Bluegrass Politics: Crunch time in the Kentucky General Assembly. Here’s what’s happening
This is the March 12 edition of the Bluegrass Politics newsletter. Sign up for free and get this delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday morning.
Depending on when you read this newsletter, there are merely five (or fewer!) legislative days left in this 2025 Kentucky General Assembly.
I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun or something like that.
With so many bills on the move, let’s get right to the rundown on what our talented team in the Herald-Leader Frankfort bureau is watching:
- A committee sub of House Bill 775 would change the way Kentucky lawmakers can reduce the state’s income tax. The bill went from four pages to more than 100 and was voted on before the text was on the Legislative Research Commission website, which drew the ire of some Dems.
Senate Joint Resolution 55 wants to combat antisemitism on campus at Kentucky’s public colleges and universities, according to its backers. But opponents of the bill say it is actually an attack of free speech and the First Amendment. (You’re going to want to read to the bottom of this one for an interesting exchange between a lawmaker and college student, or catch the video of it here.)
A Senate bill to allow local governments the ability to issue bonds to help cover the private developers’ construction costs for new apartments and other multifamily housing was green-lit in committee. A legislative task force concluded last year that Kentucky is more than 200,000 housing units short.
The Kentucky House rejected Senate changes to a bill that would grant calamity days to districts hit by recent bad weather. The Senate added a provision concerning virtual schools, which is what the House refused to concur with. The bill goes to free conference now, per its sponsor.
House Bill 399 — the bill that would give legislative leaders the power to order police to arrest protesters who they believe are disrupting their work — passed the House last week, with some Republicans joining the Democrats in opposition. An amendment from Rep. TJ Roberts clarifying some language in the bill was also adopted.
The anti-DEI in higher ed bill passed the House, and a Senate committee, too. Is this the year the legislature gets it done after the House and Senate failed to agree on a bill in 2024? Looks like it could be.
The House also passed a bill overturning a 2024 executive order from Gov. Andy Beshear banning the use of taxpayer dollars on conversion therapy.
A “medical conscience” bill cleared the Senate last week, which would give health care providers protection if they decline to provide a service due to religious, moral or ethical reasons. Democrats called it a “license to discriminate.”
A coal mine safety rule would be rolled back under this bill on the move.
Citing the slaying of a health insurance CEO in New York City last year, a Kentucky lawmaker is moving to conceal some information about insurance denials.
Whew. That is so many bills.
As a reminder, if you ever want to take a gander at the bills yourself, here’s where you can find them all and see where they are in the legislative process. And this page is where you can find what’s become law this session, which is currently not much (though that is subject to change).
Kentucky’s 2026 Senate race
The primaries for Kentucky’s next U.S. Senator are still more than a year away, and yet, I have news for you.
Nate Morris, a Lexington entrepreneur, was on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast earlier this week, and reporter Austin Horn listened to it so you don’t have to (unless you want to!). His key takeaways from what Morris said: Mitch McConnell’s made some “sickening” decisions, while Morris is all-in on MAGA. Find this and several other tidbits worth reading here.
Morris hasn’t formally declared his run for office, and neither has U.S. Rep. Andy Barr. But speculation about Barr’s interest in running gained fuel when he was seen on camera after President Donald Trump’s address to Congress thanking the president for “taking my call.”
Meanwhile, a new poll from a firm with ties to Daniel Cameron — who has declared he’s running for the seat — shows the former attorney general with a solid lead in a hypothetical Cameron-Barr-Morris match-up.
As for the Democrats, state Rep. Pamela Stevenson may be getting company on the ballot. Rocky Adkins, a former state lawmaker and current adviser to Beshear, is strongly being encouraged by party insiders to run for the office.
Other headlines you may have missed
- An update to a Herald-Leader report from January: a former Department of Juvenile Justice guard who is accused of breaking two different boys’ arms on the same day last year has been charged with two counts of second-degree criminal abuse.
- Trump has promised to “lead the charge” in finding a primary opponent to take down Northern Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie. (Massie went on to be the lone GOP vote against a government funding bill.) It’s not the first time the two have butted heads, and if I had to bet, I’d wager it’s unlikely to be the last.
- Three federal staffers were cut from the Camp Nelson Monument in Jessamine County by DOGE — roughly a quarter of the employees at the historic Civil War site.
- Here’s a look at how potential cuts to the Veterans Administration could impact employees in Kentucky.
- Demonstrators gathered in Lexington on International Women’s Day to oppose, as organizers put it, the “broligarchy that owns Trump.”
Thanks for reading!
