Where bills stand: Safer Kentucky Act, JCPS task force, Louisville nonpartisan elections
FRANKFORT — On one of the final days of the legislative session, Kentucky lawmakers approved a number of important and sometimes controversial bills.
Lawmakers gaveled in early, at 9 a.m., with expectations of a marathon day of committee meetings, floor debates, traffic between the House and the Senate, and last-minute surprises.
Over the next two weeks, Gov. Andy Beshear will have the opportunity to veto bills. The legislature is then scheduled to reconvene on April 12 and April 15, when it can vote to override Beshear's vetoes.
Here's a roundup of action on major bills:
Controversial open records bill fails to get needed vote
A bill that would have created a ‘giant loophole’ in the state’s open records law faltered at the last minute.
House Bill 509, sponsored by Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville, went through several iterations during its stormy legislative career.
A version that would have allowed officials’ texts about public business to remain outside the purview of the open records law needed a Senate floor vote to make it across the finish line.
Open government advocates feared that, if passed, the law would have shielded wrong-doing and decreased citizen oversight of the government.
In the end, the bill failed to get a Senate floor vote on Thursday night.
Big changes coming to horse racing commission
A bill that would dramatically change how the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission operates got final passage on the Senate floor on Thursday and now heads to the governor’s desk.
Senate Bill 299 would make the Horse Racing Commission an independent organization like the Kentucky Lottery Corp. or the Public Service Commission.
It has the backing of House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, and Senate Majority Floor leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, but has drawn opposition from charity groups, as well as Democratic lawmakers.
Currently, the Horse Racing Commission is an independent agency attached to the Public Protection Cabinet for administrative purposes.
If the bill passes, the new organization would be called the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corp. The governor would continue to appoint its board, but the board members would require Senate confirmation.
Charitable gaming is currently regulated through a separate department within the Public Protection Cabinet but, if the bill passes, it would be moved under the purview of the new racing corporation starting July 1, 2025.
The plan to move charitable gaming under the purview of the horse racing corporation has drawn criticism from church groups and nonprofits, like Mike Mulrooney, the founder of a Louisville nonprofit that uses charitable gaming to help cancer patients pay for treatment.
The Catholic Conference of Kentucky is also opposed.
“To put charitable gaming under the authority of for-profit gambling interests, who often see charitable gaming as competition, could have devastating effects on charitable gaming over the long term,” said executive director Jason Hall on behalf of the conference.
Rep. Al Gentry, D-Louisville, said he found the decision on how to vote on the bill one of the most difficult he’s made because he supports horse racing but is very concerned about the charitable gaming move.
The Public Protection cabinet is also opposed, spokesperson Kristin Voskuhl told The Courier Journal on Wednesday.
The Senate gave the bill final passage on a 25-11 vote.
Porn age verification coming to Kentucky
Lawmakers approved a bill that would require age verification to access pornography websites in Kentucky.
The purpose of the measure is to prevent minors from viewing porn, said bill sponsor Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville. House Bill 278 would allow the parents of minors who access porn sites, or anyone else injured by the access, to sue the provider for $10,000 in damages for each time the site failed to get the required age verification.
A major pornography platform, Pornhub, stopped offering its content in Texas after a federal court upheld a similar law there.
House Bill 278 would also bar school district superintendents from hiring people who have been convicted of felony or misdemeanor sex crimes or who must register as sex offenders.
The bill followed a strange journey through the legislative process. It’s original purpose was to remove the statute of limitations on lawsuits resulting from childhood sexual assault or abuse.
In a strange turn of events, a Senate floor amendment undid that provision and returned the statute of limitations to the current statute of limitations, which is 10 years after the victim turns 18. Sponsor Lockett said that he agreed to the Senate’s changes to his bill to preserve the rest of the bill. It was in the Senate that the bill picked up the porn age verification provision, which was sponsored by Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona.
Frankfort makes major changes to Louisville's government
Lawmakers gave final passage Thursday evening to a controversial and wide-ranging bill that will change how Louisville is governed.
Sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, House Bill 388 started its journey as a measure aimed at making Louisville’s mayor and Metro Council elections nonpartisan.
Despite criticism from Democratic lawmakers, the bill gained House approval in February.
Once it got to the Senate, HB 388 picked up a provision that would place a moratorium on changes to the city’s Land Development Code — which guides land use in the city — until April 15, 2025.
"The provision says that you can go forward with development, you just can't change the land development code for the next year while we're trying to figure out what's the best way forward," Nemes said about that provision.
Democratic Mayor Craig Greenberg is opposed to the provision and said it would have a negative impact on the city’s affordable housing efforts.
The Senate also added a provision to HB 388 that would change the process for making complaints to the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Under the bill, accused officers would be able to have a pre-disciplinary hearing, where “the officer may present evidence and call and cross-examine witnesses in the officer’s defense.”
After the pre-disciplinary hearing, the chief or a chief’s designee would write an opinion on the final discipline for the officer, and the officer may appeal the decision.
The Louisville Urban League is opposed to the bill, according to a statement from the group that said lawmakers used “secrecy and subterfuge to avoid accountability.” The statement criticized the changes to the police complaint procedures and said the land development code freeze will “devastate any meaningful affordable housing solutions.”
“If anything, this is another example of a heavy-handed attack on the city of Louisville by this body here,” said Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, during a Thursday evening debate on the bill. He later called the bill’s passage “the beginning of the end of Louisville-Jefferson County as we know it.”
The bill gained final passage from the House with a 71-22 vote and now heads to Beshear’s desk.
Safer Kentucky Bill gets final passage
The House gave final passage to the Safer Kentucky Act, a controversial criminal justice bill that now heads to the governor’s desk for his approval or veto.
Sponsored by Rep. Jared Bauman, R- Louisville, House Bill 5 creates a new crime of “unlawful camping” for sleeping on streets, sidewalks, under bridges, in parks and in cemeteries.
Critics say this would criminalize homelessness, but Bauman vehemently denied that during a lunchtime debate in the House on Thursday.
The bill would also create a "three strikes" rule for Kentucky, prohibiting probation, parole or early release for any person convicted of three violent felonies and adding a number of crimes to the list of the violent felonies.
Democrats criticized the bill, saying tighter gun controls, higher wages and more funding for education would do more to improve Kentuckians' safety.
"It's possibly the very worst piece of legislation I've seen in my entire time here," said Rep. Rachel Roberts, D-Newport, as part of the Democrats' final, but unsuccessful effort to block the bill's passage.
HB 5, which is currently 78 pages long, includes many other provisions. It would make selling or providing fentanyl to a person who dies from an overdosemanslaughter, a felony.
Shop owners and employees could use a "reasonable amount of force" to prevent someone from escaping in cases of suspected shoplifting. And the bill would allow a gun used in a homicide to be destroyed, a rallying cry for anti-violence advocates in Louisville in the aftermath of last year's Old National Bank shooting. But the gun could be destroyed only after it is auctioned off, and only if the purchaser wants that.
A provision added in the Senate would require counties to create restorative justice committees tasked with developing programs to serve children who are referred by schools, courts or social service agencies. Restorative justice focuses on repairing harm and making amends — victim-offender mediation is one example — rather than punishment.
HB 5 passed on an 75-23, mostly party-line vote. Three Republican representatives crossed party lines to vote against the bill: Steven Dean (Erlanger), Courtney Gilbert (Hodgenville) and Savannah Maddox (Dry Ridge).
How Kentucky fills a Senate vacancy could change soon
A bill that would change the process of how Kentucky handles a Senate vacancy is on the way to the governor’s desk. House Bill 622 would strip the governor’s authority to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat and instead require a special election. It got final approval in the General Assembly on Thursday morning.
The bill was sponsored by House Majority Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, who said the power to decide who would get the seat belongs to the people.
Rudy denied that he filed the bill because of concerns about Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s health. McConnell has had a few recent scares and is serving his seventh term and up for reelection in 2026. Recently, he announced that he would step down from leadership in November.
Instead, Rudy said he was motivated by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's conviction for trying to sell former President Barack Obama's Illinois Senate seat after Obama was elected to the White House.
JCPS task force is coming soon
A task force that could propose major changes to Jefferson County Public Schools has gained final approval from the legislature.
House Concurrent Resolution 81 would create a task force to study how to create an “efficient and effective” school district. JCPS leaders have previously said they are opposed to the measure.
Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, said on the Senate floor that JCPS has rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic at a higher rate than other school districts, and the task force won’t improve the quality of the district.
The task force is the first step in a possible restructuring, or even splitting up, of the school district.
Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said if it was up for a vote today, he would vote to split the district up.
The task force would be required to meet twice a month and review at least 16 areas of school district operations and create a list of recommendations for next year’s General Assembly.
It would also be made up of 13 members, including lawmakers, businesspeople, a teacher or former teacher, a representative from Louisville's mayor office, and two taxpayers who live in the JCPS district and have children who attend or recently graduated from JCPS.
The resolution passed on a 30-7 vote.
Child sex doll bill gets final passage, heads to governor
Lawmakers approved a bill that would make possessing, trafficking or importing a child sex doll a felony in Kentucky.
House Bill 207, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Dietz, R-Edgewood, also adds computer-generated images of minors to the state’s child pornography law.
The bill caused a stir earlier this month when Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, said research she found indicates child sex dolls could help prevent pedophiles’ attacks on children. Berg later issued a clarifying statement after the video of her speaking went viral. She voted in favor of the bill.
The bill gained unanimous passage in both the House and the Senate and is now headed to Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk for approval.
Check back for updates on additional bills.
Reach Rebecca Grapevine at [email protected] or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @RebGrapevine. Reach reporter Hannah Pinski at @[email protected] or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @hannahpinski.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky legislature passes Safer Kentucky Act, JCPS task force bill
