Before providing a legislative update, I want to begin by recognizing the loss of 26-year-old Staff Sgt. Benjamin Pennington of Glendale, Kentucky.
Pennington was stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Epic Fury when the installation was attacked by Iranian drones and missiles on March 1. Gravely injured in the attack, he passed away on March 8. All of Kentucky and America mourn his loss, along with the loss of others who have been taken from us in this conflict.
Pennington enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2017 and served as a unit supply specialist with the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado, supporting critical systems that provide missile warning, GPS tracking and satellite communications for our armed forces. His fellow soldiers described him as a dedicated service member and leader who ultimately paid the highest price in service to our great nation.
The Senate honored his memory this week with a Senate resolution. I join many others in offering my sincerest condolences to all who knew, loved and served alongside Pennington.
Legislative update: Late-session processes to expect
Week 10 of the 2026 Legislative Session brought a notable surge in committee and floor activity in Frankfort, as the closing days of the 60-day session are now officially upon us. Committee agendas and bills designated for full Senate or House of Representatives consideration are growing longer as lawmakers in both chambers work to move both their respective legislation and the General Assembly’s collective priorities across the finish line.
At this point in the session, the governor is kept busy reviewing the well-vetted policy measures that arrive at his desk. He retains the constitutional authority to veto legislation, which the legislature may consider overriding, allowing a bill to become law despite his objection. One bill vetoed by the governor has already been enacted over his veto, and more should be expected in the weeks ahead. Any bill delivered to the governor before the start of what is known as the “veto period” remains eligible for an override vote during the final days of the session. The veto period consists of 10 legislative days—excluding Sundays and holidays—and occurs in the first half of April.
The most important legislation we will deliver this session to the governor is the two-year budget plan and the two-year road plan. The budget is our ultimate policy document. In the Senate, we are carefully reviewing the House proposal—House Bill (HB) 500—and have begun considering modifications we intend to submit to the House. Within the next couple of weeks, we will present that plan.
Once the House receives a Senate-modified version of the HB 500, the bill is likely to move to a conference committee. The conference committee includes leadership members from both the Senate and the House, along with House and Senate budget chairs. At this stage of the process, the final decisions are hammered out before the General Assembly presents the governor with its budget proposal. Stay tuned and remain engaged.
A quick note: several of my bills now with the House after passing the Senate made progress this week. Those were my measures establishing a kindergarten-readiness pilot program and addressing fairness in the closure of child care centers. Those were both approved in House committees and may now be considered by the full body.
Bills approved in the Senate
With the close of Senate and House proceedings on Friday, just 14 legislative days remain in the 2026 session. The following is an update on legislation approved by the Senate this week.
Several Senate Bills approved this week are measures I co-sponsored.
SB 66 is one of them. This bill modernizes Kentucky’s impaired driving laws by clarifying license suspension procedures for refusing blood tests following the 2021 Kentucky Supreme Court McCarthy decision and adding substances such as fentanyl, clonazepam and cyclobenzaprine to per se DUI enforcement. The bill also updates procedures for roadside breath tests and requires traffic conviction records to be retained for 10 years.
SB 77 is another, and I’m interested in its potential. The bill establishes the Ibogaine Research and Intellectual Property Development Fund within the Department of Agriculture and authorizes public-private partnerships with drug developers to study ibogaine as a potential treatment for opioid use disorder and other neurological or mental health conditions. The legislation also sets requirements for research contracts and the management of intellectual property from the trials.
I also co-sponsored Senate Concurrent Resolution 66, which encourages the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville to explore participation in federal nuclear energy programs and expand academic pathways for nuclear science and engineering careers.
During discussion on the Senate floor, I spoke about why this effort is so important to Kentucky’s future. I noted how Sen. Steve West, the resolutions sponsor and who joined me last week during the grant award press event I detailed last week, is quickly becoming my favorite senator,” because what he proposes is a vital part of building the nuclear ecosystem within the commonwealth. I recently visited a Canadian university that operates a microreactor on campus, and the facility even offers public tours. It was fascinating to see how that reactor supports university research and the production of isotopes used in medical treatments.
For those who may not be familiar with that work, these isotopes are used to treat cancer. Breakthroughs are occurring regularly, allowing doctors to target cancer cells inside the body and destroy them without damaging surrounding healthy tissue. That’s one of the things that excites me most about the work Kentucky is doing in nuclear energy—it’s not just about power generation, it’s also about advancing medical research and improving treatment for people battling cancer.
Research will be a major component of that future. Efforts like this align with the work our universities are already doing and the push we’ve made in recent years to expand research within the commonwealth. I believe Kentucky has an opportunity to lead in both the private and public sectors as nuclear energy continues to grow, and I’m excited about where these efforts can take us.
This week, the Senate passed another priority bill, bringing the total to 10 bills prioritized in the Senate that have been delivered to the House and are awaiting further action.
Senate Bill 6 appropriates $150 million in fiscal year 2027 to the Endowed Research Fund created by SB 1 in 2024 to support five research consortium accounts administered by the Council on Postsecondary Education for five-year terms.
Additional bills passing this week include the following.
SB 19 designates the indigo milk cap, a mushroom native to Kentucky forests, as the official state mushroom to recognize the commonwealth’s natural heritage and promote environmental education. The idea for the bill was brought forward by students from Letcher County Central High School.
SB 34 allows Kentuckians to transfer a home or vehicle directly to a named beneficiary at death through a transfer-on-death designation without going through probate while maintaining existing protections for creditors, Medicaid recovery and spousal rights. Owners retain full control during life and may change or revoke the designation at any time.
SB 41 requires that most local tax increases exceeding the compensating rate by more than 4 percent be submitted to voters for approval.
SB 53 clarifies that local planning units, commissions and boards have the authority to hold public hearings and accept public comment when reviewing subdivision plats and development plans. The bill supports transparency in local development decisions.
SB 97 requires health benefit plans to cover prosthetic and orthotic devices and sets minimum coverage standards, utilization review protections and network adequacy requirements. The bill includes insurer reporting requirements and delays implementation until Jan. 1, 2028, while allowing regulators to evaluate federal compliance.
SB 100 strengthens the oversight role of the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission by allowing the executive director to access information from commission meetings, submit independent reports to the Public Service Commission and intervene in relevant PSC proceedings. The bill also requires state agencies to cooperate with EPIC and limits the executive director’s annual compensation increases to 10 percent.
SB 116 updates statutes governing physician assistants to modernize administrative requirements and support more efficient collaboration within physician-led care teams while maintaining physician supervision. The changes are intended to improve provider flexibility and expand access to care, particularly in rural areas.
SB 133 updates fiscal reporting and audit requirements for local entities by raising the reporting threshold for special-purpose governmental entities from $100,000 to $500,000 and allowing certain entities to move to a four-year audit cycle after two clean audits. The bill also aligns audit procedures for local boards and county officials.
SB 147 modernizes Kentucky’s vital records laws by updating procedures for issuing and maintaining birth and death records and clarifying that certified copies carry the same legal weight as originals. The bill also adjusts certain fees, expands fee waivers for vulnerable populations and strengthens coordination between death records and voter registration maintenance.
SB 149 updates statutes governing county treasurers by aligning appointments with county election cycles and requiring that treasurer bonds be secured by a corporate surety. The bill also authorizes acting treasurers and deputy treasurers and establishes procedures for temporary incapacity or vacancies.
SB 198 updates statutes related to the Office of the Attorney General by requiring background checks for Department of Law staff who access federal tax information and clarifying that state agencies are custodians of their own records. The bill also establishes a 10-year statute of limitations for certain actions brought by the attorney general and makes technical administrative updates.
SB 219 requires the Department of Financial Institutions to impose a $3 fee on each deferred deposit transaction to support statewide data collection and reporting from licensed payday lenders.
SB 221 strengthens Kentucky’s abuse of a corpse statute by making it a Class D felony to knowingly buy or sell a corpse or body parts after remains have been authorized for burial or cremation. The measure addresses gaps in the law exposed by cases involving the illegal sale of donated human remains.
SB 222 updates Kentucky law governing environmental covenants that impose enforceable land-use restrictions on contaminated property to support cleanup and redevelopment. The bill clarifies procedures for creating and enforcing these covenants and includes an emergency clause so the changes take effect immediately.
SB 224 establishes statutory protections for vested property rights in development approvals by allowing projects to proceed under the regulations in place when the application was submitted. The bill also sets timelines for how long those rights remain vested and limits who may challenge final zoning decisions.
SB 225 requires the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction to evaluate the impact of proposed building code changes on residential construction. The department must conduct cost-benefit analyses and report findings to the advisory committee and the General Assembly.
SB 226 allows agents guaranteeing prices under pre-need burial contracts to charge a one-time administrative fee of up to 15 percent once the contract is fully paid. The fee is exempt from certain refund requirements and applies only to new contracts.
SB 261 allows fiscal courts and cities to spend public funds to maintain pedestrian swinging bridges used for recreation and provides liability protections for landowners who lease property for these public bridges.
SB 262 proposes a constitutional amendment allowing ballot questions for constitutional amendments to present a clear summary explaining the amendment’s substance and effect rather than requiring the full text on the ballot.
SB 291 creates a statewide licensing system for secondary metal recyclers to help deter copper theft, which damages critical infrastructure, including telecommunications and electrical systems. The bill requires background checks, transaction reporting through the LeadsOnline database and coordination with law enforcement.
SB 312 expands the authority of certified court security officers to transport detainees and individuals under court order beyond courthouse grounds and grants them arrest powers during transport or while under their supervision. The bill also allows them to assist with certain involuntary mental health commitment transports.
SB 323 requires that subpoenas requesting medical records from non-party health care providers be served at least 14 days before the production date to allow adequate time to locate and produce the records.
SB 333 requires that proceeds from the sale of confiscated firearms be transferred to the Office of the Attorney General, which will use the funds to provide grants for body armor purchases by police departments. The attorney general’s office already manages the body armor grant program established by the legislature in 2024, so this bill is a natural alignment.
SB 343 reorganizes the Department of Workers’ Claims by moving it from the Education and Labor Cabinet to the Office of the Governor under a commissioner appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The bill transfers staff and resources and includes an emergency clause for immediate implementation.
Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 62 directs the Energy and Environment Cabinet to report on permitting and regulatory requirements for removing debris from streams and waterways after floods and recommend ways to streamline cleanup efforts for state and local governments.
SJR 75 directs the Public Service Commission to study ways to improve the affordability of essential utility services, including potential water regionalization, and report findings to the General Assembly by Sept. 1, 2027.
SJR 116 directs the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University to collaborate on solutions to Kentucky’s physician shortage and expand access to care in underserved areas, with recommendations due by Jan. 1, 2027.
SJR 134 directs the Public Service Commission to review how utilities calculate and apply fuel adjustment charges and evaluate options to reduce volatility in customer bills. The commission must gather public input and submit recommendations to the General Assembly.
First governor’s veto overridden
The legislature overrode the first gubernatorial veto of the session: HB 314. That is the bill previously outlined in a legislative update that modernizes oversight of KentuckyWired by placing operational management under the Commonwealth Office of Technology and updating governance of the Kentucky Communications Network Authority to better represent network users. The governor vetoed the bill, but the General Assembly overrode the veto and the law took effect immediately.
Please feel free to contact my office if you have any concerns or suggestions. My office can be reached at 502-564-8100 or by email at Danny.Carroll@kylegislature.gov.
