Sen. Phillip Wheeler

Maddy summarySB 215 amends a Kentucky law (KRS 154.26-050) to replace gendered language ("his or her") with gender-neutral terms in a provision protecting directors or officers of certain authorities from personal liability for authorized actions. This change directly affects officials serving on economic development authorities by updating the legal language governing their liability. The bill’s title references economic development, but the actual provision is a technical language update with no substantive policy changes to economic development programs. The bill was introduced in the Senate on February 18, 2025, and referred to the Economic Development committee for review.

Maddy summarySB 203 amends Kentucky statutes KRS 186.230 (county clerk duties) and KRS 186.120 (vehicle destruction refunds) to replace gendered terms like "he," "his," and "him" with gender-neutral language. This bill directly affects county clerks and the Transportation Cabinet by updating administrative language in existing vehicle registration and refund procedures. The changes are purely technical - no new requirements or policy shifts are introduced - and align the statutes with modern inclusive language standards. The bill does not alter vehicle regulations, fees, or refund processes.

Amend KRS 342.0011, relating to workers' compensation, to expand the definition of " injury" to include a diagnosis of class 2 or greater post-traumatic stress disorder from a death or threatened death by direct exposure or witnessing a death, threat of death, or its immediate aftermath; define "medical professional"; amend KRS 342.020 to allow an administrative law judge to rely upon objective medical opinions or data when determining medical benefits; require a carrier or a third-party administrator to provide the guidelines relied upon to deny medical treatment and provide the guidelines to the employee and medical provider; provide that the requirement for the medical provider to submit a statement for services within 45 days after treatment does not apply until after the injured worker and the medical provider have received notification from the employer, insurer, or medical payment obligor that the claim has been determined to be compensable, or there has been an initial determination of compensability by an administrative law judge; require the notice of compensability to advise the injured worker and the medical provider of necessary information regarding the process by which and the location where statements for services shall be sent; entitle a prevailing employee in a medical fee dispute to attorney's fees and permit the employee to submit a bill of costs to be considered by the administrative law judge; amend KRS 342.033 to expand "physician" to include all "medical professionals"; amend KRS 342.035 to prohibit a medical provider from seeking payment when a statement for services was submitted more than 45 days after the treatment date; amend KRS 342.125 to allow an administrative law judge to reopen and review any award or order for post-award request for vocational rehabilitation; add entitlement to rehabilitation to reasons a claim may be reopened more than four years after the original award date; amend KRS 342.276 to require the commissioner to promulgate regulations requiring parties to demonstrate attempts have been made to reach a settlement; amend KRS 342.281 to provide that after an order on reconsideration has been rendered, subsequent petitions for reconsideration shall not toll the time to appeal unless the petition for reconsideration is filed to correct a patent error in the order; amend KRS 342.310 to provide that if an administrative law judge determines a medical dispute was filed frivolously or for the purpose of harassment by an employer, its third-party administrator, or the responsible insurer, attorney's fees may be assessed and the administrative law judge may fine the employer no less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 to be paid to the employee; amend KRS 342.315 to add the University of Pikeville to the medical schools that the commissioner shall contract with to evaluate workers; delete "physicians" and insert "medical professionals" who are qualified as "B" readers in cases involving coal workers' pneumoconiosis and occupational hearing loss; add audiologists to the medical professionals who may perform hearing loss evaluations; amend KRS 342.316 to delete "physician" and insert "medical professional" as being required provide at least one written medical report in filing occupational disease claims; delete "physician" and insert "medical professional" as to interpret X-rays; delete "physicians" and insert "medical professional" as qualified as "B" readers in cases involving coal workers' pneumoconiosis; amend KRS 342.320 to delete "physicians" and insert "medical professionals" fees which are subject to approval of an administrative law judge; require the commissioner to promulgate administrative regulations establishing a schedule of fees that may be charged by court reporters for services rendered; amend KRS 342.730 to prohibit temporary total and permanent total disability from being offset by unemployment insurance benefits; amend KRS 342.794 to delete "physicians who are licensed in the Commonwealth" and insert "medical professionals" in the definitions of "B" reader list; delete "physician" and insert "medical professionals" in the '"B' reader" and "Board-certified pulmonary specialist"; amend KRS 342.122 to require the special fund assessment rate to be sufficient to finance the administration, operation, and expenditures when the claim liabilities are fully funded or prefunded; amend KRS 342.610 to include when a legal or illegal intoxicating substance is knowingly introduced into the employee's body, liability for compensation shall not apply to the injury, occupational disease, or death to the employee, if the intoxicating substance is determined to be the proximate cause of the employee's injury, occupational disease, or death.

Maddy summarySB 216 makes technical corrections to Kentucky law governing natural gas transportation (KRS 278.506) but does not change existing requirements. The amended section specifies that natural gas transported through intrastate pipelines must meet quality standards, be delivered at technically capable points, follow written contracts covering volumes and delivery details, and may be curtailed to protect residential customers or during emergencies. This bill directly affects natural gas suppliers, pipeline companies, and local distribution companies operating under these rules. It is a procedural update to clarify existing language without introducing new policies or altering service obligations. The bill does not change how natural gas is regulated or transported - only the wording of the current statute.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates a 9.5-mile segment of Kentucky Route 221 in Harlan County (from mile 8.9 to 18.4) as the "Johnnie L. Turner Memorial Highway." It memorializes Johnnie L. Turner, a longtime Harlan County attorney, former Kentucky state legislator (House and Senate), and advocate for Eastern Kentucky who died in October 2024. The resolution requires the Transportation Cabinet to install signage within 30 days of enactment. As a commemorative resolution, it does not change laws or regulations but honors a local figure through highway naming.

Amend KRS 211.190 to make water fluoridation programs optional; allow the governing bodies of water systems subject to regulation by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to decide whether they participate in water fluoridation programs; provide that a water fluoridation program in place on the effective date of the Act continues until action is taken by its governing body to end its participation; provide that any decision regarding participation in a water fluoridation program made by the governing body of a water system shall be binding on all water systems it supplies.

Maddy summarySB 152 amends Kentucky law to replace gendered language ("he or she") with gender-neutral terms in the process for appointing the Secretary of the Cabinet for Economic Development. The bill updates KRS 154.10-040 to ensure the appointment procedure uses inclusive language, without changing the qualifications or selection process. This affects the board's procedure for selecting candidates and the Governor's appointment authority for the economic development secretary position. The change is purely procedural, maintaining the existing requirements that the secretary must have significant economic development experience.

Maddy summarySB 170 updates Kentucky law (KRS 620.130) to replace gender-specific terms like "his or her" with gender-neutral language in child custody proceedings. It does not change existing protections or procedures for children; the bill only modifies the statutory language to be inclusive. This affects all child custody cases in Kentucky where courts consider alternatives to removing a child from a parent's custody, ensuring the law applies equally regardless of gender.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 214 to prohibit a requirement for any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, modified ribonucleic acid (modRNA) vaccine, or messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine for the purposes of student enrollment, employment, or medical treatment in the Commonwealth; prohibit any COVID-19 vaccine, modified ribonucleic acid (modRNA) vaccine, or messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine to be administered in the Commonwealth to a minor child under the age of 18 years; sunset the provisions that relate to a minor child on July 1, 2035, unless extended by the General Assembly:

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; prohibit a school district, public school, or cooperative board from providing differential treatment or benefits on the basis of an individual's religion, race, sex, color, or national origin; prohibit the Kentucky Department of Education, a school district, a public school, or a cooperative board from expending any resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion; prohibit the department, a school district, a public school, or a cooperative board from soliciting statements on an applicant's experience with or views on religion, race, sex, color, or national origin, from providing differential treatment or benefits to an individual based on the individual's participation in diversity, equity, and inclusion training, and from disseminating or profiting from any research, work product, or material that promotes or justifies discriminatory concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion; establish exclusions; authorize the Attorney General to bring an action for a writ of mandamus to compel the department, a school district, a public school or a cooperative board to comply; create a cause of action to permit a qualified individual to file a civil action against a the department, a school district, a cooperative board, or a public school for injunctive relief arising from a violation of this Act; permit recovery of monetary damages for a willful and intentional violation; waive sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity; prohibit retaliation; require each public school district and cooperative board to provide the State Treasurer the name, job title, duty station, and compensation information of each employee of the school district or cooperative board each month for publication; amend KRS 161.030 to require certain certification applicants to complete an approved professional development program on Kentucky education law; amend KRS 158.4416 and 158.4414 to conform; require school districts and cooperative boards to follow designated procedures when implementing this Act including termination or transfer of certain employees; require the Kentucky Department of Education to eliminate the Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging and follow designated procedures when implementing this Act including termination or transfer of certain employees; EFFECTIVE, in part, February 1, 2026; EMERGENCY.