This Week at the State Capitol

This Week at the State Capitol

Lawmakers resume 2025 session with action on key income tax measure

February 7, 2025

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, signs House Bill 1, priority legislation to reduce Kentucky’s income tax rate. A high-resolution photo can be found here.

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky General Assembly reconvened in Frankfort this week for Part II of the 2025 legislative session, and lawmakers were eager to begin moving bills on health care, gubernatorial pardons and public safety.

Close to 20 bills have passed out of committee so far, and a handful have cleared at least one chamber. But no measure has advanced with more momentum than House Bill 1, the latest step in a multi-year effort to gradually reduce and eliminate Kentucky’s income tax.

The legislation was resting close to the finish line when lawmakers concluded the first part of the session in January. The Senate wasted no time Tuesday passing the bill off the chamber floor and sending it to the governor’s desk.

HB 1 will cut Kentucky’s income tax rate from 4% to 3.5% beginning next year. The measure has carried bipartisan support this session even as lawmakers in both chambers have sparred over the impact of tax cuts. The governor signed the bill on Thursday, making it the first bill to become law in 2025.

The Senate was also moving deliberately this week on Senate Bill 17, which seeks to create a statutory and regulatory framework to operate freestanding birthing centers in Kentucky.

Different versions of the bill have been discussed for years as supporters have sought to find common ground among a wide gamut of stakeholders.

The latest proposal appears to be advancing with more support. It won passage in the Senate Health Services Committee on Wednesday and advanced off the Senate floor Friday with a 34-0 vote and three pass votes.

Another measure clearing the Senate was Senate Bill 126, which proposes to amend the state constitution and limit the governor’s ability to grant pardons or commutations either just before an election or in the final months before they leave office.

SB 126 advanced out of the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Wednesday and breezed off the Senate floor Friday with a near-unanimous vote.

If the bill wins final passage this year, Kentucky voters would still need to ratify the amendment before it could take effect.

Meanwhile in the House, a bill that seeks to prevent choking deaths in schools took an early step after the mother of 8-year-old Landon McCubbins provided moving testimony to the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee.

Landon died at school in 2022 while choking on a bouncy ball, and House Bill 44 would clear the way for schools to deploy anti-choking devices in such cases after other attempts to save a student’s life have failed.

It won committee approval Wednesday and now heads to the full House.

Also on Wednesday, the Senate Transportation Committee moved a bill that would levy a new $200 fee against “super speeders,” a proposed term for those convicted of driving more than 25 miles per hour over the speed limit on a state highway.

Revenue from the legislation – Senate Bill 57 – would help fund Kentucky’s emergency trauma network.

Sexual extortion was another issue to capture attention this week after the Senate Judiciary Committee heard stirring testimony Thursday on Senate Bill 73. The measure seeks to make sexual extortion a felony in Kentucky and provide victims with more legal remedies.

Committee members voted 7-0 to send the bill to the full Senate.

Twenty-two days remain in this year’s short, 30-day session, and lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday in the Old State Capitol building in downtown Frankfort.

The Old Capitol served as the center of state government from 1830 to 1910, and in a nod to legislative history, the General Assembly typically conducts floor proceedings in the building once each session.

As always, Kentuckians can track the action this year through the Legislative Record webpage, which allows users to read bills and follow their progression through the chambers.

Citizens can also share their views on issues with lawmakers by calling the General Assembly’s toll-free message line at 1-800-372-7181.

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https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/publicservices/pio/release.html#ThisWeek020725