HB 190 Kentucky House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT relating to licensed child-care centers and declaring an emergency.

HB 190 establishes minimum square footage requirements for licensed child-care centers in Kentucky, directly affecting all centers operating under state licensing. The bill requires centers to meet specific space standards per the cabinet's administrative regulations, while also mandating staff training (6 hours initial orientation and 6 hours annual training on safety, abuse reporting, and child development) and unannounced inspections. Centers facing violations must correct issues within 5 days for immediate threats or negotiated timeframes, with civil penalties considering the severity of risks and past violations. The bill also outlines processes for dispute resolution, license appeals, and public disclosure of inspection findings (excluding family information).
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 7, 2026 Last action Feb 26, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Current/Final · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to include an emergency declaration and updated the bill's reference number. Substantively, the text of the law regarding child-care licensing, fees, and enforcement remains unchanged, with only minor formatting adjustments to line numbers and page headers.
TECHNICAL

Added a clause declaring an emergency to the act, which allows the governor to sign the bill immediately without waiting for the standard legislative session timeline.

Updated the bill's official citation from '26 RS BR 109' to '26 RS HB 190/GA' to reflect its current status and correct reference number.

Adjusted line numbers and page headers to match the new version of the document.

Floor votes · House Feb 25, 2026

How they voted

1010
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 105
Feb 25, 2026
D Democratic21
20 Yea 1
95% Yea
R Republican84
81 Yea 3
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
9
Key actions
2
Committee
4
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (S)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 96-0 with Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title)
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title)
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Committee
to Families & Children (H)
lower
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (H)
lower
Jan 7, 2026
Introduced
introduced in House
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.