KY General Assembly Week 13: Budget passed, bills on life support & time for vetoes

Floor amendments and committee substitutes and free conference committee reports — oh my!

The final days of the Kentucky General Assembly are always daunting, as lawmakers put in long hours to get their bills over the finish line (and perhaps to punish the rest of us for getting a little too comfortable with the short days they logged in those early weeks).

Though lawmakers were in session only two days last week, they crammed in a lot. And by that, I mean bills on the move were chock-full of last-minute changes and additions.

For example, a lengthy revenue bill was changed in the final hours to add a provision concerning the placement of a Mitch McConnell statue in the Kentucky Capitol rotunda.

Or, consider the budget.

The $31 billion executive branch budget, House Bill 500, was the product of a free conference committee to hash out differences between House and Senate versions. It was not available to the public on the Legislative Research Commission’s website as of Wednesday afternoon when it was up for consideration.

And there’s House Bill 900, which contains $1.7 billion in one-time spending projects. Just a few weeks ago, it was $800 million and lacked details on where, exactly, that money would go. But after it emerged from a free conference committee, it was twice as big and detailed high-dollar projects across Kentucky.

Moves like that are why some critics have said the legislature has an increasing fondness for passing bills via procedures that limit transparency. (GOP lawmakers don’t appreciate those accusations!)

More headlines from Week 13 of the 2026 General Assembly

• Gov. Andy Beshear has vetoed several bills passed by the GOP-controlled Kentucky legislature so far this year. We’ve got a running list here.
• Kentucky Chief Justice Debra Lambert says major cuts are coming to the state courts under the two-year judicial budget passed this week by the General Assembly.
• Most of Kentucky’s public universities will see funding cuts over the next two fiscal years under the state budget approved Wednesday by lawmakers.
• State legislative leaders allocated more than $57 million to Lexington-area projects and programs, including $5.8 million for a new Lexington Children’s Museum and $20 million to a regional industrial park.
• The final version of the two-year state road plan, which provides funding for more than $5.2 billion in road projects across Kentucky, was unveiled Wednesday morning, and Fayette County got a $155 million slice of that pie.
• Fayette County Public Schools Board Chair Tyler Murphy said a bill approved by the Kentucky General Assembly that prohibits him from seeking reelection because he is a teacher is “a slap in the face” to voters.
• Senate Bill 10, which proposes a constitutional amendment to prevent the governor from pardoning someone 60 days before an election and up until inauguration, was approved by lawmakers and will appear on November ballots.
• The bill that would transform Kentucky State University into a polytechnic institution where students are trained in trades that align with the state’s workforce needs passed Wednesday after emotional calls from alumni for it to move forward.
• A measure that would name portions of Kentucky highways after public figures, including one for Charlie Kirk, passed both chambers of the General Assembly Wednesday night.

What we’re looking for in the final days of the 2026 General Assembly

For a moment, we can catch our breath.

The legislature will not meet the week of April 6, giving Beshear plenty of time to veto, sign or let bills become law without his signature. April 13 is the last day of the veto period, and lawmakers get back into action April 14 and 15 to override (very likely all of) those vetoes. Expect those final two days to be long ones.

However, the drama in Frankfort doesn’t seem likely to stop at sine die.

Despite a Franklin Circuit judge’s order nullifying the resolution containing the articles of impeachment for Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman, the Senate plans to proceed as previously scheduled. (The Senate is allowed to stay in session when sitting as a court of impeachment, per the state constitution.)

The Kentucky Supreme Court, of course, could change all of this.

Thank you for following the Herald-Leader’s coverage of the Kentucky General Assembly. If you haven’t already, consider signing up for our Bluegrass Politics newsletter.

With no legislative action for a bit, our final 2026 weekly recap will be April 20.

Give me a shout at tduvall@herald-leader.com with any feedback, tips or ideas.

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.