Education

Amend KRS 156.160 to require the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations for an alternate high school diploma and a modified high school diploma; specify requirements for alternate and modified high school diplomas; create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to require the Department of Workforce Development to identify, compile, and publish a list of employers willing to employ individuals possessing an alternate high school diploma; amend KRS 158.140, 164.787, and 164.7882 to conform.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 322 to establish and grant scholarships through the Kentucky professional engineer and professional land surveyor incentive scholarship fund; declare legislative intent to address engineer and land surveyor development and needs by providing Kentucky residents with postsecondary scholarships; establish the Kentucky professional engineer and professional land surveyor incentive scholarship fund as a trust and agency accounts direct the engineer and land surveyor board to administer the fund and award scholarships to qualified applicants; require a written contract between the board and the recipient where the recipient agrees to obtain engineer or land surveyor licensure within 6 years of graduation and practice in Kentucky for at least 1 year for each year of scholarships granted; acquire moneys for the fund through penalties and fines, assessments from license renewals, and the board's budgeted funds; make the applicant's failure to complete the terms of the contract subject to recovery of the fund assistance, attorney's fees, and 8% annual interest; require the board to annually report its scholarship data to the Legislative Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations.

Amend KRS 164.786 to define "eligible high school apprentice" and "eligible registered teacher apprenticeship program"; include eligible registered teacher apprenticeship programs in the dual credit scholarship program; establish student and school district eligibility and participation requirements in the eligible registered teacher apprenticeship scholarship program.

Amend KRS 157.350 to provide that in order to be eligible to receive support education excellence in Kentucky funds a school district shall not provide the superintendent or any administrator a percentage pay increase greater than the average percentage pay increase provided to classroom teachers within the district; amend KRS 156.070 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 14 to elect for the Commonwealth to participate in the qualified elementary and secondary education scholarship federal tax credit; designate the Secretary of State as the sole official authorized to report the state's election and submit the required list to the United States Secretary of the Treasury; require the Secretary of State to publish associated administrative regulations and other guidance on a website; authorize the Secretary of State to promulgate administrative regulations to carry out the program; authorize the Secretary of State to collect a fee and accept private contributions to pay for necessary costs and establish requirements for the administration of the funds; waive Eleventh Amendment immunity for the section; amend KRS 141.019 to exclude qualified contributions made to scholarship granting organizations from allowed individual income tax dedications.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 199 to define terms; create the Kentucky Kindergarten Readiness Performance-Based Child-Care Incentive Pilot Program; require the University of Kentucky to operate the pilot program; establish the purpose and directives of the pilot program; establish completion date and reporting requirements.

SB 6 appropriates $150 million from Kentucky's General Fund for the state's endowed research fund during the 2026-2027 budget year. The funds must be evenly distributed across five university research consortium accounts established under Kentucky law, with unspent money carried forward to future years to avoid lapsing. This bill directly supports Kentucky's public universities and their research initiatives by providing dedicated, long-term funding. The legislation declares an emergency to allow immediate implementation upon passage, emphasizing its focus on advancing research and economic opportunities.

Amend KRS 132.017, relating to the process for a recall of a local ad valorem tax rate, to define "school nickel tax rate"; require a petition process for recalling the levy of a school nickel tax rate; remove other taxes levied by local governmental entities from the petition process requirements; require an ad valorem tax levied by a local governmental entity and a general tax rate levied by a local board of education to be voted upon by the voters if the tax rate produces more than 4% in revenues over the revenues produced by the compensating tax rate; require the suspension of the ordinance, order, resolution, or motion levying the tax rate until after the required election; allow a local governmental entity or a local board of education to cancel a required recall election by reconsidering the levy and instead levying a tax rate that produces no more than 4% in revenues over the revenues produced by the compensating tax rate; specify ballot and public notification requirements for the election; provide that if a tax rate is recalled, the compensating tax rate shall be levied; amend KRS 68.245, 75A.050, 132.018, 132.023, 132.027, and 160.470 to conform; make technical changes; EFFECTIVE January 1, 2027.

SB 71 requires all Kentucky local school board members to complete six hours of financial training every two years. This applies to every member serving on school boards across the state, replacing the previous annual training system. The bill specifies that the training must cover financial management topics, with no other detailed content provided in the text. It directly affects school board members' professional development requirements, focusing on financial oversight responsibilities. The change is a concrete policy update to existing training rules under KRS 160.180.

Amend KRS 61.315 to define "rescue squad personnel"; expand eligibility for in the line of duty death benefits to rescue squad personnel; require the Division of Emergency Management to promulgate administrative regulations establishing necessary criteria and procedures; amend KRS 164.2841 to define "rescue squad personnel"; expand eligibility for tuition and fee exemption to dependents of rescue squad personnel who died in the line of duty; amend KRS 342.316 to conform.