Rep. Chris Fugate

Amend KRS 61.702, relating to the Kentucky Employees Retirement System and the State Police Retirement System, to increase the nonhazardous and hazardous duty under age 65 retiree health subsidy to $40 and $50 per month for each year of service, respectively, for those members who meet the "career threshold" who began participating in the system on or after July 1, 2003, and who are eligible for a fixed-dollar retiree health subsidy not tied to the premium; extend the employee contribution used to fund retiree health benefits to include members who began participating in the system on or after July 1, 2003, and increase the current hazardous employee contribution rate to 2% of pay for those eligible for the fixed-dollar retiree health subsidy; make technical amendments regarding the retiree health premium reimbursement program to conform to current policy; provide that the amendments to the employee contributions shall be effective July 1, 2027; for calculation of the retiree health subsidy increase, provide that the change shall apply to service earned prior to the effective date of this Act by eligible members, including retirees, and shall prospectively be adjusted annually by the 1.5% increase currently provided in statute; provide that subsidies payable to impacted retirees shall begin on or after January 1, 2027, to coincide with the next health plan year; direct the Public Pension Oversight Board to continue to review the retiree health fund actuarial data and evaluate potential legislative options to address any future continued improvements in the funds; RETROACTIVE.

Amend KRS 61.510 to change the current definition of "membership date" in the Kentucky Employees Retirement System to remove date restrictions regarding educational contracts and allow any member who entered into an educational contract as a conditional employee of the state of Kentucky to have their system membership date, for purposes of retirement benefits determination, be based upon the earliest date of the contract.

Amend KRS 61.621 to allow a member of a state-administered retirement system who works in a nonhazardous position that could be certified as a hazardous position and who receives a duty-related injury to be eligible for the same minimum retirement benefit provided to members who receive a hazardous disability retirement; amend KRS 61.702 to allow Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS) members working in a nonhazardous position that could be certified as a hazardous position who receive a duty-related injury to receive the same health benefit provided to members who receive a hazardous disability retirement; amend KRS 78.5536 to allow County Employees Retirement System (CERS) members working in a nonhazardous position that could be certified as a hazardous position who receive a duty-related injury to receive the same health benefit provided to members who receive a hazardous disability retirement; allow certain persons whose last day of paid employment was on or after January 1, 2022, but prior to the effective date of the Act to apply for benefits; RETROACTIVE.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to establish a refundable income tax credit for certain volunteer firefighters; declare the purpose of the credit; require annual reporting to the Legislative Research Commission to evaluate the impact of the credit; amend KRS 141.0205 to provide the ordering of the credit; amend KRS 131.190 to allow confidential tax return information to be shared with the Legislative Research Commission.

Amend KRS 439.3103 to require the Department of Corrections to include in its report certain data on time served by persons released from a correctional institution and on persons released from a correctional institution on parole; EFFECTIVE January 1, 2026.

Direct the Historic Properties Advisory Commission to return to permanent display on the New State Capitol grounds the granite Ten Commandments monument given to the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1971 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Amend KRS 158.305 to require kindergarten students to be given a universal screener within the final 10 instructional days of the school year; beginning with the 2025-2026 school year require that a student remain in kindergarten for an additional year if he or she did not make adequate progress in kindergarten; prohibit a school from requiring a student who turns seven by August 1 to remain in kindergarten; require the school to reevaluate the reading improvement plan of any student remaining in kindergarten; allow a student provided an additional year in kindergarten to advance through the primary program when it is determined to be in the student's best interest.

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 61.878, relating to open records, to provide that law enforcement records shall be exempt from public inspection if the disclosure of the information could pose an articulable risk of harm to the law enforcement agency or its investigtion by revealing the identity of informants or witnesses not otherwise known.

Amend KRS 158.165 to require local boards of education to adopt a policy to, at a minimum, prohibit student use of a personal telecommunications device during the school day with specific exceptions; amend KRS 156.675 to include social media in prohibited material to be made inaccessible through school technology and provide the scope of social media to be prohibited.