Video & Transcript Research : 'chapter 14'

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KY

Kentucky 2026 Regular Session

House Legislative Session Day 14 (1-27-26)

Kentucky House Floor Meeting

Transcript Highlights:
  • Clerk<01:14:08.640> will<01:14:08.800> take<01:14:08.960> the<01:14:09.040> role
  • House<01:14:12.880> Bill<01:14:13.120> 306<01:14:13.679> is<01:14:13.920> passed
  • <01:14:20.080> Speaker,<01:14:20.320> I<01:14:20.480> move<01:14:20.640>
  • c> would<01:14:23.040> be<01:14:23.199> taken<01:14:23.520> from<01:14:23.760
  • >> House<01:14:41.760> Bill<01:14:42.080> 34,<01:14:43.120> an<01:14:43.360
Summary: The House convened on the 14th legislative day after winter weather closures, established a quorum, approved the prior journal, and received notice that the Senate had passed Senate Bills 27, 30, 40, and 76 and requested concurrence. The chamber also suspended rules to allow co-sponsorship and vote modifications, and later recessed briefly for caucus and for meetings of the committee on committees and the rules committee. Two bills were taken up and passed on the floor. House Bill 306, relating to criminal trespass, was explained as a workplace-safety measure that would define disruptive or threatening behavior in workplaces and increase penalties for repeat offenses; it passed 83-7. House Bill 34, relating to death benefits, was described as expanding recognized cancers for fire service-related benefits; it passed 92-0. After passage of HB 34, a motion for a clincher was adopted without objection. During announcements, a member from Todd outlined the newly filed branch budget bills and said the executive budget would be a scaled-back, “bare-bones” operational budget focused on restraining spending growth and inviting more public review through budget subcommittees. The House also adopted a citation honoring Notre Dame Academy and Catholic Schools Week, heard an announcement about hearing screenings by the Kentucky Academy of Audiology, and received a lengthy floor speech marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day before adopting House Resolution 30 without objection. At the end of the session, new bills and resolutions were introduced, including measures on lactation consultation, Medicaid waivers, a child tax credit, postsecondary employment, long-term care, court security officers, prisoner monitoring devices, administrative regulations, the state budget, transportation, legislative and judicial appropriations, stalking, and memorial overpasses. The committee on committees referred several bills to standing committees, the rules committee posted House Bills 56, 214, 281, and 366 for the next day, a floor amendment to House Bill 320 was reported, and the House adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
KY
Transcript Highlights:
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  • More of<00:14:14.959> a<00:14:15.440> comment,<00:14:15.920> but<00:14:16.240>
  • Uh,<00:14:17.440> Jonathan,<00:14:18.000> thank<00:14:18.079> you<00:14:18.240><
  • 14:19.440> the<00:14:19.680> department's<00:14:20.000> work<00:14:20.160> on
  • I<00:14:20.560> know<00:14:20.720> sometimes,<00:14:21.920> uh,<00:14:22.160>
Summary: The Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee met to reorganize its leadership for the new term, renewing Representative Derek Lewis as House co-chair and Senator Steven West as Senate co-chair. The committee then approved the minutes and moved through a series of agency regulations, generally adopting staff-suggested amendments without objection. Among the regulations reviewed were an Attorney General rule changing how a commission reviews and distributes funds and how grant reporting is handled; Personnel Board changes abolishing and renaming certain job classifications and adjusting probationary periods; an Education and Labor Cabinet rule removing references to local board of education members; several Public Protection Cabinet rules covering Board of Claims and Crime Victims’ Compensation procedures; an Alcoholic Beverage Control rule on direct-to-consumer shipping forms; and a Medicaid Services emergency regulation establishing the Kentucky Trauma Hospital Rate Improvement Program for rural hospitals serving many Medicaid patients. The committee also heard that the Board of Claims and Crime Victims’ Compensation regulations included both staff and, in one case, an agency amendment, which were approved. The most extended discussion came on the Department for Community Based Services’ regulation increasing per diem rates for private child-placing therapeutic foster care levels 2 and 3. Committee members questioned the estimated $10 million biennial cost, the source of the funding, and why the cabinet had not yet filed regulations implementing Senate Bill 151 on kinship care. DCBS staff said the rate increase was discretionary and intended to address placement crises for children with high needs, while acknowledging they could not personally explain the budget decisions. A kinship caregiver testified in support of the rate increase but urged the cabinet to also implement SB 151 and expand support for kinship families. The committee expressed frustration over the lack of SB 151 implementation but stated the rate increase itself was appropriate and allowed the regulation to proceed.