Bluegrass Politics: Committee subs, changing bills abound in waning days of KY legislature
This is the March 14 special edition of the Bluegrass Politics newsletter. Sign up for free and get this delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday morning.
The classic paradox of the Ship of Theseus can be boiled down as such: if you replace all the planks of an old ship with new planks is it still the same ship?
There’s a similar paradox in the Kentucky General Assembly called the Bill of Theseus: if you replace all the wording of a bill with a committee substitute is it still the same bill? The latter question is far less philosophical and can be answered as such: no. However, this is what has been happening these final few days of the 2025 legislative session.
For starters, Republicans gave final passage to a bill Thursday broadening medical exceptions under Kentucky’s strict abortion ban, heeding calls from doctors who’ve demanded greater flexibility in treating patients with severe pregnancy complications.
They did this in part by expanding and clarifying current statutory language giving doctors more leeway in when they can choose to provide a “medically-necessary” abortion. The bill also clarifies that doctors who make these decisions would not be subject to a criminal penalty.
GOP members of a Senate committee approved those last-minute medical exceptions late Wednesday night to House Bill 90, Rep. Jason Nemes’ measure to lower barriers for freestanding birthing centers. The change came via a committee substitute filed by Rep. Nancy Tate.
By early Thursday afternoon, the updated measure had been approved by the Senate and concurred on in House for final passage. It now heads to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk for consideration.
In another Bill of Theseus example we have House Bill 495. This bill was transformed Wednesday by a committee substitute that would ban Medicaid funds from supporting both gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatments, commonly referred to as hormone replacement therapy, used to help transgender people transition.
Before the committee substitute, the bill was initially only meant to roll back an executive order Beshear signed last year prohibiting public funds from contributing toward conversion therapy — the widely discredited form of counseling that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
House Bill 495 is the latest attempt by Republicans in Kentucky and across the country to restrict access to gender-affirming care.
Though a handful of states limit Medicaid coverage of all gender-affirming care through their Medicaid program, Kentucky would be just the second state to codify an explicit ban on coverage in state law.
On Thursday, the Senate passed it in a 28-6 vote with overwhelming Republican support.
Perhaps the most obvious Bill of Theseus, and most apt considering it once pertained to water, is a bill that was once focused on removing regulation around at-home swimming pools being changed to block Lexington and other cities from putting density regulations on short-term rentals made popular by websites such as Airbnb and Vrbo.
Senate Bill 61, originally a bill loosening regulations on home swimming pools, was amended by House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, late Wednesday to restricts cities’ abilities to regulate short-term rentals.
Lexington, Louisville and Covington have enacted density restrictions on the number of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo in neighborhoods after many residents saw their neighborhoods over-run by short-term rentals.
If SB 61 becomes law, those restrictions would be immediately voided.
All of this maneuvering with committee substitutes drew Beshear’s ire as he spoke about it in reference to House Bill 495 on Thursday, saying: “Listen, if you think you’re passing the right things, you don’t have to hide it. It’s time to stop a lot of this ‘shell bill’ and committee substitute nonsense and embrace the people that elect you and allow them to actually see a transparent process.”
Speaking of transparency, lawmakers are preparing to carve a bigger loophole in the state Open Records Act that would shield crime incident reports, 911 tapes and other documents from public view at the discretion of police departments.
Under House Bill 520, police departments would be entitled to withhold records if they believe disclosure “could pose a risk of harm to the agency or its investigation,” either by prematurely revealing information about a case or by potentially identifying witnesses or informants.
Open government advocates warn the bill gives police too much independent power to decide when — or if — they will release public safety records in their possession.
Before you go, if you’re still here, check out these stories too:
GOP lawmakers pass bills to weaken KY worker safety standards at request of employers
Kentucky lawmakers approve bill to ban DEI initiatives on public college campuses
KY water pollution bill advances with changes, but it still worries environmental groups
If you can believe it, the 2025 General Assembly is coming to a close. Today is the final day of concurrence, followed by the veto period and the sine die (the finale) on March 28.
