Rep. David Hale

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 139 to create a violation when an official notice published by the secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet or the commissioner of the Department of Revenue improperly instructs that taxpayers should continue to collect and remit sales and use tax on currency or bullion currency, allow the taxpayer to file an action for refund in Circuit Court, and entitle the taxpayer to interest, injunctive relief, attorney's fees and costs, and liquidated damages of $1,000 for each day that the violation occurred; RETROACTIVE; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 247 to define terms; prohibit a nonresident alien, foreign business, foreign agent, trustee, or fiduciary associated with the government of any proscribed country referenced in 22 C.F.R. sec. 126.1 from the purchase, lease, or acquisition of agricultural land in Kentucky or participation in programs administered by the Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Development Board, and Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation; allow a nonresident alien, foreign business, foreign agent, trustee, or fiduciary to own, purchase, hold, or develop agricultural land for nonagricultural use provided that the development is completed within five years of acquiring the land; require that a copy of the report required under the provisions of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act be filed with the Department of Agriculture; require the Department of Agriculture to report evidence of noncompliance to the Office of the Attorney General; require the Office of the Attorney General to investigate the evidence; allow the Office of the Attorney General to enforce provisions; require that agricultural land found in violation be escheated to the state and be subject to judicial foreclosure; set requirements for disbursement of proceeds of the sale.

Amend KRS 61.598 to exempt from the pension spiking provisions any increases in rates of pay authorized or funded by the legislative or administrative body of an employer or mandated in a collective bargaining agreement approved by the legislative body of the employer that are provided to members of the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, County Employees Retirement System, or State Police Retirement System.

Amend KRS 40.315 to expand interment eligibility in Kentucky state veterans' cemeteries to include eligible National Guard and Reserve service members and their families; EMERGENCY.

Direct the Legislative Research Commission to establish the Kentucky Discipline of Government Efficiency (KY DOGE) Task Force to study Executive Branch expenditures and provide recommendations for efficiency in government operations; require the task force to meet monthly during the 2025 Interim, and submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2025.

Amend KRS 217.127 to define " charitable food donor" as a nonprofit or religious organization that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or home-based processor, which produces food for distribution to a homeless shelter or to individuals displaced due to a declared natural disaster; exempt a charitable food donor from the licensing requirements of KRS 217.005 to 217.215 and application of State Plumbing Code requirements; amend KRS 217.218 to conform; amend KRS 411.241 to exempt a nonprofit or religious organization that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or a home-based processor from civil or criminal liability arising from the production or donation of food to a homeless shelter or to individuals displaced due to a declared natural disaster.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to allow school districts to implement a wearable panic alert system; establish system criteria; require the Department of Education to provide a list of approved wearable panic alert systems; require the Center for School Safety to establish the Wearable Panic Alert Grant Program; amend KRS 158.446 to allow the Center for School Safety to distribute wearable panic alert grants using funds appropriated in the biennial budget to support school safety.

Amend KRS 150.740 and 257.550 to prohibit the export of a cervid carcass or wild cervid outside of a chronic wasting disease surveillance zone; prohibit the export of a captive cervid outside of a 10-mile radius of a chronic wasting disease positive captive cervid facility; establish exemptions to the movement of cervid parts; allow breeding of captive cervids inside the facility in which the cervid is housed; require that the chronic wasting disease surveillance zone remain disease free for a period of five years; exempt prior chronic wasting disease positive detections from restrictions.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 42 to define terms; require the Finance and Administration Cabinet to create a grant database that will be a central repository for information on all available state or local government grants; require state and local agencies to report grant opportunities to the Finance and Administration Cabinet for inclusion in the grant database.

Urge the United States Congress and the United States Army Corps of Engineers to assist with the prevention and mitigation of flood damage in Kentucky.