KCC Week 13 Recap- General Assembly 2026
Senate Bills Reviewed to Date HERE
Read our full lists — Many bills have had significant changes late in the session, so please review and make your calls—Particularly on our “Strong Support” and “Strong Oppose” bills!
Please call the legislative message line at 1-800-372-7181 (Monday-Friday 7AM-6PM) to express your views on these bills. You may also email your legislators if the phone lines are closed.
On bills up for a veto, contact the Governor here.
On the Governor’s Desk - ACT
This week, lawmakers worked until almost midnight on Wednesday, April 1st—passing bills to be sent to the Governor’s desk. Lawmakers had two days earlier this week for “concurrence” to resolve outstanding issues between bill versions passed by the House and Senate and then move them on to Governor Beshear for action. Bills which did not complete that process prior to midnight on April 1 may still continue to move forward when lawmakers resume their work on April 14-15, however any additional bills enrolled during that time could be vetoed by the Governor without an opportunity for the legislature to override his action.
You can find a full list of KCC “Oppose” bills on the Governor’s Desk for veto action HERE
Pesticide Bill Passes Despite Bipartisan Opposition
The first “strong oppose” bill from KCC’s bill list to make it to the Governor’s desk was Senate Bill 199, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, which would limit liability for pesticide manufacturers by establishing that EPA-approved labels serve as sufficient warnings against legal claims. The bill provides that any pesticide registered with the Department of Agriculture, bearing an EPA-approved label, is considered a sufficient warning in legal actions regarding "failure to warn" claims.
This legislation was heavily supported by agricultural groups including the Kentucky Farm Bureau, and was vetoed by Governor Beshear on March 31, citing risks to public health. His message stated in part:
“Passed with significant bipartisan opposition, Senate Bill 199 tries to shield makers of dangerous pesticides from being held accountable for the harm their products cause Kentuckians. In a state that consistently has the highest rate of cancer diagnoses and deaths in the nation, the General Assembly now tries to slam the door shut on citizens' access to courts to seek damages from the makers of these pesticides if the product simply has the warning label approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. These labels do not warn consumers of the risks of using these pesticides, such as possible chronic disease risks like leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or other cancers and chronic diseases. They are not enough to allow corporations to escape legitimate lawsuits over their failure to warn….”
Lawmakers voted to override the Governor’s veto by a vote of 24-12 in the House and 56-32 in the Senate.
Please THANK the following lawmakers for their final vote opposing Senate Bill 199:
Senate:Berg, ChambersArmstrong, Clemons, Funke Frommeyer, Herron, Neal, Rawlings, Storm, Thomas, Tichenor, West, Wheeler.
House: Aull,Baker, Banta, Bojanowski,Brown, Burke, Camuel, Clines, Doan, Donworth, Flannery, Gentry, Grossberg, Grossl,Hancock, Kulkarni, Lehman, Lockett, Maddox, Marzian, Moore, Moser,Rabourn, Roarx, Roberts, Stalker, P. Stevenson, Tackett Laferty, Thompson, Watkins, Willner, Witten.
Legislature Passes Important Funding for Lands & Water
Bills on the Governor’s desk includes House Bill 900, the one-time spending plan that uses money from the state rainy day fund. The earlier version of the bill allocated $800 million in one time funds but but did not directly specify how. We now know that the bill includes the following highlights:
$6 mllion in Fiscal year 2027-28 from the Budget Reserve Trust Fund Account to be distributed to the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund to complete six conservation-related projects that are currently in the Fund’s project pipeline. ($2m was provided in 2024).
$1 million each fiscal year would be distributed to the city of Elizabethtown for the construction of the Elizabethtown Nature Center.
$2 million to Green County Fiscal Court in 2026-27 to support the renovation of the courthouse and completion of walk/bike trails.
$4 million for Breaks Interstate Park for development of an RV site on Wolfpen Branch.
$100,000 each fiscal year of 2026-28 biennium to the Ky Ohio River Recreational Authority to support a capital and planning grant program.
$500,000 in 2026-27 distributed to Audubon State Park to support acquisition of land for expanding campgrounds.
$100,000 in 2026-27 for maintenance of horse trails at Pennyrile Forest State Park.
Funding for multiple projects addressing water capacity, improve system resiliency, water treatment plants.
This is only a partial list, but we particularly appreciate the funding for the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund, which has been a continuing priority project for the Kentucky Conservation Committee and the Kentucky Land Trust Coalition.
Carbon Sequestration Bill Passes with Problematic Provisions
As we reported on last week, Senate Bill 677 was the result of a multi-year project to build a consensus bill between environmental groups (including Ky. Conservation Committee and Ky. Resources Council), the Energy and Environment Cabinet, and oil & gas interests. We ended up with a good bill establishing a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for the development and approval of underground carbon capture and sequestration projects.
Unfortunately at the last minute, problematic language was added to the bill, regarding the siting of merchant electric structures, which includes wind and solar projects. One provision particularly impacts the siting of a wind project in Henderson, since the bill sets a height limit on wind turbines that is lower than what is proposed for the Henderson project. We put out a call to action for our supporters for the House “not to concur” with the Senate in order to hopefully have the problematic language removed. We thank you for taking fast action. Unfortunately, the bill was delivered to the Governor with the problematic language left intact.
What’s Next for the Governor and the General Assembly?
The Governor has 10 days (excluding Sundays) to sign, veto, or allow a bill to become law without a signature. A vetoed bill can be overridden by a simple majority—50% plus one—of both the House and Senate, making it relatively easy for a majority party to override a veto.
Lawmakers will return on Tuesday, April 14th and will be in session to address any remaining bills as well as actions on the Governor’s veto, ending on April 15th.