Taxes, school choice & voting: All the KY constitutional amendments proposed in 2024

Lawmakers in Frankfort filed more than 1,000 bills during the 2024 General Assembly.

Some of them will become law. More of them won’t.

But in a handful of cases, Kentucky voters will get the final say.

Included in the slew of bills ahead of last week’s filing deadlines were more than two-dozen proposals to amend or add to Kentucky’s constitution.

Constitutional amendments must pass both chambers of the General Assembly by a three-fifths vote before they’re put to the voters on the November ballot, and no more than four amendments can appear on the ballot at once.

Unlike with other bills, Gov. Andy Beshear cannot veto bills for constitutional amendments, though he has previously indicated he’d work to oppose at least one amendment should it be up for consideration on Election Day.

In 2022, Kentuckians rejected both amendments put on the ballot: Amendment 1, which would have let the legislature have greater control of its schedule; and Amendment 2, a proposal to make explicitly clear there’s no constitutionally protected right to abortion.

And in 2020, Kentuckians passed an amendment nicknamed ‘Marsy’s Law’ that gave crime victims more rights, but rejected changes to the way some state court officials are elected.

Here’s a rundown of the amendment bills filed by lawmakers this year.

‘School choice’ amendments

Filed by Majority Caucus Chair Suzanne Miles, R-Owensboro, House Bill 2 would add a section to the constitution allowing the legislature to use state money for non-public schools.

The state constitution currently requires the General Assembly “shall...provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the state.” Miles’ proposal says lawmakers “may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools.”

Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, has also filed a ‘school choice’ amendment in House Bill 208. Calloway’s bill would require the legislature to “provide for a portion of the educational costs of parents of students outside that common school system.”

Calloway’s bill has racked up more than two dozen co-sponsors. It has not received a committee assignment.

Miles’ bill has also not been assigned to a committee, but given her place in GOP leadership and supportive comments made by Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, HB 2 is more likely to be the vehicle for “school choice” this session than HB 208.

In the Senate, Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona, has filed Senate Bill 358, would add a section to the constitution saying the legislature “may provide for the educational costs of students outside of the system of common schools.”

Additionally, the state constitution “shall not prevent any provision for educational costs of students outside of the system of common schools, nor require a referendum for funding such educational costs so long as no funds are used from the common school fund.”

Beshear has previously expressed his opposition to “any school choice amendment and any voucher program.” Voters can expect his involvement should one of these amendments appear on the November ballot.

Sessions of the General Assembly

Kentucky remains among the minority of states in which only the governor has the authority to call the legislature into a special session.

House Bill 4, sponsored by Speaker of the House David Osborne, R-Prospect, would change that.

It would also allow the General Assembly to set its own schedule for 60-day sessions in even-numbered years and 30-day sessions in odd-numbered years and do away with sine die, the constitutionally set end date for session, which is April 15 (even-numbered years) and March 30 (odd-numbered years.)

In 2022, Kentuckians rejected Amendment 1, which would have let the legislature extend its regular sessions beyond their current mandatory end dates and call itself back for special sessions later in the year without the governor’s authorization.

Osborne said his proposal is in simple terms that voters can understand, as opposed to the “epistle that was next to impossible to understand” in 2022.

Osborne’s bill has been assigned to the Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs committee.

In a similar vein, Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, has filed House Bill 94, which would also do away with the mandated sine die dates. Lockett’s proposal would require the General Assembly to wrap up its allotted legislative days by Dec. 31 of a given year.

Lockett’s bill has not gotten a committee assignment.

Non-citizen voting

People who are not United States citizens currently can’t vote anywhere in Kentucky — and two proposed amendments moving in the legislature would keep it that way.

The House has OK’d House Bill 341 from Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, and the full Senate has passed Senate Bill 143 from Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray.

Both bills propose amending the state constitution to add that “no person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in this state.”

As section 145 of the constitution — the section outlining “persons entitled to vote” — currently reads, “every citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen years who has resided in the state one year” is eligible to vote except for people convicted of felonies, people incarcerated at the time of the election and people adjudged mentally incompetent.

The bills’ sponsors have argued their amendments would prevent any cities from passing ordinances allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections, a practice that has happened in other states but not Kentucky.

Senate Bill 323 from Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, would repeal the existing section of the constitution that outlines voter eligibility and replace it with a new section. Under that change, voter eligibility would be limited to citizens who are at least 18 and meet set residency requirements.

Additionally, people ineligible to vote would only be those found to be mentally incompetent and those convicted of treason, bribery in an election or election fraud, unless their rights had been restored by a pardon.

Restoration of rights

The Kentucky constitution has a blanket policy of disenfranchisement of people convicted of felonies.

In 2015, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order restoring rights to people who had completed their sentences for many nonviolent offenses. However, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin immediately reversed the order after taking office.

But Bevin was defeated in 2019 by Andy Beshear, who signed off on an executive order restoring those voting rights shortly after his inauguration.

Despite that executive order, The Sentencing Project — a national nonprofit that advocates for criminal justice reform — found Kentucky “still denies the right to vote to more people with a felony conviction than 39 other states.”

In addition to Southworth’s SB 323, three amendments filed this General Assembly would make some form of rights restoration enshrined in the constitution.

Sen. Brandon Storm, R-London, filed Senate Bill 195 to narrow the disenfranchisement to those convicted of “election fraud, a violent felony offense, or a felony sexual offense.” A person with any other felony convictions will be able to vote three years after completing their sentence.

Similarly, Louisville Democrat Gerald Neal’s Senate Bill 257 would automatically give convicted felons their voting rights back after completing their sentences, and their other civil rights three years later.

Both SB 195 and SB 257 have been assigned to the State and Local government committee.

House Bill 566 from Rep. Keturah Herron, D-Louisville, is similar to Neal’s SB 257, but instead sets the time frame for civil rights restoration at five years. The bill was heard for discussion-only in the House Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs committee in late February.

Election year change

Sen. Christian McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 10, an amendment that would align the election years for Kentucky’s constitutional offices, such as governor, attorney general and secretary of state, with that of the presidential contest beginning in 2032.

It’s somewhat of a sticking point for McDaniel, who has filed the same constitutional amendment bill eight times since taking office in 2013.

Kentucky was one of just three states to elect its statewide officeholders in 2023. Because of this, three out of every four years in Kentucky are election years.

A fiscal impact statement from the Legislative Research Commission estimates local governments would save about $20 million during the calendar year of the eliminated elections.

The Senate passed the bill 26-9. It is awaiting action in the House.

Governor’s pardon powers

Another McDaniel amendment idea, Senate Bill 126 would limit the governor’s power to issue pardons for a limited time frame around Election Day.

The governor’s ability to commute sentences and grant pardons and reprieves would be suspended for “the period beginning thirty days prior to the date of the gubernatorial election and ending the fifth Tuesday succeeding the election,” which is inauguration day, according to the proposed language.

McDaniel said the amendment was inspired by the actions of former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, who issued hundreds of pardons and commutations on his way out of office in 2019, including of murderers and child rapists.

The bill has passed the full Senate 34-2, with one pass vote. It is awaiting action in the House.

Taxation

There are a half-dozen amendment bills that relate to taxes in some form or fashion.

House Bill 14 from Rep. Jonathan Dixon, R-Corydon, would allow the General Assembly to allow local municipalities to “assess and collect local taxes and license fees ... that are not in conflict” with the rest of the constitution. Speaker David Osborne and Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy are co-sponsors.

House Bill 59 from Rep. Candy Massaroni, R-Bardstown, would give lawmakers the power to exempt “all or any portion of any class of property” from being taxed, and to “eliminate all or a portion of any tax and the related provisions of that tax.”

Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Wnchester, sponsored House Bill 62, which asks voters if they’re in favor of giving lawmakers the authority to “determine the amount of the property tax homestead exemption” for owners 65 or older, or owners who are totally disabled.

Senate Bill 23 from Sen. Michael Nemes, R-Shepherdsville, and House Bill 111 from Rep. Thomas Huff, R-Shepherdsville, would expand the homestead exemption for senior homeowners by exempting them from “any increase in the valuation of the real property that is assessed after the later of the year the owner turned 65 or the year the owner purchased the property.”

Southworth also sponsored Senate Bill 351, which would exempt the homesteads of honorably charged military veterans who are “certified as having a service connected permanent and 100% total disability,” as well as the homesteads of surviving spouses of service members who died on the job.

The widowed spouse only qualifies for the exemption if the home was jointly owned with the deceased and the survivor remains unmarried.

Slavery and involuntary servitude

A trio of amendment bills — two in the Senate and one in the House — would make slavery illegal in all instances.

Section 25 of the state constitution currently reads: “Slavery and involuntary servitude in this State are forbidden, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”

All three bills — House Bill 295 from Rep. George Brown Jr., D-Lexington; Senate Bill 231 from Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill; and Senate Bill 117 from Neal — would strike the exception for punishment of a crime.

Both Senate bills have been assigned to the State and Local Government committee. Neal’s SB 117 has three co-sponsors, including two Republicans.

Democrat-sponsored proposals

Republicans enjoy super-majorities in both chambers of the legislature; they hold 78 of the 98 occupied seats in the House of Representatives and 31 of 38 Senate seats.

Those numbers mean it’s all but impossible that any Democrat-led effort to change the constitution will succeed.

But that hasn’t stopped some Democrats from trying.

Rep. Nima Kulkarni, D-Louisville, sponsored House Bill 160, which would add a new section of the constitution to protect the rights of adults aged 21 or older to “possess, use, buy, or sell” cannabis and “cultivate, harvest, or store” cannabis plants in limited amounts. Additionally, Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, filed Senate Bill 362, which would do the same.

Two amendment bills come from Rep. Josie Raymond, D-Louisville: House Bill 302 says there is a “right to a healthy environment” and House Bill 336 would establish a process for citizen ballot initiatives to propose and enact or reject laws.

House Bill 394 from Rep. Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, would establish “an independent citizens redistricting commission” that would be responsible for redistricting plans for all legislative and congressional districts. As it stands now, the General Assembly adopts these district maps.

Two Louisville Democrats have sponsored bills that would lower the age requirement for becoming a legislator.

Rep. Rachel Roarx’s House Bill 546 would lower the age for the House of Representatives from 24 to 18.

Herron’s House Bill 519 would lower the age for representatives to 21 and senator from 30 to 24. It would also lower the residency requirement from six years to three for senators.

Yates also sponsored an amendment bill, Senate Bill 355, which would set term limits for members of the General Assembly. Beginning with the 2026 election, a senator would be limited to three terms and a representative would be limited to six. The terms are four and two years, respectively.

None of these bills have been assigned to a committee.