Kentucky Bills

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 23, 2026

HB 645: AN ACT relating to the Kentucky Tax Tribunal.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 142 to establish the Kentucky Tax Tribunal within the executive branch to be the single form for all tax litigation; establish judges, forums, processes, and methods of appeal; amend various statutes to conform; repeal sections of KRS Chapter 49 which constituted the Board of Tax Appeals; amend various sections of KRS to conform; EFFECTIVE, in part, July 1, 2027, and in part, January 1, 2028.

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 23, 2026

HB 641: AN ACT relating to mental health chatbots.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 367 to protect consumers using mental health chatbots; define terms; establish prohibitions and exceptions for how suppliers are to handle individually identifiable health information; prohibit supplier from advertising a specific product or service unless that product or service is clearly and conspicuously disclosed; require supplier to clearly and conspicuously disclose that the mental health chatbot is artificial intelligence and provide when this disclosure should appear; provide an affirmative defense to liability and list requirements to achieve that defense; grant enforcement authority to the Attorney General; include severability provision; provide that the Act may be cited as the Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Act.

Topics ✓ Healthcare ✓ Technology

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 23, 2026

HB 646: AN ACT relating to the use of pharmaceuticals to intentionally terminate life.

Amend KRS 218A.100 to place an abortion-inducing drug in Schedule IV; amend KRS 218A.1413 to include an abortion-inducing drug in the offense of trafficking in a controlled substance in the second degree; amend KRS 218A.1415 to include an abortion-inducing drug in the offense of possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, except when in the possession of a pregnant woman for her own personal use; create a new section of KRS Chapter 218A to establish the offense of importing an abortion-inducing drug amend KRS 216.302 to include providing any drug, medication, or other substance as a means of assisting another person to commit or attempt to commit suicide; increase the penalty from a Class D felony to a Class B felony when the act is done knowingly by force or duress and from a Class C to a Class B felony when a person knowingly or intentionally provides the physical means or participates in a physical act by which another person commits or attempts suicide; create a new section of KRS 216.300 to 216.308 to establish the offense of medically assisted aid in dying as a Class B felony; amend KRS 216.308 to provide for the revocation of a license upon a criminal conviction or plea of guilty of assisted suicide or medically assisted aid in dying; create a new section of KRS Chapter 411 to provide a civil cause of action for any person who sustains damages resulting from receiving an abortion-inducing drug; create a new section of KRS Chapter 216B to require the distribution of specified information to any patient who a physician or other healthcare provider believes is experiencing a complication as a result of taking an abortion-inducing drug; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to make specified information available on its website.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice ✗ Healthcare

in committee · Kentucky · Senate Feb 23, 2026

SB 44: AN ACT relating to the Kentucky Fire Commission, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 95A.020 to increase the Kentucky Fire Commission to 18 members by transferring the 4 ex officio members to full member status and provide for terms of office of the non-appointive members; amend KRS 95A.262 to specify that the cancer screening reimbursements can be made from revenues allocated to the Firefighters Foundation Program fund pursuant to KRS 42.190 and 136.392; make an appropriation of $3,924,000 to the Kentucky Community and Technical College System for various projects for the commission; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 20, 2026

HB 630: AN ACT relating to failure to report a serious crime.

HB 630 creates a new Class A misdemeanor offense for individuals who witness a serious crime (like one causing serious injury or death) but fail to immediately report it to police under specific conditions. It directly affects ordinary citizens who observe such crimes, requiring them to report if a reasonable person would believe the crime hasn’t been reported and reporting wouldn’t endanger them. The law specifies that failure to report is only punishable if the person could have reported without risk and reasonably believed the crime hadn’t already been reported. This bill changes the legal consequences for non-reporting in these circumstances, making it a punishable offense.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 20, 2026

HB 632: AN ACT relating to online protections for minors.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 367 to define terms; require app store providers to verify user ages, obtain parental consent for minor accounts, notify users and parents of significant changes, share age and consent data with developers, and protect age verification data; prohibit app store providers from misrepresenting parental consent disclosures; require developers to verify age and consent status through app stores and notify app stores of significant changes; prohibit developers from misrepresenting parental consent disclosures; require the Office of Consumer Protection within the Attorney General's Office to establish standards for age verification methods; provide that a violation of the Act is a deceptive act or practice in the conduct of trade or commerce; provide that a parent or guardian has a private right of action for violations, provide a safe harbor for compliant developers; require the Office of Consumer Protection to promulgate administrative regulations in contemplation of the Act in accordance with KRS 13A.200; EFFECTIVE, in part, December 1, 2026.

Topics ✓ Technology

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 20, 2026

HB 636: AN ACT relating to civil immunity for animal rescue.

HB 636 provides legal protection for people who enter vehicles to rescue domestic animals in immediate danger, shielding them from lawsuits over vehicle damage. It applies directly to individuals who reasonably believe an animal is at risk of injury, contact emergency services first, use only necessary force, and either stay with the animal until help arrives or leave detailed written notice on the vehicle. The law specifies four key conditions for immunity, including contacting authorities before entry and providing contact details and location if leaving the scene. This bill does not affect other existing legal protections or defenses under Kentucky law.

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 20, 2026

HB 553: AN ACT relating to gender transition services.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 311 to define terms; prohibit health care providers from accepting payment or reimbursement for gender transition services from a state or local government or Medicare; prohibit use of state or local government funds for the provision or subsidy of gender transition services; require licensing or certifying agencies to revoke a health care provider's license for a violation; direct that intentional violation by a public servant shall be a violation of KRS 522.030; amend KRS 15.241 to authorize the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief and penalties for a violation of gender transition services prohibitions; amend KRS 156.496 to prohibit family resource or youth services centers from providing or making referrals for gender transition services; amend KRS 39A.180 to prohibit suspension of gender transition services laws during an emergency; create new sections of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304, and KRS 205.6481 to 205.6495, and amend KRS 205.5365, 18A.225, 164.2871, and 304.17C-125, to prohibit publicly funded health plans, Medicaid, the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program (KCHIP), publicly funded limited health service benefit plans, the state employee health plan, and state postsecondary education institution self-insured health plans from providing payment or coverage for gender transition services; amend KRS 605.110 to direct that gender transition services are not authorized for a child committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice; state findings of the General Assembly relating to the purpose of the Act; apply certain provisions to health plans issued or renewed on or after the effective date of Act.

Topics ✗ Healthcare

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 20, 2026

HB 639: AN ACT relating to poultry.

Create a new section of KRS 217.005 to 217.215 to define "end consumer"; allow certain USDA-exempted poultry processors to sell to end consumers on a farm, at a farmers market, or at a roadside stand.

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 20, 2026

HB 633: AN ACT relating to data privacy.

Amend KRS 367.3611 to define "actual knowledge," "algorithmic feed," "algorithmic recommendation system," "covered design feature," "covered minor," "covered online service," "dark pattern," "knows to be a child," "knows to be a minor," "minor," "online service," "parent," "personalized recommendation system," "publicly available information," and "user"; create a new section of KRS 367.3611 to 367.3629, the Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act, to require a covered online service to configure all default privacy settings provided to a covered minor through its online service, product, or feature to the highest level of privacy; provide a covered minor and his or her parents with certain default settings and tools to protect the minor from profiling, targeted advertising for prohibited products, or the use of dark patterns to impair a covered minor's choice; prohibit the use of notifications and push alerts to a covered minor between certain days and times; amend KRS 367.3613 to conform; provide that Section 2 of the Act may be cited as the Kentucky Kid's Code.

Topics ✓ Technology

in committee · Kentucky · Senate Feb 20, 2026

SB 217: AN ACT relating to dentistry, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 164.936 to establish maximum loan repayment awards under the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program for dentists and dentists in counties that do not have an actively practicing dentist; provide rural dental practice grant awards and criteria; establish distribution requirements for funds appropriated to the Center of Excellence in Rural Health for loan repayment awards for dentists and rural dental practice grants; amend KRS 164.937 to require information on the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program to be reported to the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Legislative Research Commission; amend KRS 313.035 to require the Kentucky Board of Dentistry to create a Rural Dental Fellows Network; require the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates by 25% for dental services in federally designated health professional shortage areas; appropriate $4,400,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Center of Excellence in Rural Health budget unit; appropriate $600,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Kentucky Board of Dentistry; appropriate $1,000,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Department for Medicaid Services; provide that the Act may be cited as the Rural Dental Incentive and Access Program Act; specify that the expanded award eligibility, required reporting on the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program, and the Rural Dental Fellows Network shall expire on July 1, 2036; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · Kentucky · House Feb 20, 2026

HB 631: AN ACT relating to school district calendars and declaring an emergency.

Provide 10 additional disaster relief student attendance days to provide instruction using alternate settings; allow local school districts to make up days missed by adding instructional time to student attendance days; require local boards of education seeking to revise its calendar to submit a plan for approval to the Department of Education; allow instructional time made up to count as employee contracted days; EMERGENCY.

Topics ✓ Education

Bill results