KY General Assembly Week 3: Focus on public schools, gun vote, Rand Paul visits
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Read our recaps from the Kentucky Legislature for all the latest news from the statehouse during the 2026 session.
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Things are finally happening, y’all.
(Well, not on Monday, Jan. 26, due to snow and ice pelting much of the state.)
Week 3 might have been a short one in Frankfort, but legislators picked up the pace moving bills through committees, ushering several through floor votes and revealing more priority pieces of legislation.
Education is emerging as a big theme this session — although you’d be hard-pressed to find a year in which that isn’t true — with a couple of bills of particular interest for our Fayette County readers.
The big talker came Thursday with the filing of Senate Bill 114 from Senate President Pro Tempore David Givens, R-Greensburg. (He’s also the sponsor of Senate Bill 1, but that’s more of a Jefferson County schools issue, so I won’t elaborate on it much here.)
SB 114, if passed into law, would expand the number of seats on the school boards in Fayette and Jefferson counties and take them from elected positions to appointments by the city’s mayor and confirmed by the city council.
“The recent budget shortfalls, leadership challenges and poor academic performance of our state’s two largest districts magnified the need to change the school board in Jefferson and Fayette from elected to appointed,” Givens told the Herald-Leader Friday morning.
And then there’s Senate Bill 76 from Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, R-Lexington. This bill raises the population threshold required for a county to have authority to increase the occupational license tax, meaning Fayette and other counties would no longer be able to implement such an increase unless they reach the new requirement. This follows the “public debacle” that led to “widespread public frustration” last year with the board’s unsuccessful attempt to raise taxes, she said.
Finally, there’s Senate Bill 3 from Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, which increases public access to a school district’s financial information.
SB 76 passed the Senate on a party-line vote, while SB 3 and SB 114 await their turns in committee.
If you’re a fan of Linda Blackford columns, it won’t surprise you to learn she’s got some thoughts about all this.
House moves to lower concealed carry age
The House approved a bill Friday to let Kentuckians carry concealed firearms at age 18 instead of the current minimum age of 21.
House Bill 312 was approved by a vote of 73-17. It proceeds to the Senate.
Members of the Democratic minority spoke against the bill for about an hour, warning it would continue a dangerous trend of putting guns in the hands of young people, some of them too immature to handle them safely.
Rep. Anne Gay Donworth, D-Lexington, said her 16-year-old daughter visibly “tensed up” when she heard about the bill, thinking of others not much older than her carrying a concealed gun around her. The girl’s high school recently had two shootings in the vicinity, Donworth added.
But the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, said 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds in Kentucky already have legal access to firearms.
Maddox said her bill would create a “provisional” concealed carry license, requiring firearms safety training and a background check, so those young adults who now can openly carry with no restrictions could start to carry guns concealed with a state-issued permit.
“No aspect of this bill expands the ability of these individuals to possess a firearm,” Maddox said. “They already can, and I think it’s fundamentally important to remember that.”
-Reported by John Cheves
Rand Paul: No decision on 2028 yet
Kentucky’s junior U.S. senator paid a visit to Frankfort Thursday afternoon to meet with lawmakers about the legislative session. Speaking to reporters afterward, Sen. Rand Paul was highly complimentary of the GOP’s work.
“I am very proud of the fact that they’ve kept the rainy day fund positive,” Paul said. “They’re prepared for emergencies. I’m proud that they’re reducing the income tax for Kentuckians so we can compete with Tennessee and other states. And I’m also very proud that they reigned in unlimited gubernatorial power, not just for one party, but for all parties.”
As Paul eyes a potential 2028 presidential campaign, we asked if he encouraged lawmakers to pursue legislation that would allow him to run for president and Senate since he’s up for reelection in 2028.
Paul said that didn’t come up during the meeting.
“I won’t make any decisions til after 2026,” Paul said. “When I did try in 2016, we did a presidential caucus, and I don’t think there were a lot of complaints, but that’s a bridge we’ll cross after 2026.”
What does he hope to see the legislature pass? A bill banning food stamps from being used on unhealthy food.
“I think candy in a bag is unhealthy food,” Paul said. “We shouldn’t subsidize it: chips, Ding Dongs, Twinkies. There’s a lot of stuff that we all kind of eat occasionally, but we shouldn’t be encouraging.”
Osborne added there will be a bill addressing this issue that is “roughly complete” but hasn’t been filed yet.
Beyond talking about state politics, Paul also criticized President Donald Trump’s actions regarding Greenland in a uniquely Kentucky way.
“If I want to buy a horse from you, I probably wouldn’t insult you and say, ‘I’m going to come take the horse if you don’t sell it to me,’” Paul said. “It’s not a good negotiating strategy... I’d probably take you to dinner. I’d probably say nice things to probably compliment you and try to get you to negotiate a price on the horse.”
-Reported by Hannah Pinski
More takeaways from Week 3 of the 2026 General Assembly
- Impeachment petitions: The Kentucky House impeachment committee is reviewing petitions against three elected officials, including Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Pamela Goodwine, who faces an allegation of a conflict of interest in a Jefferson County education case. The committee is requesting additional information on each petition. -Reported by Piper Hansen
- Library board control: A Kentucky Senate bill would allow county judge-executives to more easily reject library board nominees and appoint their own choices in counties that opt in. The measure follows controversies in Daviess and Pike counties over library governance and book challenges. -Reported by John Cheves
- KSU campus safety: Kentucky State University President Koffi Akakpo told lawmakers the school is reviewing campus processes and hiring more police officers following the December shooting death of student De’Jon Fox Jr. A parent, Jacob Bard, was charged but later cleared by a grand jury. -Reported by Monica Kast
The above takeaways were produced with the help of an AI tool, which summarized previous stories reported and written by Herald-Leader journalists. This content was reviewed and edited by journalists in the newsroom. Read more on our AI policy here.
What we’re looking for in Week 4 of the 2026 General Assembly
If I’d know we wouldn’t have a budget this week either, I’d have saved my ‘O budget, where art thou?’ headline for today’s piece. Hindsight is 20/20.
Yes, folks, that means we are still awaiting the Republican supermajority’s executive branch budget bill as we head into the final week of January. They still have plenty of time, but...the suspense is no fun.
Thank you for following the Herald-Leader’s coverage of the Kentucky General Assembly. If you haven’t already, consider signing up for our (twice weekly during session!) Bluegrass Politics newsletter.
Give me a shout at tduvall@herald-leader.com with any feedback, tips or ideas. And stay safe in this cold weather!
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
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