The Kentucky General Assembly passed and sent nearly 120 bills and joint resolutions to Gov. Andy Beshear last week for his signature or veto, with the majority of those happening on Friday — the final legislative day before the governor’s veto period began.
The bills sent to the governor by then are generally regarded as “veto proof,” as the Republican supermajority could override any potential veto with a majority vote of each chamber when they return to Frankfort for the final two days of the 2025 session on March 27 and 28.
Several major pieces of legislation slid into final passage on the Friday deadline to become veto proof, including a few in the final two hours before midnight to restrict hormone therapy for transgender Kentuckians on Medicaid or incarcerated, and create a work requirement to be eligible for Medicaid.
Several other major pieces of legislation fell short of the veto-proof deadline, which can still pass on the final two days of the session, but would be unable to survive a potential veto. These include a GOP priority bill to alter the SEEK funding formula for public K-12 schools, as well as bills to allow 18 year olds to carry concealed firearms, mostly ban state employees from teleworking and weaken local government regulations on short-term rentals and cigar bars.
Here is a rundown of legislation that beat the deadline, and those that fell short and have an uncertain future.
Here’s what received final passage Friday
Tax cut triggers
House Bill 775 emerged last week with late amendments that make it easier for the state to hit annual budget triggers to lower the individual income tax rate.
A landmark GOP law passed in 2022 created the trigger system, allowing the rate to be cut by half a percentage point if the budget reserve trust fund, revenue and spending reached a certain level each year. Kentucky hit the triggers last summer and the first act of the legislature this session was to cut the rate, estimated to lower revenue by $718 million in 2026.
The new bill would allow the legislature to lower the tax rate even if the budget surplus fell short of the trigger, and the cut would be less than half a percentage point.
Banning transgender hormone therapy for Medicaid patients, incarcerated people
Kentucky’s Republican supermajority dedicated the final hours of the Friday House floor debate to pushing through two bills to eliminate the use of public funds on gender-affirming transgender medical care. Senate Bill 2 would end hormone treatments for 67 transgender people in custody of Kentucky prisons. House Bill 495 would undo Beshear’s executive order to limit conversion therapy and, thanks to a late addition in the Senate, ban Medicaid from paying for gender-affirming transgender treatment and procedures.
Both pieces of legislation gained final passage on nearly straight party lines late Friday, just ahead of the veto period. They also ban gender-affirming surgical procedures for both populations, although there is no evidence that people are receiving such surgeries in either state prisons or via Medicaid.
Medicaid work requirement
A last-minute substitute of House Bill 695 creates the Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board and requires the state Medicaid program to provide demographic data on usage to the General Assembly. The final version also includes a notable change to an existing “community engagement program.” A program that encourages people on Medicaid to gain employment turned into one that enforces work requirements for able-bodied adults.
Now dubbed the “mandatory community engagement waiver program,” able-bodied Kentuckians who don’t have dependents will have to demonstrate they are either working, in job training or school, or engaged in community service in order to remain on Medicaid.
Center for Rural Development stripped of funding
Among the many different provisions stuffed into Senate Bill 25 last week — including expanding the powers of the state auditor’s office — was the stripping of $8.5 million of funding from the Center for Rural Development for a workforce training facility in Somerset.
The funding was redirected to a regional development district over concerns that the nonprofit nearly used the state funding to purchase land at a significantly inflated cost, which it abandoned shortly after reporting by Kentucky Public Radio.
Most of the funding has already been delivered to the Center for Rural Development, but Sen. Chris McDaniel, the GOP Senate budget committee chairman from Ryland Heights, indicated they will attempt to claw back the funds.
Cell phones banned in schools
House Bill 208 requires that school boards adopt a policy prohibiting students from using cell phones during instructional time, unless a teacher allows it or in an emergency.
The bill also requires schools to make sure social media is not available on school technology or the internet. It passed unanimously in both chambers. GOP Sen. Stephen West of Paris described it as “one of the most important” education bills of the session.
Lawsuits over gold bar sales taxes
House Bill 2 relates to a dispute between the legislature and governor over legislation passed last year to exempt the sale of bullion — such as gold bars and silver — from the sales and use taxes. The governor line-item vetoed that provision of the bill, but the legislature did not override it, saying the governor cannot issue such a veto for revenue bills and they did not have to do so.
With the Beshear administration indicating it will still collect the tax, HB 2 gives Kentuckians a legal avenue to sue the state and recover any sales taxes that were collected on gold bars and seek additional compensation.
Lower burden to deny police records
House Bill 520 makes what appears to be a minor change in the state’s open record laws, but open government advocates argue it will make it easier for police to deny access to investigative records. Previously, police had to prove that releasing records on open investigations “would harm” the agency or the investigation. Now, the barrier has been lowered to proving the release “could pose an articulable risk of harm.”
A previous version of the bill would have given police departments even more cover to deny records, but the version passed by the Senate and agreed to in the House was something of a middle ground.
Even so, several Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in voting against the bill, saying they didn’t want to weaken the public’s ability to look into police activity on open investigations that can stretch for years.
Barriers to multifamily housing
Senate Bill 129 was initially a bipartisan bill, sponsored by three Louisville lawmakers. It creates a way for Louisville quasi-governmental organizations and nonprofits to buy vacant or abandoned property and get delinquent property taxes waived.
But a House committee substitute led several Senate Democrats to vote against the bill when it returned to the chamber, thanks to several additions that would make it more difficult to build multi-family homes in lots zoned for single-family units specifically in Louisville. The amended bill would also put limits on how property owners can lease out their property in an area zoned for single-family homes, for example, by blocking a landlord from chopping up a single-family home into multiple units or renting out a carriage house unless they live on the property themselves.
Here’s what fell short of final passage before veto period
Changes to K-12 school funding formula
In its original form, Senate Bill 6 made what GOP sponsor Sen. David Givens of Greensburg calls a “transparency” change to the SEEK formula, which dictates how state funding is distributed across Kentucky school districts. It would require “fringe benefit costs” be included in the per-pupil totals of school funding. That would include the amount spent to pay down the unfunded teacher pension liabilities, teacher health insurance costs and more. It wouldn’t actually change funding levels.
Changes made in a House committee substitute late last week could have impacts on funding, however. Under the amended bill, funding for English language learning services would be limited to four years per child and base funding allocations for students in virtual programs would be halved. The bill passed the Senate, but hasn’t gotten a House vote. It has enough constitutionally required readings to potentially pass in the final days of the session.
Concealed carry of weapons for 18 year olds
Senate Bill 75 would have allowed 18 year olds to carry concealed firearms, dropping the legal age from 21 years old. Older teens are already allowed to buy and carry guns, but they must do so openly unless they are military personnel. The bill had several powerful sponsors, including four members of Senate GOP leadership.
But a few Republicans joined Democrats in expressing concern over the legislation, questioning the lack of training requirements for carrying a concealed weapon. After passing the Senate, the bill did not get a committee hearing in the House. However, it did receive two of the three constitutionally required readings, meaning it could still pass within the final two days of the session after the veto period.
Restrictions on local government short-term rental regulations
Senate Bill 61 was originally a non-controversial bill about the rental of private pools when it cleared that chamber unanimously, but GOP House Speaker David Osborne attached a floor amendment to it on Friday that would restrict how local governments can regulate short term rentals, like AirBNB.
Under the bill, local governments could not restrict short term rentals based on the density of other similar property in the neighborhood, nor could they regulate the use of short term rentals that operate as such for less than 30 days per year.
With the floor amendment, SB 61 was passed through the House by a relatively narrow 59-28 vote, but was not taken up by the Senate later that night. The Senate would have to concur with the changes in order to be sent to the governor.
Near-total ban on telework for state employees
Initially a clean-up bill, Senate Bill 79 picked some controversial language on the Senate floor late last month. The floor amendment would have largely stripped the ability of many state employees to work from home, with some limited exceptions like allowing certain employees two remote days per month. It defined telework broadly, and some lawmakers said they were concerned it would hurt workers in rural areas or parents.
A few Republicans voted against the bill in the Senate thanks to the addition. The bill never received a reading or committee assignment in the House, so the measure cannot pass — unless its language is inserted into another bill.
Religious liberty lawsuits
Kentuckians who feel they’ve been compelled to act in contradiction to their religious beliefs would have been able sue governments and public officials under Senate Bill 60. LGBTQ+ advocates feared the legislation could be used to undermine anti-discrimination laws in the state. After passing the Senate, the bill did not receive a reading or committee assignment in the House.
Cigar bars
House Bill 211 would allow indoor smoking at narrowly-defined “cigar bars,” overriding any local ordinances that might specify the contrary. A few cigar bars currently exist in some parts of the state, although they are not allowed under Louisville ordinances.
The bill defines a “cigar bar” as a place with a retail liquor license that makes at least 15% of its profits from cigar and pipe tobacco products. The cigar bars must also be limited to those 21 years and older and permit only cigar or pipe tobacco smoking inside. The bill already passed the House and received a Senate hearing; it could pass in the final days of the session.
Antisemitism policies at public universities
Senate Joint Resolution 55, which would have required Kentucky public colleges and universities to create a policy around antisemitism, has yet to cross the legislative finish line. Universities would be instructed to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. Any student groups found to be “providing material support or resources” to a U.S. designated terrorist organization would be disbanded and reported to the police, under the bill. This is already a federal crime.
The resolution, which would carry the weight of law, has passed the Senate, and has received the needed number of readings to pass on the House floor in the final days of the session.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
