KCC Week 5 Recap: General Assembly 2026
February kicked off with a flurry of activity. This first week of the month closes with day 22 of the 60-Day General Assembly. And It was a tremendously busy week for KCC and allies, not just in the legislature, but also with recent developments on some of our campaigns. We’ll recap this past week’s events below.
In the meantime, we need you to take action on the bills of interest to you, by calling 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.
News of the Week
Kentucky Waterway’s Nick Hart testifies on HB397 (trophy catfish), while Representatives Susan Witten and Lisa Willner and the “Leave the Heat On” collective meet with media to promote HB377 (Strong Support) to protect the public from utility disconnections during extreme weather.
We want to thank Reps. Susan Witten and Lisa Willner, plus allies from the “Leave the Heat On” collective for their work to bring attention to utility disconnections during extreme weather events. We held a press conference at the capitol annex this week where these lawmakers and impacted citizens spoke about the issue, and then were able to back up these positions with data. [TV coverage here.] One of the highlights of the event was the release of a new report by Appalachian Citizens Law Center on how more than 20% of Kentucky Families cannot afford their energy costs, which is why the passage of this legislation is so important. Link to the report here.
Bills on the Move This week
Lawmakers are still slowly moving on key issues of environmental interest that we anticipate this session and we anticipate far more critical bills will be presenting themselves in the next two weeks. Meanwhile here is a recap of bills that moved this week:
HB60 Geoengineering (Air Pollution-Monitor) Lawmakers in House Natural Resources moved this bill out of committee this week with a substitute that added more exceptions as to what the bill covers. This improves the bill, but is still excessive legislation that makes geoengineering a “Class D” felony for what is proactive legislation, since lawmakers were not aware of any such activity happening in Kentucky. Geoengineering has largely been a research activity as a potential to address climate change. (There is also a Senate version of the bill, SB25).
HB103 Fluoride (Oppose). Allows water fluoridation programs to be optional. This bill has now passed the House 67-29 and is on its way to the Senate. This bill has made its way through the house in earlier sessions but never passed the Senate.
ACT: There is also a Senate version of this bill, SB55. Call your Senator to oppose both SB55 and HB103.
HB194 Cigar Bars (Air Quality- Oppose): Lawmakers adopted a House Committee Sub that adjusted the bill’s definition of what percentage of sales qualifies as a cigar bar, and passed the House with the amended bill. It now resides in the Senate.
HB276 Backyard Chickens (Agriculture- Oppose) This bill passed out of the House this week, 72-22. While the bill allows a person to keep 6 or fewer backyard chickens on residential property in cities and certain other local governments, we oppose this because it overridies local control.
HB309 Cultured Meat (Agriculture- Monitor): This bill passed out of House Agriculture, however lawmakers raised concerns over a total ban, citing examples from other states where these laws were challenged as legislation that discriminates against or excessively burdens interstate commerce, where seven states have already banned these products.
HB311 Railroad Crossings (Biodiversity-Oppose) The bill on removal of obstructive vegetation at railroad crossings has now been assigned to the House Transportation Committee. We oppose the bill due to its 600ft. requirement for clearings, which seems excessive and we would like for this to be coordinated with state pollinator programs so as not to disrupt critical habitat.
HB397 Trophy Catfish (Natural Resources- Support) The bill would make the practice of commercial catfishing a class A misdemeanor. The legislation would also issue a $500 replacement fine for any trophy catfish that is wounded or dies in the process. Our allies at the Kentucky Waterways Alliance testified on the bill this week.
Position Updates:
Some times we mark a bill as “monitor” with the intent to inform, but sometimes we also mark a bill as “monitor” to take a little more time to investigate certain bills. This week we moved two existing bills this week out of the “monitor” category. The first was HB506, a Fish & Wildlife bill which is now upgraded to “support.” The other was HB398, an energy bill which we downgraded to “oppose.” That bill passed the House and is now in the Senate.
New Bill Highlights:
Our “good bill” highlight of the week is House Bill 544, also known as the “Ratepayer Protection Act.” Rep. Adam Moore has taken all of the concerns about data centers to heart and put together a bill we strongly support. Read our description of this bill on our full House Bill List and then also visit KCC’s webpage on data centers for extra resources. We also invite you to review the community presentation on data centers from citizens in Mason County who presented at our recent Legislative Summit.
We also want to salute Rep. Sarah Stalker for filing House Bill 551 creating a constitutional amendment in support of a healthy environment and House Bill 552 which would attempt to reinstate the protection of Kentucky’s waterways that were rolled back in last year’s Senate Bill 89. All of these bills received our strong support this week.
On the flip side, we generally support the concept of securitization as a way to reduce energy bills for ratepayers, House Bill 535 (P. Flannery) is one we chose to oppose. While it would make bills more affordable, it has many indirect impacts that causes us to oppose. Read our full description of this bill on our full House Bill List. We also strongly oppose the new (and fast moving) Senate Bill 183 that will impact financial disclosures related to envirornmental, social, and governance considerations. Read the full description on our Senate Bill List- the bill has already moved out of committee.
More new bills on our House and Senate lists.
News and Upcoming Events
Our announcement last week on the loss of a significant new aluminum smelter project, as well as the sale of a second smelter site that will now be converted to a data center—PLUS our coalition news conference with the “Leave the Heat On” collective, generated a lot of news this week. You can check out the coverage of these stories, plus videos from our legislative conference on KCC’s Media page. Meanwhile, we hope to see you at one of the events below:
Nuclear Public Meetings Announced: On January 28th, the Public Service Commission finally announced a long-anticipated series of public meetings on nuclear energy development. Here are the dates:
Feb. 26, 5PM ET, Morehead State University Ronald G. Eaglin Space Science Center 235 Martindale Drive Morehead, KY 40351
March 17, 2026 5PM ET, University of Louisville J.B. Speed School of Engineering’s Student Success & Research Building 201 Engineering Drive Louisville, KY 40292
March 25, 2026- 5PM ET, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Newtown Campus 500 Newtown Pike Lexington, KY 40508
April 1, 2026- 5PM CT, Western Kentucky Community & Technical College Emerging Technology Center 5100 Alben Barkley Drive Paducah, KY 42001
April 6, 2026- 5:50 CT, Northern Kentucky University University Center Budig Theatre 1 Nunn Drive Highland Heights, KY 41099
April 8, 2026- 5:30 PM CT, Western Kentucky University Amy and David Chandler Hall Houchens Industries Auditorium 410 Regents Ave Bowling Green, KY 42101
If you plan on attending, we would like to hear from you! (See link). Mark your calendar for the meetings above and please check out KCC’s Nuclear Energy Page for information to inform your comments.
Movie Night! KCC and our friends at Solar Kentucky and Greenlight Action are hosting a film screening of a film called “Save the Farm, Save the Future” on Thursday, February 26th. With so much controversy over solar and farmland, we wanted to share this film that addresses what is happening with projects that are working toward collaborative solutions. We hope you will join us in Lexington. Please register for the film event here.
