Bill requiring McConnell statue or artwork in Kentucky Capitol rotunda passes
With just an hour to spare before the clock struck midnight, the Kentucky legislature passed a bill Wednesday directing the state to accept and permanently place a statue, monument or work of art featuring Sen. Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky State Capitol rotunda.
House Bill 757, a lengthy revenue bill, added the provision related to McConnell late Wednesday evening, the last day the Republican-led legislature could pass a bill to withstand a potential veto from Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
The language of the bill states that if the “object of art” is privately funded and offered to the state, “the state curator shall accept” it and the Historic Properties Advisory Commission “shall reserve a place” in one of the four corners of the Capitol rotunda for the work of art. It directs the state to “take whatever action is required to install and display the statue, monument, or object of art” when the building reopens after renovations that are expected to take years.
Previously, both House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, and Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, filed resolutions supporting and recommending such an initiative.
McConnell, who, at 84 years old, is not seeking reelection this year, cemented his name in the Kentucky and U.S. history books when he became the longest-serving Senate party leader in 2023. He held that role from 2007 to 2024.
In a statement Thursday, McConnell said he was “honored and humbled by this decision, and I’m grateful to the General Assembly for the recognition.”
Sen. Chris McDaniel, chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations & Revenue Committee, presented the bill on the Senate floor late Wednesday. It was the result of a Free Conference Committee, which is called to hatch a compromise when the Senate and House cannot agree on a bill.
“He will go down as one of the most influential Kentuckians ever to grace the halls of Frankfort. In the halls of the United States Senate in Washington, D.C., the effects of his leadership of the Senate and of our party here in the commonwealth are absolutely unparalleled. It’s a distinct honor for this commonwealth to be able to claim Sen. McConnell as one of our own and to forever enshrine him in the rotunda of the Capitol,” McDaniel said.
As of the Capitol’s closing for renovations, four statues stood in the rotunda. They are Lexington’s Henry Clay, the famed compromiser and congressman of the mid-1800s; famous pioneer surgeon Ephraim McDowell, of Danville; Senate Democratic leader Alben Barkley of Paducah; and, in the center, a towering statue of President Abraham Lincoln, who was born in Hodgenville.
There was an open spot left where a statue of Jefferson Davis, a Kentucky native who was president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, once stood. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear requested early in his tenure that the statue be removed. The Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted 11-1 to remove the 5-ton statue of Davis, which had stood in the Capitol Rotunda since 1936.
House Bill 757 also tacked on incentives that target large-scale events and rehabilitation projects for historic buildings at least 25 stories tall.
The large-scale event provision would allow a 100% sales tax incentive on items sold at the event, which is required to last at least three days and have an attendance totalling at least 100,000.
The building tax incentive could not exceed $40 million, and qualifying projects must be at least $150 million.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously. In the House, it passed 65-25. Most Democrats voted against the bill, and a handful of Republicans from the GOP’s Liberty wing, which often defines itself against McConnell, joined them.
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 7:31 AM.
