Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define "organization" as a federally recognized patriotic civic service organization that consists of or serves youths; permit an organization to request and require superintendents to provide an opportunity to provide information to students on school property during a school day.
HB 644 exempts group health insurance premiums from local government license fees or taxes in Kentucky. This directly affects insurance companies selling group health plans to employers, removing a tax obligation they previously faced on these premiums. The bill amends state law to explicitly exclude group health insurance premiums from local tax calculations under KRS 91A.080, streamlining the process for insurers and potentially lowering costs for businesses offering group health coverage.
Amend KRS 337.010 to remove specified individuals from the definition of "employee" and to define "worker with a disability"; amend KRS 337.275 to require all employers to pay all employees, including workers with a disability, a minimum wage and increase the state minimum wage over the next three years to no less than 100 percent of the municipality, county, or state minimum wage or the prevailing wage as defined in 29 C.F.R. sec. 1.2; amend KRS 337.295 to remove learners, apprentices, workers with a disability, sheltered workshop employees, and students from regulations issued by the commissioner for the Department of Workplace Standards; amend KRS 205.5605 to exclude referrals to sheltered workshop employment from the definition of "covered services and supports" as of July 1, 2028; amend KRS 154.22-040 to conform; provide that the Act may be cited as the Employees with Disabilities Equal Pay Act.
HB 636 amends Kentucky law to replace gendered terms ("his or her") with gender-neutral language in a provision about a teacher computer purchase program. The bill directly affects certified teachers in Kentucky by updating the statutory language governing a program where the Kentucky Board of Education would help teachers buy computers through bulk purchasing and vendor training. Its key mechanism is modifying the existing law (KRS 156.690) to use inclusive language, without changing the program's core structure or eligibility. This is a technical update to the statute, not a substantive policy change to the program itself.
HB 656 adds "weight" as a protected characteristic under Kentucky's employment discrimination law, prohibiting employers from discriminating against job applicants or employees based on body size in hiring, firing, compensation, or workplace conditions. It updates existing law to include weight alongside categories like race, sex, and disability, while clarifying that employers must provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related needs (e.g., breastfeeding breaks) without requiring unpaid leave. The bill also requires employers to provide written notices about these protections to new hires and post them visibly, and specifies that health plan differences based on smoking status remain legal. This directly affects all Kentucky employers and employees covered by state anti-discrimination laws.
HB 615 amends Kentucky law to clarify that revenue streams from bonds issued to finance utility projects (securitized property) are legally protected. It ensures these rights exist regardless of whether payments have been collected, last until bonds are fully paid, and can be transferred to utility affiliates without regulatory approval. This primarily affects electric utilities and bondholders, guaranteeing they can collect payments even if the utility faces financial trouble or bankruptcy. The bill provides legal certainty for financing infrastructure projects by protecting bondholder claims against utility insolvency.
Amend KRS 278.160 to prohibit the collection of charges and fees for other governmental units by an investor-owned electric utility; prohibit the collection of certain surcharges and amounts that are not directly and exclusively related to the provision of electric service; require investor owned utilities to file new tariffs 90 days after December 30, 2025; EFFECTIVE December 30, 2025.
Amend KRS 403.270, 403.280, 403.315, and 403.340 to remove the presumption in favor of joint custody and equal parenting time; amend KRS 403.320 to conform.
HB 678 updates Kentucky's criminal liability law to use gender-neutral language. It amends KRS 502.060 to replace phrases like "he or she" with gender-neutral terms when describing corporate criminal liability. This change directly affects corporations and their representatives by clarifying that criminal responsibility for corporate actions applies equally regardless of gender. The bill modifies the statute's wording without altering existing legal standards or penalties. The change aims to modernize legal language while maintaining the current scope of corporate accountability.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 75 to define "premises"; allow a fire protection district or subdistrict, or a volunteer fire department district, to assess a fee against a premises for the costs of maintaining necessary fire protection measures; establish billing and appeals process; set reporting requirements; create a new section of KRS Chapter 75A to define "premises"; allow a consolidated emergency services district board to assess a fee against a premises for the costs of maintaining necessary fire protection measures; establish billing and appeals process; set reporting requirements; create a new section of KRS Chapter 244 to define terms; establish a process for distilled spirits aging facilities to reimburse nearby property owners for cleaning expenses relating to whiskey fungus; require the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the program; include any affected property within a three mile radius of aging facilities; determine cleaning expenses based on costs incurred by the property owner and verify through an independent entity; direct the department to determine the cleaning expenses in the absence of an agreement; impose fines on distilled spirits licensees who disregard the reimbursement process; pay all cleaning expense reimbursements from moneys in the distilled spirits environmental fund; create a new section of KRS Chapter 138 to define terms; require distilled spirits barrel aging facilities to pay to the Department of Revenue a $0.25 environmental fee on each barrel stored on January 1 of each year; apply all provisions of KRS Chapter 131 to the fee; create a new section of KRS Chapter 244 to establish the distilled spirits environmental fund; authorize the fund to consist of moneys received from the barrel environmental fee and cleaning expense fines; direct the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to administer the fund; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2026.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 335B to create the offense of holding oneself out to be a member of a licensed or certified profession and set a penalty.
HB 617 is a technical correction bill that updates Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 312.165 regarding chiropractic licensing. It clarifies the process for reinstating a chiropractor's license after refusal or revocation by explicitly stating the board must confer "all rights and privileges of the practice of chiropractic" upon reinstatement. The bill does not create new rules or affect other licensed occupations - only refining existing language for chiropractors. It is currently in the early stages of review (referred to the Licensing Committee) and has no substantive policy impact beyond improving legal clarity.
