HB 459 Kentucky House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT relating to licensed occupations.

Summary
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 335B to require the licensing authorities of healthcare occupations to collect workforce participation data during the annual, biennial, or triennial licensure renewal process; prohibit the collection of a licensee's Social Security number; allow licensees to decline to allow the sharing of his or her data; require licensing authorities to report collected data to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services; create a new section of KRS 335.300 to 335.399 to authorize the board to grant licensure to an applicant who holds an active license from another state to practice as an independent marriage and family therapist; create a new section of KRS Chapter 335.300 to 335.399 to require the board to notify an applicant of any technical error in any licensure, permit, renewal, or reinstatement application within 1 week of its discovery; provide the applicant 2 weeks to correct the error; require the board to review the correction within 1 week of the submitted correction; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2028.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 21, 2026 Signed Apr 10, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Current/Final · 5 edits
MODERATE
The bill was renumbered from a House Bill (HB) to a Senate Bill (SB) and updated with new filing dates. The core policy changes involve reorganizing the data collection requirements for licensed professionals, shifting the order of information requested on applications to prioritize contact details and license specifics before workforce participation details. Additionally, the bill clarifies the process for handling technical errors in applications and sets a specific effective date of January 1, 2028, for the new data collection mandates.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on professional licensure and workforce data collection, but the applicability of the data fields has been reordered to improve clarity and structure for applicants.
REQUIREMENT

The order of required information on professional license applications was reorganized to list contact details and license specifics before workforce participation data.

The list of workforce participation statuses was condensed and renumbered, removing specific categories like 'unemployed but not seeking work' to streamline the reporting format.

A new provision was added to establish a strict timeline for correcting technical errors in license applications, requiring the board to notify applicants within one week and issue licenses within two weeks of completion.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new data collection requirements was explicitly set to January 1, 2028.

TECHNICAL

The bill was renumbered from HB 459 to SB 459, and header information was updated to reflect the new Senate filing date.

Floor votes · House Feb 13, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
23
Key actions
10
Committee
9
Apr 10, 2026
Signed into law
signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 79)
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Upper · Passed
enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
upper
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
passed 96-0
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
House concurred in Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
posted for passage for concurrence in Senate Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 19, 2026
Committee
to Rules (H)
lower
Mar 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 36-0 with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Committee
to Licensing & Occupations (S)
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (S)
upper
Feb 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 90-0
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Committee
to Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations (H)
lower
Jan 21, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (H)
lower
Jan 21, 2026
Introduced
introduced in House
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.