FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers are now more than a third of the way through this year’s legislative session. This week they moved forward on several impactful bills. 

What You Need To Know

  • This week the House passed its budget proposal

  • A report found the Department of Juvenile Justice is using excessive force

  • Republicans called on Beshear to support Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

  • Democrats filed bills to expand abortion access, reproductive health

On the budget, the State House passed HB 1 and HB 6 following three-plus hours of floor debate. HB6, the general fund fill, passed nearly along party lines with three Republicans joining Democrats in voting no. HB 1, which will pay for several onetime expenses, passed unanimously.

The two bills now head to the Senate for further action.

On education, this version now fully funds student transportation in the budget’s second year. The bill’s primary sponsor says they’re investing more than one-point-three billion dollars into education. 

“So when we look at how we’re going to push money into districts to assist the seek formulas about all we have. If you press it in and some other manner, you’re going to widen the disparities if you don’t watch out,” State Rep. Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, said.

The budget does not give teachers an across the board raise, electing to let districts decide how that should happen. Democrats disagree with this approach.

“If we don’t start raising up the pay for teachers, we are going to continue to see the kind of brain drain that we just cannot tolerate if we want to have a good, solid education for Kentuckians,” House Minority Whip Rachel Roberts, D-Newport, said.  

This week the State Auditor’s Office released a lengthy report into the Department Of Juvenile Justice. The report found DJJ’s use of force policies conflict with the national standard, and its facilities are pepper-spraying inmates at a rate 74 times higher than in adult federal prisons.

“We gave them the authority to have the pepper spray and some of the security concerns, but they have no leadership and management to teach them how to use it,” State Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, said.

Last year lawmakers green lit this audit of DJJ. The legislature also passed two bills aimed at juvenile justice reform. 

Also this week, Kentucky legislators are calling on Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., to support Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, who’s locked in a dispute with federal law enforcement on securing the U.S.-Mexico border. Kentucky Republicans calling this a non-partisan issue.

“Each and every illegal crossing is an opportunity to smuggle in drugs, engage in human trafficking, and allow terrorists easy access,” State Rep. Richard Heath, R-Mayfield, said.

The House passed a resolution on this issue Tuesday, similar bills in the Senate have not yet advanced. Since 2020, Beshear has sent nearly 850 National Guard members to the southern border. 

Other notable bills filed this week would make student transportation easier — restore abortion access in Kentucky — and create statewide regulations for adult-oriented businesses. Those three bills have not made it to a floor vote. 

Lawmakers return to Frankfort Monday afternoon.