KY General Assembly Week 4: Budget process begins and anti-fluoride bill is back

Kentucky House Republicans filed their much-awaited budget bill during the (very snowy) fourth week of the General Assembly.

Well, they have concepts of a budget, one might say.

The two-year budget bill, House Bill 500, was a “starting point” to kick off the process. Subtext: a lot can change between now and the end of session.

House Appropriations & Revenue Chair Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, emphasized that compared to previous years, where deals around exact spending amounts for agencies were hashed out before session and finalized early, the subcommittees under his own will be “more active” in determining the final amounts allocated.

“Budget review subcommittees will be much more active,” he said. “They have been already, and they will be even more. There will be meetings during the day and at night, formal and informal.”

Let the fun begin!

Fluoride in drinking water targeted — again

A controversial bill to make fluoridation of drinking water optional for Kentucky water systems passed the House Local Government Committee easily Wednesday.

It is the ninth session a bill like this has been proposed, according to sponsor Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth.

The only difference between House Bill 103 and previous iterations of the bill, Hart said, is the addition of a clause barring local governments from being sued for their decision.

“Districts would be immune from civil action regardless of whether they keep fluoride in the water or would take fluoride out,” Hart said.

Hart and supporters of the bill have cited some studies suggesting that high levels of fluoride in drinking water could negatively affect children’s brain development. The science around the effect at the American recommended level of fluoride in water, however, is more inconclusive; a recent study in Science Advances found no effect on children’s IQ from fluoride intake.

The benefits to dental health from fluoride are well-established, reducing cavities by about 25%.

Mary Ann Birch, a retired dental hygienist speaking to the committee on behalf of the Kentucky Dental Hygienist Association, speaking in opposition to the bill said that it would hurt “poorer communities.”

“We cannot afford an increase in dental disease, both economically and physically,” she said. “This will impact our poorer communities, especially in historically vulnerable populations.

“In Eastern Kentucky, many are covered by Medicaid. An increase in the dental decay will increase the cost of Medicaid significantly. There are not enough dentists to provide care for Medicaid patients already because of the low reimbursement rate. Prevention is the best answer.”

Republican support for the bill in committee was nearly unanimous, with only Rep. Chris Freeland, R-Benton, voting no, mentioning that his rural Western Kentucky district was short on dentists who take Medicaid.

“My district is 43,000 people. We’ve got one provider in one county, and they take care of 98% of the Medicaid patients… I worry about, if you take that one line of defense out, what does that mean to those patients?”

All Democrats voted against the bill.

-Reported by Austin Horn

Kentucky Democrats speak on ICE, DHS

Following the fatal shootings of two Americans by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, Democrats in Kentucky’s legislature are speaking out.

The deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both 37-year-old Minnesotans killed by federal agents as the Trump administration cracks down on immigration in Minneapolis, have sparked intense public scrutiny.

“The people we represent are heartbroken and angry. They are also asking a deeper question: Do the rules still apply?” House Democratic leaders wrote in an op-ed. “They must. A democracy can survive disagreement. It can survive protest. It can survive even serious mistakes.

“What it cannot withstand is a growing belief that truth no longer governs public power.”

The state Senate Democratic Caucus also condemned “the aggressive deployment of unaccountable federal immigration enforcement agents into communities” and said members stand “firmly opposed to any actions that would facilitate or expand these practices in Kentucky.”

“Communities should not be made less safe by federal action,” the lawmakers said in a Jan. 26 statement. “They deserve law enforcement that operates with constitutional fidelity, genuine oversight and accountability to the people.”

More takeaways from Week 4 of the 2026 General Assembly

• Goodman petition: Former state Rep. Killian Timoney filed a petition to impeach Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman over her handling of several cases. Timoney argues Goodman abused judicial authority and undermined public confidence in courts. -Reported by Austin Horn and Taylor Six
• Murphy petition: Rep. Matt Lockett filed a petition to remove Fayette County school board chair Tyler Murphy from office, alleging financial mismanagement and failure to provide adequate oversight. -Reported by Valarie Honeycutt Spears
• Parents in prison: Senate Bill 122 would allow judges to offer probation instead of prison to defendants convicted of certain nonviolent felonies if they are caring for dependent children. The Family Preservation and Accountability Act requires judges to review family-impact statements before sentencing. Critics worry about funding gaps and creating a two-tier justice system. -Reported by John Cheves
• Appalachian plan: Several Mountain Caucus lawmakers want to create a new state resilience office to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. The effort follows devastating July 2022 floods that killed 45 people in Eastern Kentucky. The office would coordinate disaster mitigation, building codes updates, and emergency response efforts across the flood-prone region. -Reported by Austin R. Ramsey
• Coal-fired power plants: Republican lawmakers are rushing to modify 2023 pro-coal legislation after the Public Service Commission interpreted the law to prevent utilities from spreading decommission costs over a plant’s lifetime. HB 398 would clarify that utilities can recover costs before retirement authorization. Environmental groups oppose the bill. -Reported by Austin R. Ramsey
• School administrator pay: Senate Bill 2 would ensure superintendent and administrator pay raises don’t exceed the average percentage raise given to classroom teachers in the same district. The legislation aims to prioritize teachers over central office positions. -Reported by Valarie Honeycutt Spears
• Research endowment: Senate President Robert Stivers is proposing $150 million for the Endowed Research Fund in fiscal year 2027. It would fund collaborative research projects between Kentucky’s public universities in areas like biomedical, pharmaceutical, engineering or artificial intelligence. -Reported by Hannah Pinski
• School finances: Senate Bill 3 would require school districts to publish key financial documents including budget proposals, monthly reports, vendor payments and credit card statements on their websites. The bill passed unanimously out of committee with both Republican and Democratic support. -Reported by Austin Horn

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 5 of the 2026 General Assembly

About 40 bills have passed one legislative chamber, and several more could get a vote as soon as Monday. What we’ve yet to see, though, is a bill clear both the House and Senate.

That’s not necessarily odd, but in years past, we have seen lawmakers rush to pass bills so they can hurry up and override the governor’s veto, or to fix unintentional issues that pop up. (They also like to rush to pass personal income tax cuts; that’s not an option this year.)

Of course, we’re also waiting for more details on the budget to emerge. GOP lawmakers said the bill we saw last week was just a starting point, but the “major theme” would be cutting back on spending.

The Legislative Ethics Commission hearing for Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, is also set to begin Monday after being delayed a week due to the weather. Last summer, the commission found probable cause Grossberg had violated state ethics code on three different counts.

It’s the Grossberg case that inspired Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, to file legislation Friday to make sexual harassment behavior that qualifies as ethical misconduct for legislators. Sexual harassment is not, in and of itself, a violation of the current ethics code.

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.

This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 5:00 AM.

Tessa Duvall

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-334-0430

Tessa has been the Herald-Leader’s Politics and Public Affairs Editor since March 2024, after acting as Frankfort Bureau Chief since joining the paper in August 2022. A native of Bowling Green and a graduate of Western Kentucky University, Tessa has also reported in Texas, Florida and Louisville, where she covered education, criminal justice and policing.