Legislators are in Frankfort this week for days 17 - 20 of the 2023 regular legislative session. Tuesday, Feb. 21, was the last day for Senate bills to be filed and Feb. 22 was the last day for House bills to be filed.
More than 850 bills were filed during this short session, many of them affecting counties. See KACo's summary of the most impactful bills below.
An ACT relating to merchant electric generating facilities
- Establishes decommissioning and bonding requirements for solar merchant electric generating facilities and their developers
- States that local governments shall have primacy over determining all decommissioning and bond requirements
- Last action: Passed House 99-0; Received in Senate
An ACT relating to property tax on distilled spirits
- Phases out the property tax assessed on distilled spirits (bourbon) stored in barrels beginning in 2026 with full elimination of the tax by 2039
- Last action: Assigned to House Appropriations & Revenue committee
An ACT relating to publication
- Removes the 80,000-population threshold for allowing public notices to be posted online as an alternative to newspaper advertisements, providing all fiscal courts with the option for online posting
- Last action: Assigned to House Local Government committee
An ACT relating to jail standards
- Amends minimum standards for jails to allow persons at least 18 years old to work in the secure perimeter of jail where there is no inmate contact
- Last action: Passed House 99-0; Received in Senate
HB 200/SB 105 – Rep. Ken Fleming / Sen. Stephen Meredith
An ACT relating to the healthcare workforce
- Establishes the Kentucky healthcare workforce investment fund to incentivize partnerships between healthcare education/training programs and healthcare providers through scholarships for eligible students. EMS training programs and providers would be eligible for this program
- Last action: Recommitted to House Appropriations & Revenue committee
An ACT relating to economic development
- Increases the eligible projects for deploying Kentucky Product Development Initiative funds by amending KRS 154.21-015 to redefine “eligible project” to include matching funds and redefine “eligible use” in to include building construction or renovation
- Last action: Passed House 99-0; Received in Senate
An ACT relating to voter registration
- Changes the voter registration book closing deadline from 28 days to 21 days before any primary, general or special election
- Last action: Awaiting House committee assignment
An ACT relating to peace officer certification
- Removes court security officers from list of officers required to be certified by KLEC
- Allows an officer who has been on inactive status for less than one year to return to certification status with no additional training requirements
- Creates a new section of KRS to provide that any sheriff who takes the oath of office after the effective date of this Act shall not have arrest power unless he or she is Peace Officer Professional Standards (POPS) certified
- Amends KRS 241.110 to provide that a county judge/executive who is serving as a local ABC administrator does not have arrest power unless he or she is POPS certified
- Last action: Passed out of House Veterans, Military Affairs & Public Protection committee with Committee Substitute
An ACT relating to state geographic information
- Requires a current copy of all digital parcel and tax district data to be securely stored with the Commonwealth Office of Technology’s geographic information clearinghouse
- Restricts digital parcel data and tax data from being redistributed, sold, shared, use for any commercial or unauthorized purpose
- Reduces the number of candidates for the Geographic Information Advisory Council submitted by KACo to the Governor’s Office from six to three
- Last action: Passed out of House Local Government committee with Committee Substitute
An ACT relating to jail construction
- Places a 2-year moratorium on building, construction, or remodeling projects on county jails that require the issuance of debt financing
- Includes exceptions for court ordered changes to facilities, repairs or renovations necessary to keep an existing facility in compliance, and replacement or rebuilding of facilities following a catastrophic event
- Last action: Passed out of House Local Government committee with Committee Substitute
An ACT relating to Tax Increment Financing
- Makes a technical correction to KRS 154.30-090 to update Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district law in response to changes made in 2022’s revenue bill, House Bill 8
- Last action: Assigned to House Appropriations & Revenue committee
HB 522 – Rep. William Lawrence
An ACT relating to procurement
- Increases amount at which advertisement of bids for local government contracts is required from $30,000 to $40,000
- Last action: Passed favorably out of House Local Government committee
An ACT relating to school safety
- Specifies that private and parochial schools can enter into memorandums of understanding with local law enforcement agencies or KSP to provide school resource officers
- Last action: Awaiting House committee assignment
A JOINT RESOLUTION directing and urging the Cabinet for Health and Family Services take actions to improve emergency medical services and declaring an emergency.
- Directs the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) to apply for a Medicaid waiver to permit coverage of triage, treatment and transport of patients by emergency ambulance services
- Directs CHFS to submit a state Medicaid plan amendment to cover treatment in place
- Urges CHFS to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate for ambulance services as funds become available
- Last action: Received second reading on House floor, to Rules Committee
An ACT relating to the retirement of fossil fuel-fired electric generating units
- Prohibits the Public Service Commission from approving a request by a utility to retire a coal-fired electric generator unless the utility demonstrates that the retirement will not have a negative impact on the reliability or the resilience of the electric grid or the affordability of the customer’s electric utility rate
- Last action: Senate floor amendment filed for consideration by Senate
An ACT relating to Kentucky educational excellence scholarships
- Allows Kentucky students to use their KEES awards at eligible, Kentucky-based propriety institutions for qualifying programs that fall under the state’s top-five high demand job sectors, which includes healthcare
- Last action: Passed Senate 33-0; Received in House
An ACT relating to peace officer contracts
- Extends duration of contracts with newly appointed deputy sheriffs or peace officers subject to reimbursement for training costs from the current three years to five years for law enforcement officers employed by cities and counties
- Amends KRS 183.881 to allow public airport boards to condition employment of a safety and security officer to contract to repay the airport board for training costs, if the officer accepts a similar position within five years, and requires the firing entity to repay costs under certain circumstances
- Last action: Assigned to Senate Veterans, Military Affairs & Public Protection committee
