Amends KRS 156.160 to require that cursive writing be included as a course of study in all elementary schools beginning in the 2025-2026 school year; and amends KRS 158.6453 to distinguish basic handwriting or penmanship from the definition of “writing."

Amend KRS 186.010 to define "Electronic Verification of Vital Events system"; amend KRS 186.412 to require the Transportation Cabinet to electronically verify birth certificates which are presented as part of an operator's license application with states participating in the system; provide authority for Transportation Cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to assist applicants; create a new section of KRS Chapter 213 to require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to maintain a digital archive of all certificates dated on or after January 1, 1947, in possession of the state registrar.

Amends KRS 164.092 to define “nontraditional age students,” to remove all references to “minority,” to require that any formula not include race-based metrics or targets, to increase the percentage of public university funding based on student success outcomes produced from 35 percent to 40 percent, to decrease the percentage of public university funding for student credit hours earned from 35 percent to 30 percent, to include in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System’s student success outcomes weighting for credentials aligned with the economic needs of the state and recognize credentials earned by nontraditional-age students, to require that the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) promulgate an emergency or amended administrative regulation to implement the amended funding formula, to require that the Postsecondary Education Working Group convene during the 2024 Interim for the sole purpose of considering how to define “underrepresented students” for the comprehensive funding model for the public postsecondary education system, to require that the recommendations be reported to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2024, and to require that CPE distribute allocable resources based on first-generation college students receiving bachelor’s degrees and low-income students; EMERGENCY.

Amends KRS 160.170 to amend the oath of office for local board of education members to be consistent with the requirements set forth in KRS 160.180; amends KRS 160.180 to provide alternative methods for a candidate for a board of education to evidence the candidate’s completion of twelfth grade, to provide that a member of a board of education shall be subject for removal from office pursuant to KRS 415.050 and 415.060 if the member is convicted of a felony, performs acts of malfeasance, or willfully misuses public property or funds, to provide the Office of Education Accountability the duty and responsibility of investigating current board of education members for allegations of prohibited conduct, to require local board members to take one hour of open meetings and open records training within their first twelve months of service and once every four years thereafter, and to remove designated training specifications; and amends KRS 160.570 to remove the limitation on the number of depositories a school district can use.

Establish Subtitle 13 of KRS Chapter 286 and create sections thereof to define terms; provide exemptions to the new subtitle on nonrecourse consumer legal funding; prohibit engaging in the business of nonrecourse consumer legal funding transactions without a license; establish licensing requirements; provide that nonrecourse consumer legal funding transactions are not loans and exempt them from statute relating to interest; establish requirements for nonrecourse consumer legal funding transaction contracts; prohibit certain actions by nonrecourse consumer legal funding companies; direct that transactions made in compliance with the new subtitle on nonrecourse consumer legal funding are not champerty; establish penalties; direct that the new subtitle on nonrecourse consumer legal funding shall not restrict the powers or duties of the Attorney General; create a new section of KRS Chapter 365 to establish disclosure requirements; establish attorney communications and responsibilities; and direct that a nonrecourse consumer legal funding transactions is inadmissible as evidence; amend KRS 286.4-410, 360.010, and 372.060 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 211 to define terms; provide rights related to access to contraception; create private right of action; create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require health benefit plans to provide coverage for contraception; require health benefit plans to provide coverage for long-acting reversible contraception administered during a postpartum hospital stay; amend KRS 164.2871, 205.522, 205.6485, and 18A.225 to require self-insured employer group health plans provided by the governing board of a state postsecondary institution to its employees, Medicaid, the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program, and the state employee health plan to comply with the new section on contraceptive coverage; amend KRS 446.350 to provide that nothing in the new section on contraceptive coverage shall be construed to violate section; create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to apply for a Medicaid waiver to offer family planning services to certain low-income individuals; require the cabinet to report annually; create a new section in KRS Chapter 315 to allow pharmacists to prescribe and dispense hormonal contraceptives; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to seek federal approval if they determine that such approval is necessary; direct that provisions apply to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2025.

Directs the Legislative Research Commission to establish the Efficient and Effective School District Governance Task Force; outlines task force duties; requires the task force to submit any recommendations and changes the task force may adopt by December 1, 2024; establishes membership; requires the task force to meet at least twice per month; and requires the Legislative Research Commission to provide needed staff and authorizes the commission to enter into contracts for consultants to assist the task force in its duties.

Amend KRS 160.350 to require a majority plus one vote instead of a four-fifths vote of board members to remove the superintendent, delete requirements for approval from the commissioner of education to remove a superintendent; provide an appeal process for the superintendent; amend KRS 160.380 to forbid a superintendent from employing persons convicted of certain sex crimes classified as a misdemeanor.

Amend KRS 160.160 to authorize local boards of education to establish score requirements on appropriate assessments for applicants to certified position vacancies and adopt necessary policies; amend KRS 161.030 to remove the authority of the Education Professional Standards Board to require successful completion of assessments prior to certification; amend KRS 156.101, 161.048, and 161.053 to conform; repeal KRS 161.1222, relating to a pilot teacher program.

Amends KRS 337.285 to add sheriff’s offices and county police forces to the local government agencies eligible for an exception to overtime compensation, and to list statutory authority for other entities that work with law enforcement departments regarding working hours; EMERGENCY.

Commend Taiwan for its relations with the United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky; encourage the establishment of a trade office in Taiwan; express support for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 237 to define terms; establish requirements for individuals to voluntarily request inclusion on a list that prohibits the purchase or possession of firearms for specified periods and to voluntarily commit their firearms to law enforcement for safe storage or permanent surrender; provide processes for individuals to be removed from the list upon request and to have a surrendered firearm returned; establish confidentiality requirements and the exclusion of list and surrender records from the Open Records Act; establish penalties for noncompliance; require the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to develop public awareness campaigns to inform the public and health care providers about the voluntary firearms restriction list.

Amend KRS 100.987 to prohibit a planning unit, legislative body, or fiscal court that has adopted planning and zoning regulations from approving the siting of a cellular antenna tower capable of providing fifth generation mobile communications service if it is within 1,640 feet of any inhabitable building or any outdoor space where 10 or more people gather; amend KRS 278.650 to prohibit the commission from approving the siting of a cellular antenna tower capable of providing fifth generation mobile communication service if it is within 1,640 feet of any inhabitable building or any outdoor space where 10 or more people gather.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to define "drug disposal method"; require the Kentucky Medicaid program to provide payment to a pharmacist or practitioner for the cost of a drug disposal method that the pharmacist or practitioner distributed upon dispensing a controlled substance that contains any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of an opioid, benzodiazepine, barbiturate, codeine, or amphetamine at no cost to a Medicaid recipient; amend KRS 218A.170 to require the Kentucky Medicaid program to provide payment for the cost of a drug disposal method; direct the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to seek federal approval as necessary.

Amend KRS 78.5520 to redefine "hazardous position" to include solid waste management services enforcement officers employed by a consolidated local government for the purpose of determining benefits of the County Employees Retirement System.