LOUISVILLE — While they did not see eye-to-eye on much, a Louisville Republican and Democrat both said that increasing housing stock should be a priority for Kentucky’s legislature in 2026.
During a Louisville Forum luncheon panel on Wednesday, two Republican and two Democratic state lawmakers largely disagreed when it came to changes to Medicaid backed by President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress earlier this year. But the lawmakers did find some common ground in wanting to better their communities in the state’s largest city.
Kentucky Today Editor Lawrence Smith moderated the panel, which included Republicans Majority House Whip Rep. Jason Nemes and Sen. Julie Raque Adams and Democrats Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong and Rep. Joshua Watkins. The discussion served as a preview of topics in store for the 2026 legislative session, which begins in January. Lawmakers will decide the next two-year state budget, meaning that significant dollars can be allocated to various programs, resources, and projects across the state.
Nemes said that a priority for him is “bringing home as much money to Louisville as I can,” earning some applause from the luncheon crowd. He added that he views Louisville as the “economic engine” of the state.
Raque Adams said there is a “push-pull between this urban and rural divide.” However, she said Louisville’s downtown “fared really well” as the General Assembly allocated $100 million across two years to revitalize the area in 2024.
“Our General Assembly is primarily made up of rural legislators, and so a lot of times when the budget comes over from the House, our metropolitan areas don’t fare as well,” she said. “And so we really have to work together, House and Senate, to make sure” metropolitan areas are not left out.”
Raque Adams also said that suburbs should get more attention in the budget this year, particularly when it comes to developing more housing.
Chambers Armstrong said “Kentucky only succeeds when we take care of our neighbors and when we show up for each other.” She was critical of federal changes to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that could lead to rural health care providers losing money and hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians losing Medicaid coverage.
Chambers Armstrong said she would file a constitutional amendment to keep the state’s Medicaid expansion intact and a bill to increase diaper access for low-income families. However, she is a member of the minority party in a state legislature with GOP supermajorities.
She said she’s hoping to see a state budget “that reflects our Kentucky values and puts loyalty to D.C. or an administration aside to say, ‘We take care of our people, we show up for our people, and we invest in folks,’ because that means investing in our state.”
Watkins said he agreed with much of what other lawmakers said but stressed that affordable housing is a “paramount” priority for his district. He is a Realtor and a member of the Kentucky Housing Task Force, a special legislative committee.
“We have our different opinions about what’s happening in Washington, but if we don’t get serious about housing, we won’t have a Kentucky that our future generations will be proud of.”
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Raque Adams and Nemes accused Democrats of using a “scare tactic” by saying Kentuckians would lose coverage and hospitals would close. Both Republicans said that the Republican changes would help make Medicaid “sustainable” in the long run. Raque Adams said Republicans will file a bill in the statehouse that focuses on redetermination and eligibility for Medicaid recipients as well as legislation to permanently put into state law work requirements for working age, non-disabled Medicaid recipients.
Nemes said Medicaid is “not managed appropriately, and it’s time that we make a significant review of it, which is what we’re doing in the General Assembly.”
Chambers Armstrong said that her position was “not a scare tactic” and pointed out that UofL Health delayed a South End birthing center project “indefinitely” following Congress approving the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. She also argued that the legislature’s failure to raise the minimum wage has not helped Kentucky workers.
“This is not something that is happening a long time from now. This is not something that is happening to other people. This is something that’s happening to our neighbors and our community. And I believe that it is the job of our General Assembly to protect Kentuckians and to stand up when the federal government is doing things that are going to hurt our people.”
Taxes
Republicans in the General Assembly have successfully passed reductions in the state income tax in recent years, with the goal of ultimately eliminating it altogether. However, the state’s revenue and budget numbers for the last fiscal year did not meet the legislature’s self-imposed threshold for considering another income tax rate cut in the 2026 session.
But Nemes said he does “not accept the premise that we didn’t meet the requirement this year because of emergencies.” State tax deadlines were delayed due to severe storms, and Nemes maintains that the state should “re-measure” the budget for an income tax reduction next year.
“I’m fully for a reduction of another full half of a percent, from 3.5% to 3%. … But if I can’t convince my colleagues to go down a full half of a percent, we need to go down a quarter of a percent,” Nemes said.
Chambers Armstrong said that the “people who benefit the most” from lowering the state income tax are “the folks who need the benefit the least” and that income tax cuts don’t do much to help poor and low-income Kentuckians. She added that she thinks it “would be irresponsible” to permanently change state tax policy now with federal funding still up in the air.
Watkins agreed with her, and added that there are ways other than lower taxes to attract businesses to Kentucky. “A business thinks about quality of life for its workers and its families,” he said. “If you don’t have the neighborhoods to live in, if your people can’t find health care … businesses think about that.”
Louisville schools
Jefferson County Public Schools, the state’s largest public school district, often gets the attention of the General Assembly. Asked if lawmakers are still thinking about breaking up the school district, Nemes praised the work by new Superintendent Brian Yearwood to increase student performance.
Out of respect to Yearwood, Nemes said he would not “be the catalyst” for such legislation to disband the school district within the next year, but “if we don’t get it in the right direction, something has to happen.”
Watkins, the only Black lawmaker on the panel, said that teachers are “having to do more today than they ever had to do when I was in school.” He added that on top of educating students, teachers are asked to support students without proper resources and that criticism of the Louisville schools often comes with a racial subtext.
“When we talk about the success of JCPS and its failures, oftentimes we are couched in discussions in communities and households with peoples and families and students that look like me. And when we think about the progress that JCPS has had with what it has to do as a public school system, that’s very different from a private school.”
Raque Adams said she agreed with Watkins and argued that the school district has had “an explosion in Central Office and no money going to the classroom, going to the teachers, going to the schools,” referring to the higher salaries of administrators compared to most other employees.
Chambers Armstrong also highlighted a proposal for universal Pre-K programs backed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. She said that can be a way to invest early in a child’s education and set them up for success later in life.
Transparency
Shortly before the panel began, the League of Women Voters of Kentucky released an updated report on lack of transparency in Kentucky’s legislative process. The report expanded on issues the group highlighted at the end of the 2025 legislative session, such as fast-tracking bills in a manner that limits public notice and participation.
Chambers Armstrong said she had not read the latest report but was familiar with the group’s previous ones. She recalled times when she felt legislation was being pushed through at a fast pace forcing her to quickly read through a bill that she just received before it was called to the Senate floor.
“The way we get good legislation is we tell folks early and loudly what we’re working on, and we ask for experts to give us insight and feedback, and we change our legislation in response to that,” she said. When we rush legislation through, and we’re just trying to get it done and we’re cramming it in secret under the cover of night, that’s not good policy.”
Raque Adams said she experienced what Chambers Armstrong described when she was a member of the House while Democrats were the majority party. She added that she believes most lawmakers “really do have good intentions, and they really try to do the right thing.”
“It happens and it’s unfortunate. I think we all want it to be very transparent in the way that it’s supposed to be. But sometimes you’re under a constitutional deadline, and so you’re rushing to get things done, or you’re rushing to fix a bill, or you’re rushing to do that, and it’s unfortunate.”
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Written by McKenna Horsley. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
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