Budget & Taxes

Amend KRS 96A.096 to include voluntary contributions by a Kentucky employer up to 0.05% of the Kentucky employer's total payroll in the Kentucky public transportation development fund; require the fund to be administered by the Transportation Cabinet; require the moneys received from the voluntary contributions to be used for providing public transit for workforce mobility needs; specify how the moneys in the fund for public transit are distributed; require annual reporting to the Transportation Cabinet from each public transit system that receives money from the fund; require annual reporting from the Transportation Cabinet to the Legislative Research Commission; create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to define "public transportation contribution," "Kentucky public transportation development fund," and "transit authority"; establish the public transportation contribution credit for taxes imposed in KRS 141.020 or 141.040 and 141.0401 for public transportation contributions provided by a Kentucky employer; limit the credit to 50% of the total amount of the public transportation contribution made for the taxable year by the employer; require annual reporting by the Department of Revenue on the credits claimed; amend KRS 141.0205 to order the credits; amend KRS 131.190 to allow the Department of Revenue to report on the credit; appropriate $30 million in general fund moneys in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 biennium to the Kentucky public transportation development fund; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 15A to create the juvenile services fund within the Department of Juvenile Justice; appropriate money to the fund; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 141.383 and 154.61-020 to allow that any unallocated portion of the $75 million credit cap be carried forward for utilization in subsequent calendar years for high-impact motion pictures or entertainment productions; amend KRS 154.12-280 to require the Kentucky Film Office to review applications, notify applicants of additional information needed, and forward applications to the Cabinet for Economic Development and the Kentucky Film Leadership Council; amend KRS 154.12-282 to update functions and purposes of the Kentucky Film Leadership Council; amend KRS 154.61-010 to define terms and revise definitions; provide that a motion picture or entertainment production eligible for credit includes a video game, music video, or commercial; amend KRS 154.61-020 to increase the minimum amount of qualifying expenditures and qualifying payroll expenditures that must be expended by an approved company to qualify for tax incentives; require, in addition to current reports, the submission of a certified audit by an approved company within 180 days of completion of production.

Appropriate General Fund moneys from the budget reserve trust fund account in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to various state agencies for miscellaneous projects and programs; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

This bill establishes Kentucky's official 2026-2028 Biennial Highway Construction Plan, authorizing specific road projects across the state. It grants the Transportation Cabinet authority to spend funds on these projects with flexibility for bid variations or unexpected circumstances. The bill also requires the Transportation Secretary to create a single document detailing both the 2026-2028 construction program and the 2028-2032 preconstruction program. An emergency declaration ensures the bill takes effect immediately upon becoming law, allowing the state to proceed with planned road improvements without delay.

Amend KRS 157.615 to define "traditional school building"; amend KRS 157.621 to authorize a school district to levy a $.05 equivalent rate for school districts that meet specific district facilities requirements and other requirements; authorize the school district to levy an additional $.05 equivalent rate if the local board of education determines the first levy is insufficient to achieve facility goals; establishes a termination date for the levies of 25 years; provide equalization of the levy; establish conditions for receiving equalization of the levy; extend equalization of eqeualization funding for critical construction needs levy; amend KRS 160.290 to require a school district to consolidate or modify the attendance zones of a traditional school building with do not meet certain average daily attendance requirements; appropriate $3,500,000 in each year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium for the equalization of established levies; effective July 1, 2026; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 132.096 relating to the exemption from state and local property taxes for farm implements and farm machinery, to remove ownership and use requirements; make technical changes.

Create a new section of Subchapter 20 of KRS Chapter 154 to establish the rural building and job creation revolving fund; specify uses of the fund to assist with compliance risk mitigation for the New Markets Tax Credits Program, or to issue low-interest loans to assist with construction of new buildings or renovations of existing buildings for lease to target wage economic development projects; require the Cabinet for Economic Development to report on the fund; create a new section of Subchapter 12 of KRS Chapter 154 to require the cabinet to work with the workforce liaison appointed by the president of the Kentucky Career and Technical College System to promote jobs created in the Commonwealth as a result of incentive programs; require the cabinet to conduct a feasibility and impact study on interstate reciprocity between state economic development programming; amend the general fund appropriation authorized in 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 199, Part I, B, 1.,(12) to not lapse and carry forward; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to establish the Kentucky Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program fund; require the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority to administer the fund; require the authority to disburse funds for student loan repayment to recruit and retain eligible public service employees that live and work in Kentucky; specify terms and process; establish criteria for the program and applicant evaluation for awards; appropriate $30,000,000 from the budget reserve trust fund account for initial implementation of the student loan forgiveness program; appropriate $30,000,000 from the general fund for support of the student loan forgiveness program; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY, EFFECTIVE July 1, 2026.

Amend KRS 91A.400 to authorize all home rule class cities to levy a restaurant tax; remove the Department for Local Government registration mandate; and remove the restriction on the use of the funds; amend KRS 67.938 to conform.