Legislative Liaison

HB49

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING (CALLAWAY E) AN ACT relating to professional engineering and land surveying scholarships.

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.

Current Status:   

4/3/2026 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB49.html

HB313

CITY FRANCHISES (BIVENS R) AN ACT relating to city franchises.

Amend KRS 69.010 to change the time period that a city has to provide for the sale of a new franchise before the expiration of the current utility franchise from 18 months to 6 months.

Current Status:   

4/13/2026 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB313.html

HB392

PUBLIC AGENCY TRANSACTIONS (MEREDITH M) AN ACT relating to local public agency transactions.

Amend KRS 45A.345, relating to local procurement, to define "best value" and redefine "evaluated bid price" as "economic efficiency"; amend KRS 45A.365 to require invitations for bids to state that awards be made on the best value rather than the lowest evaluated bid price; delete requirement for the inclusion of a reciprocal preference for resident bidders; require awards to the best value bid rather than the bid that is lowest evaluated bid price remove reference to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.370 to allow purchases through competitive negotiation using the best value bid rather than the lowest evaluated bid; remove references to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.375, relating to competitive negotiation to allow awards to be made upon the best value rather than lowest evaluated bid, and remove reference to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.385, relating to small purchase procedures, to increase the small purchase maximum amount to $60,000 from $40,000; index the maximum amount by $10,000 every 5 years beginning in 2030; require the Finance and Administration Cabinet to publicize the current amount; amend KRS 45A.420, relating to cooperative purchasing, to allow local public agencies to make agreements using an established discount, quote, formula, or other pricing method as established by the Commonwealth when an agreement does not establish a fixed unit price; amend KRS 82.083, relating to the disposition of property owned by a city, to amend the definition of "independent appraisal" as it relates to personal property for which there is no applicable nationally published valuation standard, to include a generally accepted method to determine a good-faith estimate; amend KRS 82.084 to add law enforcement vehicles and equipment to the exclusions from KRS 45A.345 to 45A.460 and 424.260; amend KRS 424.260 to increase the limit for making advertisements for purchases to $60,000 from $40,000; index the small purchase maximum amount by $10,000 every 5 years beginning in 2030; amend KRS 157.420 and 157.440 to conform; repeal KRS 65.027, relating to reciprocal preference to resident bidders. HCS(1) Retain original provisions of draft, except delete KRS 45A.345 and 45A.365 containing the definition of "best value" and conforming language related thereto and remove references to "best value" throughout the bill; delete the repeal of KRS 65.027 and restore references to reciprocal preference throughout bill; reduce the adjusted maximum small purchase amount from $60,000 to $50,000; delete other sections to conform.

Current Status:   

4/7/2026 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB392.html

HB500

EXECUTIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS (PETRIE J) AN ACT relating to appropriations measures providing funding and establishing conditions for the operations, maintenance, support, and functioning of the government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and its various officers, cabinets, departments, boards, commissions, institutions, subdivisions, agencies, and other state-supported activities.

The State/Executive Branch Budget: Details Part I, Operating Budget; details Part II, Capital Projects Budget; details Part III, General Provisions; details Part IV, State Salary/Compensation, Benefit, and Employment Policy; details Part V, Funds Transfer; details Part VI, General Fund Budget Reduction Plan; details Part VII, General Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; details Part VIII, Road Fund Budget Reduction Plan; details Part IX, Road Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; details Part X, Phase I Tobacco Settlement; and details Part XI, Executive Branch Budget Summary; APPROPRIATION. HCS (1) The State/Executive Branch Budget: Retain, delete, and add to original provisions; details Part I, Operating Budget; details Part II, Capital Projects Budget; details Part III, General Provisions; details Part IV, State Salary/Compensation, Benefit, and Employment Policy; details Part V, Funds Transfer; details Part VI, General Fund Budget Reduction Plan; details Part VII, General Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; details Part VIII, Road Fund Budget Reduction Plan; details Part IX, Road Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; details Part X, Phase I Tobacco Settlement; and details Part XI, Executive Branch Budget Summary; APPROPRIATION. SCS (1) The State/Executive Branch Budget: Retain, delete, and add to original provisions; detail Part I, Operating Budget; detail Part II, Capital Projects Budget; detail Part III, General Provisions; detail Part IV, State Salary/Compensation, Benefit, and Employment Policy; detail Part V, Funds Transfer; detail Part VI, General Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part VII, General Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part VIII, Road Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part IX, Road Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part X, Phase I Tobacco Settlement; and detail Part XI, Executive Branch Budget Summary; APPROPRIATION. FCCR (1) The State/Executive Branch Budget: Retain, delete, and add to original provisions; detail Part I, Operating Budget; detail Part II, Capital Projects Budget; detail Part III, General Provisions; detail Part IV, State Salary/Compensation, Benefit, and Employment Policy; detail Part V, Funds Transfer; detail Part VI, General Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part VII, General Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part VIII, Road Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part IX, Road Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part X, Phase I Tobacco Settlement; and detail Part XI, Executive Branch Budget Summary; APPROPRIATION.

Current Status:   

4/14/2026 - delivered to Secretary of State

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB500.html

HB542

EMINENT DOMAIN (DOSSETT M) AN ACT relating to eminent domain and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 382.850 to require a condemnor in an eminent domain action involving property subject to a conservation easement to provide a written report to the court justifying the condemnation due to lack of feasible alternative locations; allow the court to dismiss the condemnation action if the lack of alternative locations is not demonstrated; amend KRS 262.850 to require a condemnor in an eminent domain action involving property located in an agricultural district to provide a written report to the court justifying the condemnation due to lack of feasible alternative locations; allow the court to dismiss the condemnation action if the lack of alternative locations is not demonstrated; amend KRS 416.550 prohibit a condemnor from engaging in false, intimidating, or misleading negotiation tactics; allow a property owner of potentially condemned property to obtain an independent appraisal within 60 days of an initial offer for purchase; reduce the indepdent appraisal period to 30 days if the property owner refuses the initial offer for purchase; prohibit the filing of a condemnation action within the independent appraisal period; establish a penalty of dismissal of the condemnation action, payment of attorney's fees, and a bar on future condemnation actions for violations; amend KRS 416.560 to specify requirements for contents of notice of entry to owners of property; establish penalty for failure to give notice; require condemnor to give notice of a material change to the project; require condemnor to use only current data for surveys; provide a copy of a survey to the property owner within 15 days of completion; allow the property owner to petition a local legislative body for a public meeting regarding the proposed taking; amend KRS 416.610 to require the condemnor to take measures to ensure access to property during on-site work on a project where only a portion of the property has been condemned; amend KRS 416.660 to include preexisting improvements on property and the value of agricultural improvements in the determination of fair market value of condemned property; amend KRS 416.570, 416.600, 416.630, 416.640, and 416.650 to conform; EMERGENCY. HCS(1) Retain original provisions, except define "feasible alternative location"; require that the written report submitted to the court regarding feasible alternative locations be a sworn document; allow a property owner to continue to challenge the necessity of the condemnation and offer his or her own feasible alternative locations for the project; include counties, water districts, and water associations in the list of entities excepted from the feasible alternative locations requirement; require condemnors to pay costs, expenses, and attorney's fees for actions dismissed for improper negotiation tactics; require all parties to use certified appraisers for any appraisal of the property unless the value of the property to be taken is less than $25,000; require condemnors to take into consideration the value of the property determined by the property owner's appraisal in negotiating a purchase price; require the condemnor to host and secure a site in the county where the project is located for a public meeting; provide that the sole purpose of a public meeting shall be to accept comments from the public regarding a proposed project; provide that a property owner may only request a public meeting if a public meeting has not previously been held; provide that this Act shall not be interpreted to conflict with any laws applicable to takings by federal entities.

Current Status:   

4/13/2026 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB542.html

HB651

PUBLIC WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEMS (BRAY J) AN ACT relating to public water and wastewater systems and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 224A.320 to require that eligible funding recipients for the Kentucky Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems (WWATERS) Program meet 3 or more of the specified eligibility criteria instead of 1; exclude projects that expand the utility service of funding applicants from the definition of "eligible project"; require that a funding application include a detailed budget for all proposed project expenses; allow the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority board to evaluate and score funding applications for proposed projects in phases; require that approved eligible funding recipients adopt best management practices that would address the performance deficiencies that made the applicant eligible for funding; remove the funding evaluation criteria categories of current accounts payable turnover ratio and current days' sales in accounts receivable ratio; remove the requirement from the evaluation criteria that the applicant's receipt of a notice of violation of drinking water or other water quality standards occur in the past year; add to the funding eligibility criteria that the funding applicant can demonstrate that the amount of stormwater inflow and groundwater infiltration entering the funding applicant's system seriously impairs its effectiveness; add to the funding evaluation criteria that the funding applicant previously received funding through the program for a prior phase of the proposed project; add to the funding evaluation criteria that the funding applicant can demonstrate that the estimated costs are comparable to actual costs incurred for similar projects; add to the funding evaluation criteria that a licensed professional engineer signed an attestation of the application's veracity; require that in the evaluation of the funding applications, the board separately score and individually rank all eligible projects, with additional consideration given to projects that provide or restore safe water or wastewater utility service; EMERGENCY. HCS(1) Retain original provisions; require that depreciation plans be included in the detailed budget that a funding applicant must submit to participate in the Kentucky Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems (WWATERS) Program; add capital depreciation to the best management practices that an eligible funding recipient under the WWATERS Program must adopt as it relates to performance deficiencies that made the applicant eligible for funding. SCS (1) Retain original provisions, except for Kentucky WWATERS Program funding applications for capital construction projects; provide that as part of the funding criteria licensed professional engineers review instead of prepare and sign cost and timeline estimates.

Current Status:   

4/13/2026 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB651.html

HB757

REVENUE MEASURES (PETRIE J) AN ACT relating to revenue measures and declaring an emergency.

FCCR (1) Create a new section of KRS Chapter 11 to require the state curator to accept a statute, monument, or object to art that is privately funded and created depicting or representing United States Senator Addison Mitchell McConnell for display in the New State Capitol rotunda; require the commission to reserve a spot in the rotunda for the display; authorize the installation and permanent display by the General Assembly; create a new section of KRS Chapter 139 to establish a sales tax incentive related to professional sporting events equal to 100% of the sale of admissions and tangible personal property and services to a qualifying attraction; establish requirements for receiving the incentive; create a new section of KRS Chapter 171 to allow credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, for the certified rehabilitation of a certified historic structure in which total qualified rehabilitation expenses exceed $150,000,000 for the taxable year; establish requirements for the credit.

Current Status:   

4/14/2026 - delivered to Secretary of State

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB757.html

HB900

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (PETRIE J) AN ACT relating to government agencies, making an appropriation therefore, and declaring an emergency.

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. HCS (1) Retain original provisions; add a General Fund appropriation of $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2025-2026 from the budget reserve trust fund account to various state agencies for miscellaneous projects and programs; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY. SCS (1) Retain, delete, and add to original provisions; appropriate General Funds moneys in the amounts of $10,000,000 in fiscal year 2025-2026, $400,000,000 in fiscal year 2026-2027, and $400,000,000 in fiscal year 2027-2028 from the budget reserve trust fund account to various state agencies for miscellaneous projects and programs; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY. FCCR (1) Retain, delete, and add to original provisions; appropriate General Fund moneys from the Budget Reserve Trust Fund Account in fiscal years 2025-2026, 2026-2027, and 2027-2028 to various state agencies for miscellaneous projects and programs; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Current Status:   

4/13/2026 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/HB900.html

SB8

PUBLIC UTILITIES (SMITH B) AN ACT relating to public utilities and declaring an emergency.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 278 to establish the membership of the Public Service Commission; provide for the appointment, confirmation, and replacement of commissioners; establish the qualifications of the commissioners; provide for the election of the chair and the delegation of his or her duties; set the terms and term limits for commissioners; set qualifications for intervenors in cases before the commission; provide that in cases in which the Attorney General intervenes, he or she shall be the sole advocate for residential consumers; amend KRS 278.020 to increase the minimum voltage and length of electric transmission lines for which a certificate of public convenience and necessity is required for construction; amend KRS 278.040 to provide that the commission is an independent department of state government that is administratively attached to the Auditor of Public Accounts only for the limited functions and purposes that the commission requests; allow the commission, in its sole discretion, to conduct procurements under KRS Chapter 45A, identify and determine the compensation for categories of its professional employees, and engage hearing officers and other entities on a contractual basis; prohibit the commission from being reorganized under KRS Chapter 12; amend KRS 278.060 to prohibit the immediate family members of commissioners from having any official relationship to any utility; allow for a commissioner or an immediate family member to have a pension or a retirement savings account with utility as long as no contributions have been made to it for at least 1 year prior to the commissioner's appointment; amend KRS 278.070 to allow the officer who appointed a commissioner to remove the commissioner for cause; amend KRS 278.100 and 278.120 to allow the commission to appoint and have sole discretion in fixing the compensation of the executive director; require the executive director to be subject to confirmation by the Senate; amend KRS 278.702, 12.020, 43.015, 64.640, 160.617, and 224.10-022 to conform; repeal KRS 278.050, relating to membership of the Public Service Commission; require the Auditor of Public Accounts to make initial appointments to the commission on or before July 1, 2026, and provide for the staggering of the appointments; allow current members of the commission to serve out the remainders of their terms provided that they meet the qualification requirements of the Act; terminate the terms of current commissioners who do not meet the qualification requirements of the Act and provide for their replacement; direct the transfer of all records, files, or documents associated with functions previously performed by the Energy and Environment Cabinet to the Auditor of Public Accounts; EMERGENCY. SCS (1) Retain original provisions, except reduce the minimum length of an electric transmission line from 20 miles to 5 miles for which a certificate of public convenience and necessity is needed for construction; require that within 30 days of the effective date of the Act, the Auditor of Public Accounts shall make 2 appointments to the Public Service Commission for terms expiring July 1, 2030; provide that all current members of the commission may serve out the remainder of their terms and any subsequent terms upon reappointment without being subject to the qualifications and appointment limitations in subsection (1) of Section 1 of the Act. SFA (1) Delete Section 2 in its entirety; create a new section of KRS Chapter 278 to establish the procedure by which parties may be allowed to intervene in cases pending before the Public Service Commission; establish requirements for the motion to intervene that parties are required to make; establish the standard by which the commission shall grant leave to intervene; establish the conditions by which the commission may take action against an intervening party that is unduly complicating, delaying, or disrupting the proceedings; require that unless otherwise ruled by the commission, a person granted leave to intervene shall be served with all papers in the case after the order granting intervention; require that a person granted leave to intervene abide by the procedural schedule for the proceeding in existence when the order granting intervention is issued; allow a person not granted leave to intervene to file written comments, which shall be included in the case record; provide that a person filing written comments shall not be deemed a party to the proceeding and shall not be required to be named as a party to an appeal; return the minimum voltage threshold required for a new electric transmission line to be subject to the commission's approval for a certificate of public convenience and necessity from 200 kilovolts to 138 kilovolts. HCS(2) Retain original provisions, except delete in their entirety Section 2 of the Act relating to standing requirements for intervenors in proceedings before the Public Service Commission (commission) and Section 3 of the Act relating to minimum thresholds for the length and voltage of electric transmission lines that require commission approval prior to construction; require the Governor to make all 5 appointments to the commission; require that no more than 3 members of the commission be of the same political party; remove the requirement that only a certain number of commission members have the same profession; remove all provisions attaching the commission to the Auditor of Public Accounts and leave the commission attached to the Energy and Environment Cabinet for administrative purposes only; make conforming changes; amend KRS 278.010 to define “municipal interlocal gas utility”; exempt “municipal interlocal gas utility” from the definition of “utility”; amend KRS 65.230 to define “municipal interlocal gas utility”; amend KRS 65.240 to allow public agencies to enter into agreements to acquire natural gas facilities outside of their municipal jurisdictional boundaries; amend KRS 96.5375 to allow municipal interlocal gas utilities to extend or construct natural gas systems outside the constituent city’s boundaries; define "municipal interlocal gas utility"; within 30 days of the effective date of the Act, require the Governor to make 2 appointments to the commission for terms expiring July 1, 2028; RETROACTIVE, in part, to January 1, 2020. HFA(5) Delete Sections 10, 11,12, 13, and 16 of the Act relating to municipal interlocal gas utilities.

Current Status:   

4/14/2026 - BECAME LAW WITHOUT GOVERNOR'S SIGNATURE

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/SB8.html

SB192

LOCAL ENTITIES (MAYS BLEDSOE A) AN ACT relating to local entities and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 91A.020 to allow cities bringing in or expending less than $15 million to conform to cash, modified accrual, or budgetary basis of accounting rather than generally accepted governmental accounting principles; amend KRS 91A.040 to allow cities bringing in or expending less than $500,000 to perform an agreed-upon procedures engagement for the fifth fiscal year in which the city remains in that fiscal category, and require cities conducting an audit to contract with an auditor to examine the basic financial statements that include financial statements prepared under the basis of accounting used by the city; require each city to publish an advertisement containing a budget-to-actual comparison schedule for the general fund and remove the publication requirement for copies be available at no cost; require the city to make a copy of the audit report available to the Auditor of Public Accounts; amend KRS 424.220 to make conforming amendments and require a city to publish a financial statement within 30, rather than 90 days after submission to the Department for Local Government; exempt from the publication requirements officers of cities that have completed an audit under KRS 91A.040 and cities that have completed an agreed-upon procedures engagement; create a new section of KRS Chapter 91A to allow cities to complete an agreed-upon procedures engagement with the Auditor of Public Accounts or a certified public accountant rather than an audit if the city meets certain requirements; establish standards for the agreed-upon procedures engagement process; establish reporting, advertising and access requirements; direct that the Department for Local Government may permit a city to use this process under certain circumstances when the city has not completed and reported an audit for 2 or more fiscal years. HFA(1) Retain original provisions; amend KRS 75.031 to require all trustees of a fire district to personally reside in the fire district and declare a vacancy if a trustee moves outside the district during his or her term; amend KRS 273.207 to require all board members of a fire department organized under KRS Chapter 273 to be residents of the area served by the corporation and declare a vacancy if the member moves outside the geographic area during his or her term; declare a vacancy to exist for board members who do not reside in the district or area in the effective date of the Act; provide a method to fill the vacancy; EMERGENCY.

Current Status:   

4/10/2026 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

State Bill Page:   

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/SB192.html