The Lexington Herald Leader reports that on the first day of the 2025 legislative session:
“The Kentucky legislature continues to zero in on reducing the state income tax yet again, this time from 4% to 3.5%.
“That priority was evidenced by the number given to a bill introduced to do just that on Tuesday, the first day of the Kentucky legislature: House Bill 1.
“It was joined by more than 100 other bills and resolutions on the first day that they can be unveiled, which included a proposal to require the Ten Commandments in all public K-12 classrooms, a couple constitutional amendments, make water fluoridation optional and more.”
https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-
Louisville’s Rep. Rachel Roarx filed a bill aimed at restoring a pre-filing requirement for new bills. This follows heightened criticism of lawmakers’ decision to abandon the longstanding practice.
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb80.html
The Kentucky Lantern reports:
"Kentucky’s elimination of prefiled bills puts it in the minority of states. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures more than three-fourths of legislative chambers have a process for prefiling bills.
"The loss of prefiled bills is among multiple obstacles to public participation in the lawmaking process."
https://kentuckylantern.com/2025/01/07/ky-legislature-opens-with-democr…
Only one bill directly related to the open records law was introduced. Rep. Kim Banta filed HB 46, relating to the identification of lottery winners.
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/HB46.html
The bill, which closely resembles a bill Banta unsuccessfully filed in the 2024 session, "allows the winner of a lottery prize with a gross value that exceeds $1,000,000 to elect to have his or her identifying information withheld from public record for one year" and creates a new time limited (one year) exception to the open records law mirroring the proposed Chpt. 154A.040 temporary confidentiality provision.
https://kyopengov.org/blog/bills-impacting-open-government-filed-week-o…
Rep. John Hodgson is back with three bills relating to "privacy protection." None of the three bills -- HB 19, HB 20, and HB 21 -- hint at an attempt to resurrect Hodgson's vigorously opposed 2024 open records rewrite, HB 509, but the legislative session is still in its infancy, and we cannot forget the turmoil and overwhelming concern associated with that abusive legislative proposal.
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/24rs/hb509.html
https://amp.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article285440662.html
In an interim committee meeting conducted in August 2023, Hodgson described the impetus for his 2025 electronic privacy bills.
Hodgson's 2025 bills appear unrelated to the subject master of 2024's HB 509. They are, nevertheless:
• HB 19, regulating unmanned aircraft system, use, restrictions
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb19.html
• HB 20, regulating automated license plate readers and establishing appropriate retention for those records
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb20.html
• HB 21, establishing limitations on "deep fakes," defined as "any video recording, motion picture film, audio
recording, electronic image, or photograph that:
• appears to authentically depict any speech or conduct of an individual who did not in fact engage in such speech or conduct;
• is so realistic that a reasonable person would believe it depicts speech or conduct of an individual who did not in fact engage in such speech or conduct;
• does not contain adequate labeling or disclaimers such that a reasonable person would understand that it is not real speech or conduct; and
• the production of which was substantially dependent upon technical means, rather than the ability of another individual to physically or verbally impersonate such individual.
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb21.html
As noted, the session is quite young, and we must keep our eyes and ears open to any hint of a bill like HB 509. To borrow the phrase, "If you see something, say something" to Kentucky Open Government Coalition members at this link: https://kyopengov.org/contact
(Kentucky Open Government co-director Austin Horn is a reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He has recused himself from any stance on legislative matters.)
