vehicles sold by the dealer; allow county clerks to keep logs of temporary tags in electronic format; enumerate prohibited activities on the part of a dealer in relation to the application and issuance of temporary tags; amend KRS 186A.990 to set the penalty for theft, fraudulent production or copying, or improper use of a temporary tag at a Class D felony; subject motor vehicle dealers, salespersons, and agents who violate the laws governing temporary tags to additional penalties in KRS 190.990; amend KRS 190.990 to establish penalties for motor vehicle dealers, salespersons, and agents; amend KRS 189.990 to expressly include temporary tags under the penalties for using stolen registration plates.

Amend KRS 367.620 to define terms; amend KRS 367.622 to establish right to cancel a real estate goods or services contract within five business days after an insurer's notice of noncoverage; amend KRS 367.624 to establish notice requirements for real estate goods or services contracts; amend KRS 367.626 to establish cancellation and other requirements for real estate goods or services contracts; amend KRS 367.627 and 367.628 to establish penalties and requirements relating to real estate goods or services trade practices associated with property and casualty insurance; provide that the Act applies to contracts entered on or after the effective date of the Act.

Amend KRS 45.750 to redefine "equipment" to include electronic equipment that incorporates advanced computing, including smart medical, scientific, and research equipment; increase the threshold required for a lease of real property to qualify as a capital project from $200,000 annually to $500,000 annually; increase the threshold required for equipment to qualify as a capital project from $200,000 to $500,000; increase the threshold required for a lease of movable equipment to qualify as a capital project from $200,000 annually to $500,000 annually; increase the threshold for a new acquisition, upgrade, or replacement of an information technology system to qualify as a capital project from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000; amend KRS 164A.585 to permit employees of an institution or inviduals hired specifically for that project to perform work on capital construction projects costing up to $500,000; remove the requirement for a specific invoice form if a personal service contract invoice contains the information required by that form; amand KRS 45A.695 to make a technical correction; amend KRS 164.330 to remove the requirement that a public postsecondary board of regents meet within 30 days of each appointment of new members; amend KRS 61.661 to require the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority to release account information to the employer or other state or federal agency upon request; amend KRS 61.880 to establish a 60-day timeframe to appeal an agency's denial of a request to inspect a public record; amend KRS 164.952 to remove the limitations on the number of retired police officers a public postsecondary education institution may employ without paying into the retirement system.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to allow school districts to implement a wearable panic alert system; establish system criteria; require the Department of Education to provide a list of approved wearable panic alert systems; require the Center for School Safety to establish the Wearable Panic Alert Grant Program; amend KRS 158.446 to allow the Center for School Safety to distribute wearable panic alert grants using funds appropriated in the biennial budget to support school safety.

Maddy summaryThis resolution designates March 2, 2025, as Read Across America Day in Kentucky, recognizing a national literacy initiative. It does not create new laws or directly affect specific groups, but formally endorses the event promoted by the National Education Association and Kentucky Education Association. The resolution encourages Kentuckians to participate in reading activities celebrating literacy, aligning with the annual event honoring Dr. Seuss's birthday. It is a ceremonial gesture with no binding policy changes, adopted by the Kentucky House of Representatives via voice vote.

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.

Define "virtual program"; place an enrollment cap on virtual programs for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year and the entirety of the 2025-2026 school year; EMERGENCY.