Education (Higher Education)

This resolution confirms the reappointment of Wilton Currie Milliken to the Western Kentucky University Board of Regents for a term ending on June 30, 2031. The measure follows the Governor's initial appointment and verifies that Milliken meets the legal requirements for serving on the board. By passing this resolution, the Senate formally approves his continued service to the university's governing body.

Honor Dr. Joel Barrow as the first Indigenous American to become a college-educated medical doctor in the country and the Choctaw Academy as the first federal Native American boarding school and the school that empowered him to do so.

Authorize Kentucky State University to submit a proposal for a new Doctor of Philosophy in Aquaculture and Aquatic Science program; direct the Council on Postsecondary Education to review and approve a proposal for that program that includes a certification that the program will not require additional general fund appropriations

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.

Amend KRS 164.5161 to define "spouse"; rename the National Guard Tuition Award Program the National Guard Tuition Scholarship Program; allow current National Guard members and their spouses up to 130 total credit hours at a postsecondary institution; allow the total number of credit hours to be transferrable between the member and his or her spouse; grant authority to the adjutant general to award up to 45 additional nontransferable credit hours within the program; amend KRS 164.5165 and 164.5169 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms, require postsecondary education institutions to designate at least 1 employee to serve as a liaison between the institution and a homeless student or student in care who is enrolled at the institution; detail responsibilities of the liaison, the Council on Postsecondary Education, and the institution; require an institution to create a position to carry out the responsibilities of a liaison if the number of students experiencing homelessness or students in care exceeds 2% of the student body; require the Council on Postsecondary Education to submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission on students experiencing homelessness, students in care, and the impact of liaisons.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 197 to establish the Kentucky Community and Technical College System Prison Education Program within the Department of Corrections in partnership with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to provide inmates with job training; require KCTCS to construct a facility to house the program at Northpoint Training Center; establish convictions that preclude participation in the program; require the parties to enter into a memorandum of agreement establishing the responsibilities of each party; amend KRS 196.281 to establish entitlement to a certificate of employability upon successful completion of the program and require reporting by the department; amend KRS 335B.020 to establish that a person shall not be disqualified from public employment or obtaining an occupational license solely because of previous criminal conviction and obtaining a certificate of employment from the department shall constitute rebuttable evidence of rehabilitation and fitness for the occupation; amend KRS 355B.030 to remove a conviction of a Class A felony, Class B felony, or any other felony offense other than a conviction that would qualify the individual as a registrant as defined in KRS 17.500 as supportive of a rebuttable presumption of a connection between that conviction and a license issuance request.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 159 to require a local school district to enroll a student on a part-time basis for courses or programs in a school, subject to standard enrollment policies and procedures; permit part-time enrollment in a local school district to partially satisfy compulsory attendance; prohibit part-time enrollee participation in interscholastic athletics; amend KRS 158.120 to specify that a nonresident pupil policy shall not discriminate on certain factors; prohibit a local school district from charging tuition to a parent or guardian; require school districts to determine and publish nonresident enrollment capacity; require the Kentucky Board of Education to create nonresident pupil enrollment application forms and specify the application process; require reporting by school districts and the Kentucky Department of Education on nonresident enrollment; create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; create a formula for distribution of any state appropriated funds to eligible school districts for nonresident students; amend KRS 156.070 and KRS 157.350 to conform; require each school district to report on nonresident pupils and tuition charged during the 2026-2027 school year; require the Kentucky Department of Education to submit a compiled report to the Legislative Research Commission; EFFECTIVE, in part, July 1, 2028.

Amend KRS 164.515 to allow the spouse or a child under the age of 26 of a disabled veteran free tuition at public universities, colleges, or vocational traiing institutions for up to 128 credit hours of undergraduate instruction.

Amend KRS 164.020 to require the Council on Postsecondary Education to consider individuals born in Kentucky as Kentucky residents when determining residency for tuition and admission purposes in the state postsecondary education system; provide that the Act may be cited as the Welcome Back to My Old Kentucky Home Initiative.