Kentucky

Propose to create a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky to exempt from state and local excise, sales, and use taxes food, food ingredients, prescription drugs, residential utilities, and on-farm utilities; provide ballot language; submit to voters for ratification or rejection.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 198A to create the affordable housing loan pool fund to be administered by the Kentucky Housing Corporation to provide rehabilitation and construction loans to eligible entities; specify terms and process; amend KRS 198A.080 to modify criteria for housing development loan fund, require notice of eligible funds, and allow expenditure of funds for technical and administrative costs; create a new section of KRS Chapter 198A to establish parameters by which the Kentucky Housing Corporation shall review and approve the affordable housing credit; create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to establish the affordable housing credit; amend KRS 141.0205 to order the credit; amend KRS 131.190 to allow the Department of Revenue to report on the credits; appropriate $102,000,000 from the Budget Reserve Trust Fund account for various affordable housing initiatives; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 186.763 to prohibit a school district from operating a fully autonomous vehicle as a school bus or for transporting students; prohibit the operation of a fully autonomous vehicle if that vehicle requires an operator with a commercial driver's license; amend KRS 281.764 to conform.

Amend KRS 121.015 to define "campaign consultant"; create new sections of KRS Chapter 121 to establish the registration process for campaign consultants; set penalty for failure to register; require employers of campaign consultants to pay a registration fee.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 198B to permit less than 6 stories of Residential Group R-2 occupancy to be served by a single exit.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to provide taxpayers the option of having all or a portion of their individual income tax refund be contributed to the animal control and care fund created in KRS 258.119; establish requirements for administering the designation.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 11 to require the Governor to request permission from the State Treasurer to use tax dollars for international travel; prohibit the use of tax dollars for international travel by the Governor without approval.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 335B to prohibit using a professional title, term, or abbreviation or holding oneself out as licensed or certified to practice a profession without holding a valid license or certification; provide that a violation is a Class B misdemeanor.

Amend KRS 186.417 to require that felony offenders released from county jails and local correctional facilities be issued personal identification cards or operator's licenses under certain conditions.

Amend KRS 186.4102 and 281A.170 to require the Transportation Cabinet to place a denotation on every new or renewal identity document issued after January 1, 2027, that indicates the status of the document holder as a citizen of the United States or a noncitizen authorized to be in the United States; amend KRS 186.531 to conform.

Amend KRS 143A.030 to remove fluorspar from the severance tax exemption and make it taxable as a natural resource; amend KRS 143A.010 to add fluorspar to the definition of "natural resources."

Amend KRS 140.160, relating to the inheritance and estate taxes, to extend the deadline for filing a tax return from 18 months to 36 months for deaths on or after August 1, 2026; amend KRS 140.210 to correspondingly extend the due date for payment of tax and discount; amend KRS 140.222 to conform.

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.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 160 to establish a process for the creation of new independent school districts; define terms; establish a petition process for voters of a qualifying city to place the question of creating a new independent district and local board of education on the ballot; specify the requirements for the question and the board of education provisional election; establish the initial terms of office for the interim board of education; establish the transition of authorities from the originating district board of education to the boards of both the altered originating district and the new independent district; require the Kentucky Department of Education to calculate assets and liabilities of the originating district for division to the altered originating district and the new independent district; authorize the altered originating district to maintain control and use of assets until the scheduled transfer to the new independent district and authorize the continued payments of debts; establish a negotiation process between the altered originating district and the new independent district to resolve the division of the originating district's assets and liabilities; establish a deadline for the negotiation to conclude; provide a process for resolution of disagreements; establish a deadline for the transfer of all assets and debts; authorize the altered originating district to continue to assess and collect taxes for both districts until the close of the tax year in which the new independent district is fully operational; provide for the distribution of collected taxes during the transition period; require the mayor of the city to call the newly elected interim board of new independent district to meet; allow the interim board to request assistance from the Kentucky Department of Education; establish the transition process for the new independent district to become fully functional; allow the interim board to submit a waiver request for a statute or administrative regulation to the Kentucky Board of Education; authorize the interim board to enter into service contracts with another school district during the transition; establish a process for the interim board to vote to terminate the establishment of the new independent district due to financial nonviability during the transition; establish the transition from an interim board to a fully functional board of the new independent district; require the continued collection of taxes restricted to the payment of debt or interest; waive the requirement for school-based decision making for the first year of operations of the new independent district; require the interim board of the new independent district to develop a transition plan and establish the requirements of the plan; create a new section of KRS Chapter 157, relating to state formula funding calculations, to establish a projection model for the first year of full operations of the new independent district and the altered originating district.

Amend KRS 15.760 to allow Commonwealth's attorneys to employ as victim advocates individuals with a bachelor's degree in any field or a high school diploma and 2 years of experience; require victim advocates to enroll in training provided by the Attorney General's Office of Victims Advocacy within 30 days of hire; amend KRS 69.350 to allow county attorneys to employ as victim advocates individuals with a bachelor's degree in any field or a high school diploma and 2 years of experience; require victim advocates to enroll in training provided by the Attorney General's Office of Victims Advocacy within 30 days of hire.

Amend KRS 121.015 to define "expenditure"; amend KRS 121.150 to prohibit candidates, slates of candidates, committees, contributing organizations, or anyone on their behalf from making an expenditure to an intermediary, including subcontractors, for the purpose of making a payment to another person; require that expenditures be made directly to the provider of goods or personal services.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 278 to define terms and require a utility to submit a disconnection plan to the Public Service Commission that prohibits the utility from suspending residential service during extreme weather conditions; make the disconnection plan available on both the commission and the utility's website.

Amend KRS 243.042 to authorize a qualified historic site licensee to sell alcoholic beverages by the package in a jurisdiction that has authorized the sale of distilled spirits and wine by the package; amend KRS 243.238 to allow a qualified historic site license to be added to the list of approved licenses that are eligible for obtaining a special permit to sell limited barrel picks; amend KRS 243.110 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 15 to define terms; impose a duty on peace officers to intervene to prevent or stop another officer from using physical force that will cause unlawful serious physical injury, death, or deprivation of civil rights; impose a duty to provide or obtain emergency medical assistance; require reporting of intervention; provide administrative and legal protections; amend KRS 15.330 to require the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to prescribe minimum standards for use of force by officer, an officer's duty to intervene, and reporting of police officer misconduct; amend KRS 413.115 to require that an action for retaliatory personnel actions to be commenced within 3 years.

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.

Direct the Transportation Cabinet to designate a portion of Kentucky Route 18 in Boone County as the Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 6 to establish a children's health and welfare fiscal impact statement to evaluate the potential costs that would be incurred by the state or a local government by passing certain legislation; specify the requirements and components of the statement; require state agencies and local governments to respond to requests for information relating to the statements; require the Attorney General to certify, upon request, if a proposal constitutes a state mandate; authorize the director of the Legislative Research Commission to implement policies and procedures necessary to produce the statements.

Direct the Transportation Cabinet to designate a portion of United States Route 42 in Jefferson County as the Representative Bob DeWeese Memorial Highway.

Amend KRS 344.010 to define "protective hairstyle" and "race"; amend KRS 158.148 to provide that school disciplinary codes shall prohibit discrimination on the basis of race; provide that the Act may be cited as the C.R.O.W.N. Act.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 411 to define terms; establish limitations on the introduction of identification devices on or within the human body; create a new section of KRS Chapter 413 to establish a statute of limitations for an action filed for introduction of an identification device; amend KRS 508.152, relating to the unlawful use of tracking devices, to include the installation of a tracking device on the person or property of another without their consent and exempt parental tracking of minors from the prohibition.