5 Key Issues to Watch as Kentucky’s 2025 Legislative Session Kicks Off

Well, folks, it is that time of year again: Kentucky’s legislative session is just around the corner. 

State lawmakers head back to Frankfort for the 2025 session on Jan. 7, and will be fighting over legislation and passing laws until the end of March. 

Kentucky stopped allowing bills to be pre-filed ahead of the session a few years ago, so we don’t know exactly what lawmakers are plotting for the upcoming session, but here are some things to keep an eye on. 

 

Will Kentucky move towards eliminating the income tax?

One of the GOP-dominated legislature’s top priorities is — and has been — reducing Kentucky’s income tax, so expect that to be one of the first things they do. 

They’re expected to consider legislation to drop the state income tax to 3.5% in 2026, which would be the next step in a journey to completely eliminating the income tax. 

Gov. Andy Beshear said recently he would support legislation cutting the income tax, too. 

 

With school choice out, what’s next for education?

Kentucky voters overwhelmingly rejected the GOP’s attempt at allowing public dollars to go to private schools in November, but education is still expected to be a big deal in Frankfort. 

Don’t expect anything related to “school choice,” though. After Amendment 2 failed, legislative leaders have made it pretty clear they’ve heard the voters and will try to find other legislative ways to improve education. 

“We will have to skirt around the edges and figure out how we can deliver products to failing schools or have accountability measures for those failing schools that give our children the best opportunities to succeed,” Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican, said during a November event. 

Stivers also said right after the election the legislature’s education gaze will likely fall heavily on Jefferson County Public Schools, the state’s largest district and a longtime target of Frankfort. 

Just what that would look like is unclear. A state task force that spent the summer and fall examining JCPS ultimately only recommended that the task force meet again next year before issuing any major recommendations, such as splitting up the district. 

 

Anti-diversity, equity and inclusion: Is the fight over?

Speaking of education: Expect bills aimed at limiting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at colleges and universities to return this year. 

Anti-DEI legislation was a huge topic during the 2024 legislative session, but the GOP ultimately didn’t pass anything because they couldn’t agree just how far the legislation should go. 

Now, they’ve spent much of the summer and fall discussing the topic and everyone expects some version of DEI legislation — or maybe multiple versions — to be considered in 2025. 

What exactly that could look like? Not sure — especially because some universities made big changes to how they handle DEI efforts in the wake of the 2024 session. 

“The universities have made quite a few changes as a result of that conversation that’s been ongoing, but I think there will be some additional legislation that will ensure those changes remain permanent as opposed to reverting back,” Speaker David Osborne, a Republican, said at a November event.

 

Drag bans? Limits to gender-affirming care? What’s next for LGBTQ+ issues?

Any anti-DEI legislation will likely impact the LGBTQ+ community, but what else could pop up? 

The past couple of years in Frankfort have seen a series of bills aimed at the LGBTQ+ population, including restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors and attempts at limiting drag performers.

Don’t expect anti-LGBTQ+ efforts to completely go away in 2025, especially with a new Trump presidency and likely subsequent federal changes. But the culture wars tides are always shifting, and in Kentucky, it looks like they’re going to be focused on higher ed issues for another year. 

So, it might be a more quiet year on the LGBTQ+ legislation front, mainly because I honestly don’t know what they could target and successfully pass that they haven’t already done. 

 

Will we have a shorter session that affects this year’s legislature?

There’s been some interest in making 2025 the return to traditional short session energy — basically, focus on small bills and technical or clean-up language and nothing else.

Explainer: Kentucky’s legislature meets every year. In even-numbered years, they handle the budget and meet for a total of 60 days from January to mid-April. And in odd-numbered years, they have a “short session” where they only meet for 30 days from January to March. 

Historically, short sessions are supposed to be for fixing things — not major legislative overhauls. However, lawmakers have strayed from this tradition recently, including in 2023, where they thought it would be fun to pass laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, legalizing sports betting and also legalizing medical marijuana. All in 30 days. 

Osborne said the legislature has used the short session “very aggressively over the years, but the original intent of the short session was to use it to make tweaks to legislation, to deal with things that come up, to prevent special sessions.

“I think you’ll see more of that,” he continued. 

 

Here’s what to know about Kentucky’s 2025 legislative session:

• The 2025 legislative session in Kentucky runs from Jan. 7 to March 28. 
• There are some breaks mixed in: 
  • Lawmakers will meet Jan. 7 to Jan. 10 before taking the rest of January off.
  • They’ll return Feb. 4 and continue meeting until mid-March, where they take another break to let Gov. Andy Beshear veto some bills (or not). 
  • Then they come back to close things out March 27 and 28.
• You’ll be able to track each day’s calendar of events and proposed legislation on the LRC’s website.