General Assembly ‘26 Sine Die
Lawmakers spent the final week of the General Assembly overriding the Governor’s veto actions and making their last-minute moves to add provisions to bills, often making significant changes in free conference committees—which were not transparent to the public— before concluding late into the night on Wednesday, April 15th. Lawmakers also continued their trend of using “shell” bills to substitute legislation before the public is able to see it online.
So What Finally Passed?
Below are highlights of bills we were watching that made it to the finish line this week. KCC members in good standing will be sent our full post-session review as part of our annual conservation brief, which will be mailed out in May:
House Bill 10: Governor’s Office - Contains several provisions that limit the Governor’s powers or adds layers of oversight, including establishing additional qualifications to serve on the Fish and Wildlife Resources Commission. The bill was vetoed by the Governor but overridden and will now become law.
House Bill 139:Elections/Voting- Contains several provisions that adds new voter eligibility barriers and weakens campaign finance transparency. The Govenor stated: “…as written, House Bill 139 would make it more difficult for Kentuckians to vote, erode the independence of the judiciary in elections, expand the authority of the State Board of Elections to share sensitive voter information with the federal government, and give part-time legislators more authority to shift campaign funds between accounts than ever before in our history. As with previous election-related bills passed by this General Assembly, the foxes are guarding the henhouse…” The bill was vetoed by the Governor but overridden and will now become law.
House Bill 142:Wildlife - Among its provisions, requires the Kentucky Dept.of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) to issue a minimum of 5 deer destruction permits to any landowner, spouse, dependent child, or their designee whose lands or personal property have been damaged by wildlife. Requires the KDFWR to issue a deer permit for the taking of 1 additional antlered deer during a hunting season. The Governor stated that “…theGeneral Assembly ignored the concerns of Kentucky's sportsmen and sportswomen…(placing) supervision of managing deer populations in Kentucky with agricultural interests rather than biologists with the required experience to manage such a program….” The bill was vetoed by the Governor but overridden and will now become law.
HouseBill 398: Energy Decommissioning- Among its provisions, affirms that the Public Service Commission maintains its authority to approve a utility's right to recover, prior to retirement authorization, any electric generating unit’s decommissioning, removal and salvage costs and depreciation expenses through rates over the electric generating unit's estimated depreciable life. The bill will become law without the Governor’s signature.
House Bill 542: Eminent Domain- Among its provisions, requires a condemnor in an eminent domain action involving property subject to a conservation easement or an agricultural district to provide a written report to the court justifying the condemnation due to lack of feasible alternative locations. This requirement does not apply to an action initiated by a city, municipal utility, investor-owned utility, or utility cooperative and involves easements for utilities that do not interfere with agricultural operations or result in a taking of agricultural infrastructure. The bill now also takes away right to recover attorneys fees, which will limit defenses to eminent domain at trial. The bill was signed by the Governor this week.
House Bill 607: Redistricting- Among its provisions, changes redistricting provisions for Louisville allowing for more flexibility in how compact and contiguous a voting district is. The Governor, in his veto message, stated that the bill is “…unconstitutional special legislation that seeks to reshape Louisville's local government institutions…” The bill was vetoed by the Governor but overridden and will now become law.
House Bill 677: Carbon Sequestration- This bill establishes a legal and regulatory framework for the development and approval of underground carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facilities and was a consensus bill in coordination with the Energy and Environment Cabinet, oil and gas interests, Kentucky Conservation Committee and Kentucky Resources Council. In the final days of the session however, provisions were added that were problematic for the siting of solar storage and wind. However a separate bill, House Bill 869, removed the problematic setback requirements from the late change to HB677. Provisions that limit the height of wind projects still remain, however and directly impact at least one proposed wind project in Kentucky. The bill became law without the Governor’s signature.
Senate Bill 1: Education Bill - Includes provisions that shift day-to-day operations, administrative duties, transportation, personnel matters, school conduct and instruction, and strategic plan implementation, hiring, and dismissals, authority from Board of Education to the Superintendent, taking away local control. The Governor vetoed the bill and was overridden and sent to the Secretary of State this week to become law.
Senate Bill 8: Public Service Commission - includes several reforms to the Public Service Commission, including expanding the PSC from three to five members, with the Governor only being able to appoint three of those. The bill specifies new requirements for experience and expertise. Under the final version of the bill, all commissioners remain appointed by the Governor and subject to Senate confirmation. The bill also maintains political balance by limiting the number of commissioners from the same political party. It will become law without the Governor’s signature.
Senate Bill 29: Solid Waste- Exempts a solid waste management facility handling solid waste generated outside its host county or waste management district from all fees, assessments, permitting, and authorization requirements imposed by the county or district of waste generation with certain exceptions. This was signed by the Governor.
Senate Bill 39: Fish and Wildlife - Allows the stocking of F1 bass despite long standing recommendations from Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Also includes the removal of KDFWR’s regulatory authority on invasive species, and sets a concerning precedent by placing complex fish and wildlife management decisions in statute rather than with the KDFWR Commission. This bill was signed by the Governor.
Senate Bill 49: Battery Recycling- Prohibits the disposal of covered batteries (smartphones, smartwatches, wireless earbuds, and some power tools where the battereis are not easily removable) in solid waste disposal or recycling containers. Requires the Energy and Environment Cabinet to establish the Covered Battery Stewardship Program. Signed by the Governor.
Senate Bill 100: EPIC Commission- The Energy Planning and Inventory Commission (EPIC) , requires that utilities now receive findings from the full commission (rather than just the executive committee) before retiring coal, oil, or natural gas plants, and grants the Executive Director of EPIC full authority to act on behalf of EPIC, with the board and executive committee now only serving in an advisory capacity among its provisions. The Governor stated that “…Senate Bill 100 violates the Kentucky Constitution by giving the Governor's authority to appoint two members of the executive committee of the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission to the Attorney General. Unlike the Governor, the Attorney General plays no constitutional role in the oversight of the Commission…..(and) creates a conflict of interest with his role in representing ratepayers before the Public Service Commission…”
Senate Bill 195: Civil Actions- A tort reform bill sought by the Ky. Association of Highway Contractors, concerned with protecting road construction firms from damages, and would make recovery for environmental harm more difficult in Kentucky. The Governor allowed this bill to be filed without his signature and will now become law.
These are only the bills that passed during the final week. For a full summary of all bills, you can find details on KCC’s House and Senate bill lists on our website.
The Bright Spot in the Final Days of the General Assembly
Funding for Land Conservation: The best news coming out of the General Assembly this session was an allocation of $6 million in one-time funds which is earmarked for the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund (KHLCF). Followers of KCC know that the funding of KHLCF is a perennial issue for us. It is still our focus to find more permanent funding sources for land conservation, and there was legislation proposed this session for that capacity in House Bill 723. However that bill never made it out of its original House committee. Meanwhile, land advocates such as KCC and the Kentucky Land Trust Coalition were happy to receive an allocation of one-time funding which will be earmarked for three land conservation projects that are currently in the works. And while that is great news, KCC will continue to work on a more permanent solution for the funding of land conservation in Kentucky.
Senate Bill 37: State Symbols- A bill that began as adopting the Treeing Walker Coonhound as the official state dog of Kentucky was amended late in the session to also include a designation of the Eastern Spotted Skunk as the official state nongame mammal and the Eastern Hellbender as the official state amphibian of Kentucky. The bill was one of the last bills delivered to the Governor on the final day of the session, so he still has not had time to act on it— however this also means that the legislature cannot override his actions now. So contact the Governor’s office and express your support for Kentucky’s biodiversity by asking him to sign this bill!
House Bill 869: A bill relating to fiscal matters addressed certain issues in a Free Conference Committee report that impacts issues we were watching. Section 61 requires the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development to report on the current tax credits and incentives eligible in Kentucky to hyperscale data centers and data centers. The report must include tax credits and incentives in Kentucky's surrounding states relating to hyperscale data centers and data centers. Report is due to the Interim Joint Committees on Appropriations and Revenue and Economic Development and Workforce Investment by August 1, 2027.
This bill also amended House Bill 677 Section 26 to remove storage setbacks from the merchant plant Siting Board requirements. This bill was sent to the Governor’s desk on 4/15. Please contact the Governor and express your support for these provisions.
Don’t Miss These Resolutions
With so many bills, we didn’t want to overlook some positive resolutions that were adopted. Senate Resolution 231 confirmed the appointment of Andrew Wood to the Public Service Commission.and Senate Resolution 232 confirmed the reappointment of Angela Hatton to the PSC. And we didn’t want to overlook House Resolution 127, filed by Rep. Freeland, expressing support for the Ohio River Restoration Program. To learn more about federal efforts to support the Ohio River Restoration Program, see this link.