Kentucky

Honor the survivors of crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 160 to establish a process to recall a member of a local board of education; amend KRS 160.190 to conform.

Declare Kentucky to be a Food is Medicine state and direct state agencies to advance Food is Medicine initiatives.

Amend KRS 157.320 to define "eligible child" and "teaming partner"; amend KRS 157.3175 to require each local school district to provide preschool to 4 year olds who reside in a household with an income at or below 160% of the poverty level until the end of the 2033-2034 school year, and beginning with the 2034-2035 school year require each local school district to provide preschool to each eligible child; provide requirements for program guidelines; require the Kentucky Department of Education to establish and maintain a statewide unified data system; create a new section of KRS Chapter 157 to require local school districts to maintain certification from the Head Start director that Head Start is fully utilized; provide penalties; require local school districts to prepare and submit preschool expansion plans to the deparment; require the department to promulgate administrative regulations regarding preschool expansion; require the department to submit a report the the Legislative Research Commission annually regarding preschool expansion.

Amend KRS 140.090, relating to the inheritance tax, to increase the funeral expense deduction for decedents with date of death on or after August 1, 2026.

Create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to establish that any health benefit plan that provides coverage for hospital, medical, or surgical expenses shall include coverage for chronic pain treatments provided by a licensed professional; amend KRS 205.522 to require Medicaid and Medicaid managed care organizations to include coverage for chronic pain treatments provided by a licensed professional; amend KRS 218A.172 to require that a health care practitioner discuss and refer or prescribe alternative chronic pain treatments before initially prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance; provide that certain provisions apply to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if they determine that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes to the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1); EFFECTIVE January 1, 2027.

Amend KRS 157.320 to define "at risk" and "teaming partner"; amend KRS 157.3175 to require each local school district to provide preschool to 4 year olds who reside in a household with an income at or below 160% of the poverty level until the end of the 2030-2031 school year and beginning with the 2031-2032 school year, require each local school district to provide preschool to each 4 year old who is at risk; provide requirements for program guidelines; require the Kentucky Department of Education to establish and maintain a statewide unified data system; create a new section of KRS Chapter 157 to require local school districts to maintain certification from the Head Start director that Head Start is fully utilized; provide penalties; require local school districts to prepare and submit preschool expansion plans to the deparment; require the department to promulgate administrative regulations regarding preschool expansion; require the department to submit a report the the Legislative Research Commission annually regarding preschool expansion.

Recognize February 11, 2026, as Recovery Advocacy Day in the Commonwealth.

Amend KRS 118A.020 to establish that Justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected on a statewide basis; EFFECTIVE January 2, 2029.

Amend KRS 158.070 to provide that certified school personnel shall be compensated for professional development activities required outside of the days scheduled in the school calendar or regularly scheduled hours in the school work day.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to define "grooming behavior"; amend KRS 161.120 to add, current and recent former students to the list of individuals upon which the Education Professional Standards Board may refuse to issue or take disciplinary action against a certificate if the applicant or certificate holder engaged in sexual contact with the specified individuals; amend KRS 160.390 to require superintendents to include employment terms prohibiting sexual contact between an employee of the district and specified individuals; amend KRS 160.1596 to require as a term of the public charter school contract that all employees and contractors refrain from sexual contact with specified individuals; amend KRS 156.160 to require the Kentucky Board of Education to require certified nonpublic schools to require employee prohibitions on sexual contact between an employee of the school and specified individuals.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; establish the robotics competition fund; establish the Robotics Funding Selection Committee to award grants from the fund to eligible robotics teams competition sponsors; establish committee membership, duties, and set terms; require the Kentucky Department of Education to promulgate administrative regulations to establish procedures for grant applications and distribution of awards by April 1, 2027; set requirements for grant applications; require annual report by August 1 to Legislative Research Commission; provide for initial staggering of appointments; require the committee to hold its first meeting by October 15, 2026; provide that the Act may be cited as the Advanced Manufacturing Through Robotics Education Act.

Amend KRS 441.005 to define "restricted custody center" and make technical changes; create new sections of KRS Chapter 441 to require the Department of Corrections to promulgate administrative regulations providing the minimum standards for holdover facilities; require the Department of Corrections to contract with a fiscal court of a county or local or regional correctional authority to provide correctional services to state prisoners; allow prisoners being held for a nonviolent or nonsexual misdemeanor conviction to be housed in a restricted custody center; require jailers to get permission from the Department of Corrections before transferring a Class C or Class D felon to another jail unless required by statute or an emergency exists; establish the regional jail authority construction fund, and establish requirements for the Department of Corrections to submit a list of regional jail construction projects to the Legislative Research Commission; establish the regional jail conversion fund and establish requirements for receiving grant funds; amend KRS 431.215 to require the Commonwealth to pay a county a fee per day based on the county's actual costs to house prisoners for the time the prisoner was held before a conviction if the sentence the prisoner receives in whole or in part includes the amount of time served prior to judgment; amend KRS 441.025 to allow counties to contract with the Department of Corrections to house state prisoners and operate holdover facilities; amend KRS 441.045 to require the Commonwealth to pay counties for the costs of providing health services to prisoners the county is responsible for; amend KRS 441.420 to require the Department of Corrections to pay for architectural plans and engineering services associated with any tentatively approved construction of a local correctional facility; amend KRS 441.430 to allow a regional jail authority to receive tentative approval for new regional jail construction; amend KRS 441.520 to specify the rate that a jail that receives a transferred inmate can charge the originating jail; amend KRS 441.810 to require that the jailer of each county within a regional jail authority be a member of the board; amend various sections to conform.

Adjourn in honor of Harriet Thompson for her service to her community and the Clark County Republican Women's Club.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Department for Medicaid Services to include coverage for adult day health care and in-home attendant services in all 1915(c) waiver programs that enroll adults; require coverage of at least 40 hours per week separately for adult day health care and in-home attendant services; prohibit aggregating coverage limits for adult day health care and in-home attendant services; require the department to promulgate administrative regulations; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the department to seek federal approval if they determine that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes to the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1).

Amend KRS 45.021 to require the Finance and Administration Cabinet to contract with each local board of education of a district that has 65% or more in tax-exempt real property and that does not receive financial relief from other sources for the tax revenue lost from the tax-exempt property, to provide for recoupment to the board of at least 25% of the local board of education's lost tax revenue from the tax-exempt properties.

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 132.010, relating to state and local property taxation, to amend the definitions of "agricultural land" and "horticultural land" to include a parcel in agricultural or horticultural land that has been converted to a residential use as part of a planned development containing 10 or more parcels until a certificate of occupancy is issued for the parcel; state that agricultural value is calculated based on the agricultural value prior to the conversion to residential use; amend KRS 132.454 to outline the procedure and timeline for transition of agricultural use to residential use for property tax purposes; amend KRS 132.450 to conform.

Amend KRS 337.010 to define "committed relationship," "family care leave," "family member," "health care provider," "same employer," and "serious health condition"; create a new section of KRS Chapter 337 to prohibit employers from refusing to grant a qualified employee family care leave; entitle an employee to family care leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child or to take care of a family member and establish parameters; amend KRS 337.990 to establish penalties for violations by any person.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 174 to establish a state rail safety inspection program; establish the Railroad Transportation Advisory Board; establish the board's membership and duties.

Recognize February 11, 2026, as Recovery Advocacy Day in the Commonwealth.

Direct the Transportation Cabinet to designate a portion of KY-194 in Pike County as the Melvin Ferrell Memorial Highway.

Direct the Legislative Research Commission to reestablish the Disaster Prevention and Resiliency Task Force to study disaster mitigation, infrastructure resilience, and planning for natural disasters that impact the Commonwealth; require the task force to submit recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2026.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 367 to establish consumer rights relating to social media and artificial intelligence data; define terms; require social media companies and model operators to implement data interoperability interfaces; establish requirements for data sharing between social media services and artificial intelligence systems; grant rulemaking authority to the Attorney General, along with the Consumers' Advisory Council, and enforcement authority to the Office of the Attorney General; provide for civil penalties: provide that the Act may be cited as the Kentucky Digital Choice Act.

Amend KRS 525.010 to define "religious organization" and "religious service"; make technical corrections to existing definitions; create a new section of KRS Chapter 525 to establish the crime of interference with a religious service as a Class A misdemeanor; create a new section of KRS Chapter 411 to establish a civil cause of action for interference with a religious service; amend KRS 525.200 to conform.