Kentucky

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 367 to define terms; require app store providers to verify user ages, obtain parental consent for minor accounts, notify users and parents of significant changes, share age and consent data with developers, and protect age verification data; prohibit app store providers from misrepresenting parental consent disclosures; require developers to verify age and consent status through app stores and notify app stores of significant changes; prohibit developers from misrepresenting parental consent disclosures; require the Office of Consumer Protection within the Attorney General's Office to establish standards for age verification methods; provide that a violation of the Act is a deceptive act or practice in the conduct of trade or commerce; provide that a parent or guardian has a private right of action for violations, provide a safe harbor for compliant developers; require the Office of Consumer Protection to promulgate administrative regulations in contemplation of the Act in accordance with KRS 13A.200; EFFECTIVE, in part, December 1, 2026.

Create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to define terms; require health plans to provide coverage for an annual mental health wellness examination provided by a mental health professional; require the coverage to be no less extensive than coverage for medical and surgical benefits, comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, and not be subject to any cost-sharing requirements; amend KRS 304.17C-125, 164.2871, and 18A.225 to require limited health service benefit plans, self-insured employer group health plans provided by the governing board of a state postsecondary education institution, and the state employee health plan to comply with the mental health wellness examination coverage requirement; state purpose of the Act; direct that provisions apply to health plans issued or renewed on or after the effective date of the Act; provide that Section 1 of the Act may be cited as the Kentucky Mental Health Wellness Act; EFFECTIVE, January 1, 2027.

Amend KRS 2.095 to add the Kentucky coffeetree to the designation of state trees.

Amend KRS 411.245 to establish immunity from civil liability for damage to a vehicle caused by a person removing a domestic animal that is in danger.

Provide 10 additional disaster relief student attendance days to provide instruction using alternate settings; allow local school districts to make up days missed by adding instructional time to student attendance days; require local boards of education seeking to revise its calendar to submit a plan for approval to the Department of Education; allow instructional time made up to count as employee contracted days; EMERGENCY.

Adjourn in honor and loving memory of Bias Sidney Tilford, Sr.

Recognize and honor the children of military families on Military Kids Day, February 19, 2026.

Amend KRS 160.290 to ensure public school curriculum, textbooks, and instructional materials, including digital learning materials, remain subject to the Open Records Act and that districts protect a resident's fair use rights; amend KRS 160.350 to require a superintendent with total annual compensation greater than the commissioner of education to be subject to confirmation by the Senate; require a majority vote instead of a four-fifths vote of local board of education members to remove a superintendent; delete requirements for approval from the commissioner of education to remove a superintendent; provide an appeal process for the superintendent; amend KRS 160.160 to establish a 1 year term for chair and vice chair of a local board of education; require superintendents to submit reports on closed personnel investigations to the local board of education for the purposes of policy oversight and evaluation of the superintendent's performance; amend KRS 160.180 to make ineligible a candidate for membership on a board of education who engages or serves as an officer or director of an organization that represents district employees in employment or legal matters against the district; require Open Records Act and Open Meetings Act training for local board of education members; make conforming changes; permit the hiring of relatives of a local board of education member; amend KRS 160.380 to prohibit a person convicted of certain specified crimes from being employed by a superintendent; require superintendents to submit reports on previous personnel investigations closed during the superintendent's contract to the local board of education within 30 days of the effective date of this Act.

Amend KRS 116.155 to add gender-neutral language.

Amend KRS 337.415, relating to court-ordered appearances by employees, to define terms; prohibit employers from discharging or retaliating against an employee who is a crime victim when the employee takes leave to attend proceedings associated with the prosecution of the crime; require an employee to give an employer reasonable notice to take leave when practicable; provide guidelines for use of paid leave; require the employer to maintain confidentiality of records and communication with employee crime victim; create a civil cause of action for improper discharge, discrimination, retaliation, and failing to maintain confidentiality; amend KRS 337.990 to establish a civil penalty for employer violations.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 61 to define "law enforcement officer"; allow a law enforcement officer to enter vacant and abandoned property to arrest or remove any person unlawfully occupying the property; specify when property shall be presumed vacant and abandoned; provide criminal and civil immunity to a law enforcement officer acting in good faith.

Recognize February 21, 2026, as Historic St. Paul A.M.E. Church National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Day in the Commonwealth.

Amend KRS 61.315 to define "rescue squad personnel"; expand eligibility for in the line of duty death benefits to rescue squad personnel; require the Division of Emergency Management to promulgate administrative regulations establishing necessary criteria and procedures; amend KRS 164.2841 to define "rescue squad personnel"; expand eligibility for tuition and fee exemption to dependents of rescue squad personnel who died in the line of duty; amend KRS 342.316 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to require the Kentucky Board of Education to establish a statewide system of oversight and compliance monitoring for Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; specify the required components of the system; amend KRS 156.070 to require the Kentucky Board of Education to establish a system for reporting allegations of misconduct by employees of any agency designated for the management of interscholastic athletics and the requirements of the system.

Amend KRS 117.087 and 118.035 to extend voting hours from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m; amend KRS 117.076 and 117.275 to conform.

Amend KRS 338.991 to establish the civil penalty for certain violations of KRS Chapter 338, relating to occupational safety and health, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration beginning on August 1, 2026; EFFECTIVE August 1, 2026.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 15 to create the vaping settlement trust fund to be administered by the Office of the Attorney General; direct the deposit of certain litigation proceeds into the fund; direct the allowable use of fund moneys for certain youth prevention and cessation efforts.

Amend KRS 304.17A-660 to define "health professional"; amend KRS 304.17A-661 to require that annual mental health parity reports be submitted to the Legislative Research Commission on or before June 1 of each year for referral to certain committees and be published by the insurance commissioner on the Department of Insurance's website; require insurers to have an independent audit conducted to evaluate mental health parity compliance upon request of the commissioner or Attorney General; require the commissioner to establish and operate a hotline that allows health professionals and insureds to submit complaints regarding mental health parity compliance; prohibit insurers from retaliating against a health professional for submitting a complaint; authorize the Attorney General to enforce the mental health parity law; establish duties, remedies, and penalties for enforcement by the Attorney General; authorize a private cause of action by any person directly injured by a violation or likely violation of the mental health parity law; establish duties, remedies, and penalties for a private right of action under the mental health parity law; establish construction clauses; authorize the Attorney General to promulgate administrative regulations for proper enforcement of mental health parity law; create a new section of KRS 304.17A-660 to 304.17A-669 to establish requirements for review criteria used by insurers to determine the medical necessity and appropriateness of a claim submitted for the diagnosis or treatment of a mental health condition; require that the review criteria be publicly available on the insurer's website; require insurers to comply with KRS 304.17A-600 to 304.17A-633 with respect to claims submitted by health professionals for the diagnosis of treatment of mental health conditions except as provided in the section; amend KRS 304.17A-617 and 304.17A-623 to conform; amend KRS 205.522 to require the Department for Medicaid Services, Medicaid managed care organizations, and the state' medical assistance program to comply with mental health parity law; require the Department for Medicaid Services or the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to obtain federal approval, if necessary, and comply with notice requirements; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes as required under KRS 205.5372(1); EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2027; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 15.440, relating to eligibility for Law Enforcement Foundation Program funds, to require units of government to possess a written policy and procedures manual that requires local police departments to submit missing and unidentified persons case information to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System according to specified criteria.

Commend Taiwan for its relationships with the United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Amend KRS 314.121 to require practitioner members of the Board of Nursing to maintain licensure throughout their board terms; make the active clinical practice of registered nurse members consist of direct bedside patient care on a daily basis; change the entities that submit board candidate names for active clinical registered nurses and nurse educators.

Amend KRS 65.8808 to expressly include failure to stop at a red traffic control signal and speeding as crimes subject to code enforcement; amend KRS 189.990 to provide that a person may be subject to a civil offense for failure to stop at a red traffic control signal or for speeding violations if not cited by a police officer at the time of the violation.

Adjourn in honor of Dr. Hannah Huffman, president of the Kentucky Optometric Association.

Amend KRS 278.277 to permit the Public Service Commission to allow, upon the request of an electric utility, an extension of the period for recovery of an electric utility's fuel adjustment costs to reduce volatility for consumers and encourage stability in rates.

Create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require health plans to include a generic drug or biosimilar on the plan's formulary under specified circumstances; define terms; establish cost-sharing requirements when a generic drug or biosimilar is required to be placed on the health plan's formulary; prohibit a health plan from imposing any prior authorization, step therapy, or other limitation on coverage for a generic drug or biosimilar required to be placed on the health plan's formulary or imposing any restriction on a pharmacist or pharmacy that makes it more difficult for the insured to obtain coverage or access to the generic drug or biosimilar compared to the reference drug or product; amend KRS 304.17C-125, 164.2871, and 18A.225 to require limited health service benefit plans, self-insured group health plans offered by a state postsecondary education institution, and the state employee health plan to comply with the requirements for generic drugs and biosimilars; direct that the Act applies to health plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; EFFECTIVE, January 1, 2027.