---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to education and declaring an emergency."
description: "Create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to define \"department\" and \"principal\"; establish the principal leadership development practicum; require the Kentucky Department of Education to develop and operate the practicum and outline the required components of the practicum; allow for substitution of practicum hours for hours of instruction required by the effective instructional leadership program; begin the practicum requirements with the 2027-2028 school year; authorize the promulgation of administrative regulations for the operation of the practicum; amend KRS 156.101 to conform; amend KRS 161.207 to remove references to the principal internship program and make conforming changes to initial principal certification process; amend KRS 156.492 to remove an outdated reference; require the Kentucky Department of Education to submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission by November 1, 2026, setting out the implementation plan for the practicum."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "SB 4"
citation: "Kentucky SB 4 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Administrative Regulations And Proceedings", "Education", "Elementary And Secondary", "Reports Mandated", "State Agencies", "Teachers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["D. Douglas", "D. Givens", "G. Neal", "L. Tichenor", "M. Deneen", "M. Wilson", "M. Wise", "R. Mills", "S. West"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 57
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1c6cda1f-9804-49af-92ce-f47b72d608ed"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/sb4.html"
source_hash: "1da9aa92dcdee1134d52a4b4eda5d73e99fd4e6a356fcb84f4b5acdd91642310"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ky"]
---

# Kentucky SB 4 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to education and declaring an emergency.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to define "department" and "principal"; establish the principal leadership development practicum; require the Kentucky Department of Education to develop and operate the practicum and outline the required components of the practicum; allow for substitution of practicum hours for hours of instruction required by the effective instructional leadership program; begin the practicum requirements with the 2027-2028 school year; authorize the promulgation of administrative regulations for the operation of the practicum; amend KRS 156.101 to conform; amend KRS 161.207 to remove references to the principal internship program and make conforming changes to initial principal certification process; amend KRS 156.492 to remove an outdated reference; require the Kentucky Department of Education to submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission by November 1, 2026, setting out the implementation plan for the practicum.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/sb4/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 154** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0154.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/sb4/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS SB 4 w/ SCS 1 — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Veto Override — **78–19** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE OF SB 4 — **28–7** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage — **72–21** (pass) · upper
- OVERRIDE VETO FINAL PASSAGE SB 4 — **30–8** (pass) · upper
- Pass — **74–15** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- D. Douglas — primary (person)
- D. Givens — primary (person)
- G. Neal — primary (person)
- L. Tichenor — primary (person)
- M. Deneen — primary (person)
- M. Wilson — primary (person)
- M. Wise — primary (person)
- R. Mills — primary (person)
- S. West — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-28T05:00:00+00:00** to Education (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-06T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-02-06T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Monday, February 09 2026
- **2026-02-09T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 38-0 with Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-10T05:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-02-10T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-05T05:00:00+00:00** to Primary and Secondary Education (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-18T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (1) filed to Committee Substitute `amendment-introduction`
- **2026-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, March 20 2026
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 74-15 with Committee Substitute (1), Floor Amendment (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for concurrence in House Committee Substitute (1), Floor Amendment (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title)
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** Senate refused to concur in House Committee Substitute (1), Floor Amendment (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title)
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** placed in the Orders of the Day
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** House refused to recede from Committee Substitute (1), Floor Amendment (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title)
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** Conference Committee appointed in House and Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Conference Committee report filed in House and Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Conference Committee report adopted in House and Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Free Conference Committee appointed in House and Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Free Conference Committee report filed in House and Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for consideration of Free Conference Committee Report
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Free Conference Committee report adopted in House
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** passed 72-21 `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for consideration of Free Conference Committee Report
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Free Conference Committee report adopted in Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** passed 28-7 `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2026-04-13T04:00:00+00:00** Vetoed `executive-veto`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for consideration of Governor's veto
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** veto overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** passed 30-8 `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules (H)
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** posted for consideration of Governor's veto
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** veto overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** passed 78-19 `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Secretary of State (Acts Ch. 154) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1c6cda1f-9804-49af-92ce-f47b72d608ed`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).