What is a shell bill? Kentucky’s legislative process follows a set of rules, but there are several common ways lawmakers can reshape or fast-track bills.

Fun fact: Kentucky lawmakers can’t just go around filing new legislation throughout the entire legislative session. 

They have a deadline to file new bills each year, weeks before the end of the legislative session. 

This helps you know exactly what could possibly be considered during the height of the session, without fear of some sort of surprise — or at least, that’s what it is supposed to do. 

Kentucky’s Republican-dominated legislature has plenty of ways to get around that concept to legally spring new legislation on you at the last second, or to rush things through when you’re not expecting it.

Let me break down a few of the most common ways , so you can think like they do. 

What is the bill filing deadline in Kentucky?

Lawmakers typically have until late February or early March to file new legislation during Kentucky’s legislative sessions. 

The exact date depends on the year. Filing deadlines tend to be earlier in odd-numbered years, when Kentucky’s legislative session lasts 30 legislative days from the first week in January until the end of March. 

In even-numbered years, lawmakers meet almost daily from January until mid-April, so the deadlines tend to be a bit later. 

But basically, the idea is all bills for that year must be filed by the deadline set. Typically, the House and Senate have slightly different deadlines, but they’re generally in the same week. 

What is a shell bill?

A shell bill is a bill filed before the filing deadline, but doesn’t actually do anything because it is meant to be stuffed with an actual bill after the deadline.

Shell bills can typically be identified by bills that are just supposed to insert gender-neutral language (so, expanding “he” in current law to “he or she” but not changing anything else) or ones meant to make technical corrections and … nothing else. 

You’ll often see lawmakers file a few of these in a clump in the week or so before the filing deadline — especially if they’re committee chairs in charge of legislation around a certain topic. 

Basically, it is a signal they could file something on a certain topic, but they don’t have it ready yet. Many of the shell bills that get filed don’t turn into anything — they’re simply potential placeholders. 

But, technically, as long as the bill is filed in time, it can turn into anything.

What is a committee sub?

One of the big ways a bill could take on a new life at the last second is through a committee substitute — typically just called a committee sub.

This is when a bill’s sponsor changes the bill before it gets a committee vote. (You can run through the whole legislative process, step-by-step, using our explainer.) Bills need to get a committee vote in both the House and the Senate, so bills can have multiple committee subs throughout its lifespan. 

A committee must approve of the new version of the bill before it passes the bill itself. Only rarely do committees reject committee subs. 

Committee subs can be used for any type of change, from a quick technical fix to a major redesign. And they don’t always have to stick exactly to the concept of the initial bill — a measure about wastewater can be gutted to overhaul the state’s pension system, for example. (Yes, that example really did happen.)

Committee subs — particularly late in the legislative session — also don’t typically get shared publicly before they’re voted on. Sometimes, lawmakers on the committees don’t get a copy in time for them to read it and vote on it. 

Rushing legislation

Another thing to watch for: Timing. 

Each bill needs three “readings” on the House and Senate floors across three different days before getting a vote. (They don’t actually read the full bill; they just acknowledge it.)

Ideally, a bill would pass out of a committee and then get its first reading that afternoon — giving lawmakers and the public a chance to read and sit with the bill, and for the public to contact lawmakers about it if needed before it gets a House or Senate vote.

But sometimes — again, typically late in session, when pressure is high and time is short — they’ll give a bill two of its three readings, then propose a committee sub in the morning, get the committee’s approval, and then pass it out of the House or Senate just a few hours later. 

This means they can — and frequently do — quickly overhaul legislation, and then clear multiple legislative hurdles before the bill is even posted online for the public to view. 

Floor amendments

Floor amendments are also a way — albeit a less successful and less used way — to quickly change a bill. Think of this option as the Hail Mary, last ditch attempt at getting your way. 

Basically, a lawmaker can file a floor amendment — some proposed change, large or small — to a bill and then try to have the chamber vote to make those changes to the bill before voting on the bill itself in the House or Senate. 

One common late-session type of floor amendment is called “piggybacking” — basically when a lawmaker knows their bill isn’t going anywhere, so they’re going to try adding it to a radically different bill. 

But unless the amendment is coming from the bill’s sponsor, it typically doesn’t go anywhere. 

What you can do

All of this can be difficult to track. Here are a few ways to stay on top of what’s happening in Frankfort:

• Follow Queer Kentucky for up-to-date legislative updates.
• Check out our other civic explainers like How a Bill Becomes a Law in Kentucky: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Legislative Process.
• Sign up for legislative alerts for groups like the Fairness Campaign and ACLU of Kentucky.
• Follow your favorite advocacy groups and journalists on social media for any live updates out of Frankfort.
• Turn on KET or the LRC’s livestreams of committee meetings and House and Senate proceedings to watch as things go down and listen for any changes to bills.