The 20 Repub priority bills

In each legislative session, the majority party gets to use the first ten bill numbers in each chamber for their priority bills. If a bill is numbered 1-10, that means that either the majority caucus or the majority leadership considers it must-pass legislation.

So, for KYGA26, here are the Republican priority bills in each chamber. I’ll update this post as we go through the session.

House priority bills for 2026

• HB 1 – Not filed yet.
• HB 2 – Omnibus Medicaid bill. Requires individuals to demonstrate community engagement to be eligible for or remain enrolled in Medicaid, such as work, community service, or education programs. Requires enrollees to begin paying co-pays. More frequent eligibility redeterminations. New contracting requirements and penalties for Medicaid managed care organizations. Transitions Medicaid-covered dental services to an administrative services organization (ASO) model.
• HB 3 – Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement. Requires Medicaid and KCHIP to follow specific pharmacy reimbursement rules.
• HB 4 – Make grooming a minor a crime. This bill establishes the new offense of "grooming a minor," which involves engaging in specific behaviors with the intent to entice a minor into sexual conduct or to develop an inappropriate relationship. The severity of the grooming offense depends on the age of the minor and whether the perpetrator is in a position of authority or special trust, with penalties ranging from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C felony. The bill also includes exceptions for lawful communication.
• HB 5 – KCTCS Prison Education Program. Establishes this program to provide inmates with job training. Requires KCTCS to build a facility for this program. Outlines specific convictions that disqualify an inmate from participating.
• HB 6 – Omnibus child-care bill. Introduces a quality-based graduated early care and education rating system, requiring a modernization plan and recommendations for its improvement. The bill also creates a Certified Child Care Community Designation Program to encourage local governments to reform zoning and land use policies to increase child care availability. Establishes “child-care microcenters,” which are smaller child care facilities serving between 4 and 24 children. Mandates early care and education training requirements for licensed and certified providers.
• HB 7 – School bus stop-arm cameras. Allows school districts to install camera monitoring systems on buses to record stop arm violations, which can result in a civil penalty of $300 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses within three years.
• HB 8 – Not filed yet.
• HB 9 – Not filed yet.
• HB 10 – Gubernatorial transition regulations. Requires the AG to review and approve any settlement of litigation exceeding $1,000,000 within 180 days before a gubernatorial inauguration. Individuals appointed to classified service positions within 18 months prior to an inauguration, who previously held an unclassified position, will face a 24-month probationary period and will not receive hiring or reemployment preferences. Contracts executed or renewed through noncompetitive negotiation within 180 days before an inauguration must be certified as an emergency by both the State Treasurer and the secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet. Requires that certain public records be preserved for the Governor-elect and their transition team in the 12 months leading up to an inauguration, with the Governor being required to make these records available on the day after the Governor-elect is determined.

Senate priority bills for 2026

• SB 1 – Dramatic changes to JCPS and its school board. Repeals and reenacts KRS 160.370, which outlines the duties of superintendents and local boards of education, to create a new framework specifically for county school districts with a consolidated local government (like JCPS). This new framework delegates significant day-to-day operational authority to the superintendent, while the board's role shifts to strategic oversight, approving a three-year strategic plan and annual budget, conducting annual audits and student performance reviews, and recruiting and evaluating the superintendent. Superintendent can approve purchases up to $250,000 and line-item budget transfers up to the same amount, with quarterly reporting to the board.
• SB 2 – Superintendent’s pay increase percentage can’t be more than that of teachers. School districts must ensure that neither the superintendent nor any administrator receives a percentage pay increase that exceeds the average percentage pay increase given to classroom teachers within that same district.
• SB 3 – Procedures for, and transparency of, school district finances. Requires district budgets to contain a minimum reserve of 2% of the total budget. Sets specific deadlines for the superintendent to submit draft and proposed budgets to the local board of education for review and adoption at public meetings. Mandates a “district financial disclosure website.” Requires the annual financial report and the KDE’s written report be published on both the district’s financial disclosure website and the department’s website.
• SB 4 – School principal leadership development practicum. Establishes a five-year “principal leadership development practicum” for new principals in Kentucky to provide them with leadership training and support. Participation will be free for principals in the first, second, and fourth years, with a stipend provided for the fifth year, and hours completed in the practicum can count towards the required annual training for instructional leaders.
• SB 5 – Purchase of KY-grown ag products by schools. Permits local school boards and school districts that participate in federal programs like the USDA Child Nutrition Programs to buy these Kentucky-grown agricultural products, exempting these purchases from certain state procurement laws.
• SB 6 – Funding for the the endowed research fund. This bill appropriates $150,000,000 from the General Fund to the endowed research fund for the fiscal year 2026-2027, with this funding to be divided equally among five consortium accounts.
• SB 7 – In-county issuance of driver's licenses and ID cards. Allow local officials to issue renewal and duplicate operator's licenses and personal identification cards in counties that do not have a permanent regional licensing office.
• SB 8 – Not filed yet.
• SB 9 – New types of districts to encourage housing development. Establishes two new types of districts that local governments can use to encourage housing development: Residential Infrastructure Development Districts and Housing Development Districts. RIFDs must be at least five acres and require significant infrastructure investment. Local governments can issue bonds to pay for necessary infrastructure. HDDs can be up to 1,000 acres, and offer a Housing Incentive Payment Program to developers. This program allows developers to receive a portion of the property taxes generated by their housing projects for a set period, encouraging new construction or revitalization.
• SB 10 – Limit governor's pardon authority. (Constitutional Amendment). Amend the KY Constitution to limit the Governor's power to grant pardons or commute sentences during the 60-day period leading up to a gubernatorial election and until the newly elected Governor is sworn into office.

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