The Republican-controlled Kentucky General Assembly spends months crafting, discussing and then passing laws at the beginning of each year. Unless they specify otherwise, most of those laws go into effect 90 days after the session ends; this year, that’s on July 15.
Legislators passed new laws that touch essentially every part of state government, not to mention the massive state budget, which lays out government funding for the next two years. Laws going into effect Wednesday will change policing, further regulate gambling, change civil liability, create a framework for psychedelic medical trials and more.
Criminal justice changes: data privacy, concealed guns and the death penalty
As the use of artificial-intelligence technology worms its way into policing, Kentucky lawmakers took their first stab at regulating automated license-plate readers. Often referred to as the brand-name Flock cameras, license plate readers have pervaded the state with no state-level requirements for privacy and data protection. House Bill 58 requires the cameras only be used for parking, secured areas, or for “promoting public safety” and deterring crime. The data can only be stored for 90 days and can’t be sold or shared, with a few exceptions.
Kentuckians between 18 and 20 years old will now be able to get a provisional license to carry a concealed firearm under House Bill 312. Young adults were already able to open carry without a license, but they had to wait until 21 to hide that weapon. Now, after completing some training requirements and background checks, younger Kentuckians can carry a concealed gun.
Senate Bill 251 would allow the state to bypass the lengthy regulations process for execution protocols, instead using internal memos and policies. It is unclear if Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration intends to take the legislature up on this offer. These regulations have been tied up in a lengthy court battle partly over whether they afford enough protections for Kentuckians with mental and intellectual disabilities. As a result, no one has been executed in Kentucky since 2008. Lawmakers say this could allow the state to bypass more legal battles and independent oversight to move forward with executions.
Sweeping shifts in state gambling laws
A sweeping gambling bill goes into effect Wednesday, shifting the landscape of gaming and wagering in Kentucky. It creates a new regulatory framework for fantasy leagues and a provision in another revenue bill adds a tax on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. The new law also allows horse tracks to engage in “fixed odds” betting. Here’s a list of what the 150- page House Bill 904 does:
- Online gaming companies have to cancel accounts for people who are in arrears on their child support.
- Fantasy leagues and contests will be regulated and participants have to be at least 18 years old. The companies will have to pay new licensing fees.
- A separate revenue bill adds new taxes for rapidly-growing prediction markets, like Kalshi and Polymarket. The provision is facing a constitutional challenge from the Coalition of Fair Markets, a group made up of Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com. HB 904 doesn’t add state-level regulations, but it does prohibit horse racing, sports betting and fantasy contest licensees from contracting with or profiting off of prediction markets.
- It allows the live-horse racing industry to use fixed-odds wagering, as opposed to parimutuel or pooled betting. It’s a significant expansion of the type of gambling Kentuckians can find at the track.
- Oversight of charitable gaming is shifted to the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation. The governor will also no longer need to put his stamp on regulations proposed by the Kentucky Lottery Corporation or Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation.
Who’s liable? Not road contractors and pesticide companies
The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed three laws this year to significantly curb the legal liability of companies, making it harder to sue them in certain circumstances. Two of the three go into effect Wednesday — another bill limiting the liability of gun sellers and manufacturers became active law immediately upon its passage in April.
Senate Bill 199 protects companies manufacturing and selling pesticides and herbicides from lawsuits of people claiming they were hurt by their products, so long as the packaging contained a required warning label from the U.S. Environment Protection Agency.
The Kentucky Farm Bureau and pesticide industry lobbied for the new law because of a lawsuit that was pending at the time against Roundup for its potentially carcinogenic effects. The EPA does not consider glyphosate a carcinogen and does not require such a warning on pesticide labels. The U.S. Supreme Court has since ruled that Roundup was not liable for failing to warn consumers under federal law.
Senate Bill 195 similarly shields road contractors from lawsuits if a motorist is injured or dies as long as the contractor sticks to the designs initially given to them.
Psychedelics & provisional licenses. New additions to Kentucky’s medical landscape
As lawmakers continue to search for new ways to address the ongoing addiction crisis in Kentucky, psychedelics got some renewed attention this year. Ibogaine, a powerful Schedule I psychedelic, has emerged as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder and treatment-resistant depression. It induced intense — and often unpleasant — hallucinations but may carry some heavy risks as well.
Senate Bill 77 creates a pathway to study ibogaine and allows the state to enter public-private partnerships with drug developers to start trials on ibogaine’s effectiveness. The bill, however, does not put any state funds toward researching the drug.
On the other side of health care, Senate Bill 137 creates a very different kind of pathway: easing the path for foreign-born doctors to gain provision licenses in Kentucky. Supporters cited the need to lure more doctors into rural healthcare settings.
