Ten Commandments in schools bill among several filed on first day of KY legislative session
The Kentucky legislature continues to zero in on reducing the state income tax yet again, this time from 4% to 3.5%.
That priority was evidenced by the number given to a bill introduced to do just that on Tuesday, the first day of the Kentucky legislature: House Bill 1.
It was joined by more than 100 other bills and resolutions on the first day that they can be unveiled, which included a proposal to require the Ten Commandments in all public K-12 classrooms, a couple of constitutional amendments, make water fluoridation optional and more.
The proposal on the Ten Commandments, House Bill 65, comes from Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, who has focused much of his legislative career on social conservative and the promotion of Christian principles and issues.
The bill is similar to a law recently passed in Louisiana, except it requires the document displaying the Christian tenets to be bigger — it requires them to be displayed 16 by 20 inches compared to 11 by 14 in the Pelican State.
A federal judge recently blocked that Louisiana law, citing its “overtly religious” nature and calling it “unconstitutional on its face.” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman led a multi-state conservative coalition in support of the law.
Both proposals require a context statement to come with the text of the commandments. In Calloway’s case, it reads, “The secular application of the Ten Commandments is clearly seen in its adoption as the fundamental legal code of Western Civilization and the Common Law of the United States.”
The reception of this proposal is uncertain, much more so than the bill filed to cut taxes. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, predicted smooth sailing for House Bill 1.
“It‘s fairly simple. Everybody knows what it is, so when we return in February it would be the first thing that we take up in the Senate on the day we return... and send it to the governor soon thereafter,” Stivers said.
Another bill filed by Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, has become a mainstay in Frankfort: A proposed constitutional amendment placing limitations on gubernatorial pardons as governors are leaving office. The idea was forwarded in the wake of former GOP governor Matt Bevin’s pardon scandal in 2019.
Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, proposed a more novel amendment, though its odds of passage through either conservative-controlled chamber are slim. Yates filed an amendment proposal that would enshrine Kentuckians’ right to possess, use or sell one ounce or less of cannabis and cultivate up to five cannabis plants.
Calloway filed another bill related to social conservative issues that picks a fight with Gov. Andy Beshear. His House Bill 64 would invalidate Beshear’s executive order limiting the controversial practice of “conversion therapy” on LGBTQ minors in Kentucky.
Stivers didn’t commit to supporting it, but said “there will be some type of response” to Beshear’s executive order.
A couple bills filed Tuesday cover topics that have gained more steam since Republican President-elect Donald Trump has named former Democratic presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his pick for health secretary: Water fluoridation and milk pasteurization. Kennedy is a proponent of easing rules on both.
Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth, filed a bill, as he has done in years past, to allow local water districts to remove fluoride from their supply, a proposal that has troubled dentist groups who say that, while good for business, removing fluoride would significantly worsen Kentuckians’ dental health.
Hart and Kennedy are worried about the health effects of fluoridation, particularly on IQ and mental health.
Freshman Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, proposed a bill that would bar local governments from restricting the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk, another proposal of Kennedy’s that has worried some health experts.
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 4:45 AM.
